Melody
Feb 11th 2007, 05:51 PM
TREATING CONSTIPATION / BLOAT IN FISH
Fish do get constipated! It is a problem especially for laterally compressed fish and other fish seem especially prone to it, such as Goldfish & Bettas. Constipation can and will kill your fish if the blockage is not addressed.
Preventing Constipation
Like humans, roughage/fiber is important to avoiding fish constipation. Even Carnivores get vegetation through the stomachs of the fish they consume in the wild. Make sure that your fish receives the appropriate amount of fiber. The amount required for good digestion depends on the fish, so some research is in order. Too much for the wrong fish or via the wrong source is also not good for their digestive system.
Carnivores, as a rule, do not digest vegetable fiber well and it is not required in quantity due to a short digestive tract. According to About.com's Freshwater Fish Expert, Shirley Sharpe, a Carnivore diet should contain less than 4% fiber. Not all fish 'classed' as Carnivores are created equal though, so research your particular fish. Many African Cichlids, for example, would be classed as Carnivores in the hobby but they should have more vegetation in their diet.
Herbivores and Omnivores require far more vegetation in their diet than Carnivores, some moreso than others. High protein diets without adequate vegetable fiber (most commercial foods don't even come close to adequate) are going to be very difficult for your fish to process. Your vegie-loving fish have long digestive tracts and a diet high in fiber is required for efficient and optimum function. 'Optimum' being the operative - some fish will appear to do just fine without any special dietary efforts, but that does not mean that their digestive system isn't struggling to handle it, which can be an invisible source of stress.
Offset high-protein meals with high-fiber meals, such as (barely) cooked peas, homemade vegetable-based food or a good vegetable flake. Make sure your vegetable flake is primarily vegetation (a label of 'vegetable' or 'spirulina' does not always mean that the product contains a high percentage of said vegetation). Vegetable protein is an awesome form for your herbivorous and omnivorous creatures, such as the protein in seaweed and peas. Vegetable protein offers efficient uptake & digestibility, with the uptake from seaweed providing far superior uptake by comparison to any terrestrial plant.
High Protein foods are notorious for causing constipation, especially Bloodworms. Be it the shape or the high protein & iron they contain, Bloodworms are best avoided for fish prone to constipation. They should be fed sparingly as a treat if you feed them at all, in my opinion.
Dr. Jim Greenwood of the Canterbury Veterinary Clinic suggests we avoid large imported bloodworms entirely, "A note of caution here on feeding the larger imported frozen bloodworm. These worms have a chitinous exoskeleton and numerous bristles that are indigestible for fishes with small intestinal apertures. The meaty portion of the worm is readily processed, but the hard bits remain and clog up the stomach in an immovable mass. Be careful not to feed your discus, rainbows and some tetras on the larger bloodworms."
You may also wish to presoak foods to avoid constipation, especially pellet forms. There's a happy medium there - soaking them too long may cause the food to lose some of its nutrient value. If you soak the food and its still hard & largely the same size after a reasonable amount of time, switch to another brand. Often in the desire to be stable in water, foods are difficult to consume and digest. Likewise, if the food expands too much, feed very little as the fish will overeat and repent later as the food expands in its stomach. Freeze-dried foods should be presoaked for fish who are particularly prone to constipation, and fed sparingly to all fish.
Diagnosis
You may observe small or non-existent bowl movements, or hard, trailing feces. Undigested pellets are another indication that all is not well, be it a problem with digesting them or overfeeding.
Unfortunately, the bloat that constipation causes will often be mistaken for a disease, such as 'Dropsy' (which is more a symptom of a disease than a disease itself). It can also include Swim Bladder symptoms as the blockages and swelling can impact the Swim Bladder, making the fish swim erratically. Hobbyists will often treat for Dropsy or Swim Bladder Disease and the problem worsens or the fish dies. The first step in any situation where a fish is bloated from an unknown cause should always be to treat for constipation.
