Well guess it's my month for fish problems! Need help plz!

shawna1972

shawna1972

New member
My Scopas Tang has a blockage or is constipated! Tried giving peas and he will not touch them. He's still eating which worries me because it's not coming out the other end and he looks swollen!
What can I do? Thought I read somewhere a while back about epsom? is this an option?
 
Ahh its ok , Myself I have never had this happen before so Im clueless also :(
He's swollen under his ummmm do not know proper term but his chin to his butt and I can see a brown spec on his butt and it looks hard! Ive been feeding rods and have noticed he got a bony piece before and had a hard time,Wondering if the same thing happened again but this time unable to pass it :( Ill try to get a quick pic
 
I've never heard of this either, though I've heard of frozen peas for an air bladder issue, maybe try frozen baby peas? That its eating is a very good sign; I hope all goes well for it.
 
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Heres a few more,Sorry about the quality of the pics Plus my scopas will not sit still enough for me to get a good shot,Figured Id throw one of the hippos in the pics seeing as they were not camera shy lol
 
Sorry about your fish Shawna. One of my clowns got all stopped up like this a couple months ago - pretty sad to see the little guy constipated! :(
I didn't feed anyone for a day, then switched to pellet food (on Gary's recommendation). He managed to get things moving again - I'm sure this is a case by case type thing.
So this post is not so much advice as commiseration....
 
aquadonkey said:
Sorry about your fish Shawna. One of my clowns got all stopped up like this a couple months ago - pretty sad to see the little guy constipated! :(
I didn't feed anyone for a day, then switched to pellet food (on Gary's recommendation). He managed to get things moving again - I'm sure this is a case by case type thing.
So this post is not so much advice as commiseration....
Click to expand...

Yeah it is as he's not really as active and hiding but Im hoping I can get an answer soon as I know this cant be good but yes he's eating,swimming normal just seems to be in distress. You cant really tell from the pictures but you can see a "point" formed/swelling on the opening on his butt and this is where the swelling is and it leads upward not really side to side like you would see in bloat
So yeah Im just standing by waiting on some advice,As RC search is not really helping me at the moment ;(
 
I had a discus get blocked up to the point that his body bulged out and you could see the flesh between scales. I placed him in a 1/2" of water, held him down, and did surgery on him with a pair of tweezers. No ill effects. I assume you can see the blockage? Discus aren't near as hard to catch as a tang, but assuming you can get him out.... Are you sure it is really an issue?
 
Not sure if saltwater fish can get the same thing, but african cichlids(lake malawi) get a thing called bloat. It is a blockage and they can die easily from it. I think it is caused by too much protein in the diet , when it should consist of mostly greens.

Would make sense that a tang could get it.

check into that maybe.
 
got seaweed? saturate the seaweed with garlic...like the Kent Marine brand or similar. Feed alot of this. should get things moving.
 
Bluephish13 said:
Not sure if saltwater fish can get the same thing, but african cichlids(lake malawi) get a thing called bloat. It is a blockage and they can die easily from it. I think it is caused by too much protein in the diet , when it should consist of mostly greens.

Would make sense that a tang could get it.

check into that maybe.
Click to expand...
after seeing the pix this would be my assessment as well.
Change it's diet. Nori nori nori. And Spectrum pellets!
 
Hi

I would have responded sooner but I was out of town. It's been a tough couple of weeks.

I don't have any experience treating this problem. My fish never had it. I understand surgeon fish are prone to it . I have 6 of them, some almost 8yrs,all more than 5yrs. . I feed a mix of frozen foods(brine ,mysis, mosquito larvae aka bloodworms ,a little flake and nori daily) so they get lot's of fiber.

This link may be of interest:

http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/disease-prevention/fish-constipation-food.aspx
 
tmz said:
Hi

I would have responded sooner but I was out of town. It's been a tough couple of weeks.

I don't have any experience treating this problem. My fish never had it. I understand surgeon fish are prone to it . I have 6 of them, some almost 8yrs,all more than 5yrs. . I feed a mix of frozen foods(brine ,mysis, mosquito larvae aka bloodworms ,a little flake and nori daily) so they get lot's of fiber.

This link may be of interest:

http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/disease-prevention/fish-constipation-food.aspx
Click to expand...

No problem :) Yeah they have Nori available until lights out,then I have been feeding Rods "Which I think im going to change because of the bony pieces" My scopas has a hard time with them. Also Krill,mysis and spectrum pellets.
Is it ok to feed frozen daily? and how about pellets such as spectrum?
Im really confused now thinking I have been feeding to much of one food or food to high in protien?
 
So a little update,As of today I seen my scopas finally go!!!!!!!! I have been feeding just nori and a little spectrum pellets and brocolli I think this helped but anyhow he's back to his vibrant self! Thanks everyone for the help :)

Also Tom,Thanks for the article I seen it said epsom salt ,I keep hearing the dosage but it never sais if it's a dip more less or few day deal? I would like to know for future in case this ever happens again. Again Thank you for the help.
 
Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate. There should be plenty in salt water.About one seventh of the magnesium in seawater is present as magnesium sulfate. So you probably have about 200ppm epsom salt in your tank right now if your magnesium is on track at about 1400ppm or so.. Probably a good thing to use in a fresh water case.
I feed frozen every day. Note from the article the importance of skeletal matter for fiber. For me this would include exoskeltons from mysis brine, mosquito larvae, etc as well as nori,broccoli, and other vegetable matter.
 
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