Illness, Health & Nutrition • Fish not eating

[DJRansome]

Aquarium salt or epsom?

They say more fish are killed by unneeded medications than illnesses. I would not add anything unless it was needed.

[danielratti]

I was talking about epsom salt. The one has for sure bloat because of the pine-coning looking scales. he is in a 20 gallon and the other 2 are not eating I was still wondering if its bloat. The frontosa is back to digging so it must be a good sign.

[GTZ]

Should I be adding more salt than what I am adding? It wont hurt any right?

1 tbsp per 5g tank water. Premix, add gradually taking 5-6 hours to dose completely.
Can you quarantine the pinecone looking fish? Add the epsom over half an hour if you can quarantine alone.

[GTZ]

Order or pick up some metronidazole, I'd be dosing both tanks as per the bloat article linked in my sig.

[danielratti]

I was going to try the epsom and seemed to make he start to poop. I can go out tomorrow and try to pick up some Metronidazole. Could I just quarantine him in a 5 gallon bucket even?

[GTZ]

Could I just quarantine him in a 5 gallon bucket even?

That'll work with a heater and aeration. You'll need to do daily water changes unless you can filter it as well somehow, otherwise you'll build up toxic ammonia and nitrite. With metro, you want to do daily water changes prior to each dosage anyhow.
In case you missed it in the article, I wanted to mention that a fish suffering from bloat that is visibly bloated has a slim chance of recovery. At this point, it's often too late because internally, organs have begun to shut down or there's a bacterial infection in addition to the digestive blockage. This isn't always the case, but more often than not, it is.
Your last post wasn't clear on bowel movements. Is the fish having bowel movements?

[danielratti]

He was yesterday after I treated the 20 gallon with salt. It wasnt much but it did something for him. He seems more lively today than yesterday. The other 2 have no signs of bloat other than not eating really but it looks like they are taking the food from off the bottom of the tank.

[danielratti]

Got the bloat taken care of. started adding garlic to the food and it cleared up quickly for the most part. The little z-rock I have looked like he was coming down with something not sure what but will keep watching.

[GTZ]

[danielratti]

I hope the litle z-rock doesnt have bloat... I used Epsom and I mean a lot. The z-rock had some white stringy poop a little bit ago... I hope he isnt getting bloat... I've been looking for one of these for so long now and they only lasted not even a day being out on display.