[jenandcoffee]

hi there, ok where to start, i really need help. i have no idea what is going on with my green severum who is about 7 inches long & at least 7 years old. he is curently alone in a 30 gal hospital tank as this all started with a bad case of ick about 3 months ago and then turned into a battle of a secondary infection which i treated with different meds; (api general cure, aquadene general aid, then maracyn- two) none of which seemed to help my poor severum blacky..... blacky stopped eating for about a month then as a last resort i tryed medicating his food with kent garlic xtreme, which i was told might attract him to eat. finally i gave up and stopped medicating him as i did not know what to treat him for. i was told it was most likely an internal parisite. after i stoped medicating him about 2 weeks later he began to eat, and started looking better except for a tumor like red bump on his back fin, he did not look in pain so since he started eating i decided not to buy any more meds as i do not know what it was. so its been a month now and he eats every day but then yeasterday i came in & he has a worm like pink thing coming out of his pooper, my first thought was omg its his intestines or a tapework. i have no idea what this is. i asked my pet store and showed a pic & they told me they have never seen this on a tropical fish but told me they have seen somthing like this but on the shark they have in the store: the shark ate something bad and actuly blew its stomach out to get rid of it and then his stomach sucked back in a couple of days later and all was well.......... please help, i don't want my blacky to die... i dont know what to do.

i do water changes once a week 25%
my ph level is between 7.8- 8.0
nitrates about 10
ammonia- 0
i would post a pic if somebody can tell me how.

thank you

 

[jenandcoffee]

ok heres a pic of my poor blacky.. please help, hes such a fighter i would hate to see him die..

 

[jenandcoffee]

 

[cichlidaholic]

It looks like he has a prolapsed rectum, I don't think it's a parasite at all.

7 years old is pretty old for most fish - and it's compounded by keeping a fish that large in a tank that small, and his body may be failing at this point.

The prolapses happen sometimes with fish, and many times they will resolve on their own. However, I've never seen it happen to this extent.

The fish doesn't look healthy overall, so there may be more than one thing going on with him.

If the prolapse is caused by constipation, you might try adding epsom salt to the tank at 1 cup per 100G. It serves as a laxative and a mild analgesic.

Kim

 

[jenandcoffee]

Hi Kim,

thank you for your quick response.
i put 1/3 of a cup for my 30 gallon tank, i hope thats right. how often should i put epsom salt in the water? once a week with my water change or daily? is there anything else i can do? the pet store told me to treat with internal parasite guard, but i was hesitant and did not add yet, should i? or do you think at this point i should just let nature take its corse?

thanks Jennifer

 

[cichlidaholic]

I don't think antiparasitic meds are going to help in this situation, and some of them might be harsh enough to push the old guy over the edge.

Only replace as much epsom salt as you remove with your water change.

You don't need to put it in daily, it would be too much.

I think with a 7 year old fish, I'd just keep the water clean and wait it out, but I've never seen a prolapse that bad.

Kim

 

[jenandcoffee]

hi there,

just giving an update, my fish blacky is still alive, but not looking so well, he stoped eating but started again yesterday, so heres to hopeing.. : ( the prolapsed rectum went in abit, aleast half way back in. he seems to be trying to bash it on things so i removed the plastic plants ect out of the tank. can he poop with the prolapsed rectum?
thanks Jenn

 

[cichlidaholic]

It depends on whether there is any blockage involved. Are you maintaining epsom salt in the tank? (I would...)

Kim

 

[ziyaadb]

all i wana say man is good luck old blacky

 

[jenandcoffee]

hello i have an update,

i'm so happy! the prolapsed rectum has gone in completly!! i told you my little blacky was a fighter!!!! to my surprize i got home 2 days ago, and it had gone in completly, hes not swiming sideways anymore and he doesnt look at me with those sad eyes ... : ) : ) THANK YOU so much for your great advice, it seemed to do the trick, i hope i'm not getting too excited, i know hes old, and things seem to be going to the ****er latly, but at least now i feels theres hope for my little guy, or should i say big guy!!!!

so now that being said, i would like to try and figure out what the growth on his tail is, its been there at least 3 months now, strated off small and seems to be getting bigger, i know while he had the prolapsed rectum, he was banging his body on anything he could find in the tank and managed to rip a piece off the growth , which i found laying on the bottom of the tank one day. what could it be? what can i do for it?

should i continue with the epsom salts anyways at this point? i noticed he seems to be pooping but its white and gooey.

Thanks again Kim! : )

Jennifer

 

[jenandcoffee]

one more thing, i was wondering since he seems to be getting better, can i add some rocks and plants, i know this is a hospital tank but i feel so bad for him, hes used to having other fish in the tank. or would this stress him out, thats the last thing i want to do!