Treatment:
Luckily you have two choices in treatment but the first steps are the same.
~ Stop feeding (except for foods suggested below).
~ Do a waterchange.
~ Turn the heat up a degree or two.
Then use one or both of the following methods to remove the blockage:
Food Method: If the fish will eat, try feeding softened (barely cooked), pealed, quartered peas or pre-soaked freeze-dried or fresh Daphnia.
Epsom Salts: If the fish won't eat or the peas/Daphnia didn't work, treat the water with Epsom Salts. You can also combine the two treatments if the fish seems to be worsening too quickly to wait for an outcome. Some say you can just add the Epsom Salts to the tank and do a water change when the fish has a bowel movement. Others say it should be given in a bath. If the fish is in a q-tank, I would leave it in the salts until they work, but not for more than 24 hours. The reason I say that is because I believe that moving the fish in and out of a bath is more stressful. You can also reduce the amount of Epsom salts for a long term bath. If you don't like that idea, place the fish in an Epsom Salt bath for about half an hour and then return him to his q-tank. The recommended doseage for Epsom Salts is 1TBSP/Gallon.
When It Doesn't Work
If the treatment for constipation does not work on your bloated fish, you are probably looking at one of two things:
~ An internal injury.
~ A bacterial infection.
Unfortunately, successful treatment of either condition is rare. I have never had luck with antibiotics but you may wish to try them. If so, be sure to treat in a quarantine tank and follow the directions on the package to the letter. If the fish does not seem to respond, you may wish to consider euthanization.
Hopefully it will not come to that and the odds are for you - the majority of bloat cases are, in fact, digestion related. :Smile:
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© Please note: While you are welcome to link directly to this thread, the contents are the copyrighted property of Melody McKinnon and cannot be copied. Thank you for respecting the effort that we've put into our content.
---------------------------------------------------------
Fish do get constipated! It is a problem especially for laterally compressed fish and other fish seem especially prone to it, such as Goldfish & Bettas. Constipation can and will kill your fish if the blockage is not addressed.
Preventing Constipation
Like humans, roughage/fiber is important to avoiding fish constipation. Even Carnivores get vegetation through the stomachs of the fish they consume in the wild. Make sure that your fish receives the appropriate amount of fiber. The amount required for good digestion depends on the fish, so some research is in order. Too much for the wrong fish or via the wrong source is also not good for their digestive system.
Carnivores, as a rule, do not digest vegetable fiber well and it is not required in quantity due to a short digestive tract. According to About.com's Freshwater Fish Expert, Shirley Sharpe, a Carnivore diet should contain less than 4% fiber. Not all fish 'classed' as Carnivores are created equal though, so research your particular fish. Many African Cichlids, for example, would be classed as Carnivores in the hobby but they should have more vegetation in their diet.
Herbivores and Omnivores require far more vegetation in their diet than Carnivores, some moreso than others. High protein diets without adequate vegetable fiber (most commercial foods don't even come close to adequate) are going to be very difficult for your fish to process. Your vegie-loving fish have long digestive tracts and a diet high in fiber is required for efficient and optimum function. 'Optimum' being the operative - some fish will appear to do just fine without any special dietary efforts, but that does not mean that their digestive system isn't struggling to handle it, which can be an invisible source of stress.
Offset high-protein meals with high-fiber meals, such as (barely) cooked peas, homemade vegetable-based food or a good vegetable flake. Make sure your vegetable flake is primarily vegetation (a label of 'vegetable' or 'spirulina' does not always mean that the product contains a high percentage of said vegetation). Vegetable protein is an awesome form for your herbivorous and omnivorous creatures, such as the protein in seaweed and peas. Vegetable protein offers efficient uptake & digestibility, with the uptake from seaweed providing far superior uptake by comparison to any terrestrial plant.
High Protein foods are notorious for causing constipation, especially Bloodworms. Be it the shape or the high protein & iron they contain, Bloodworms are best avoided for fish prone to constipation. They should be fed sparingly as a treat if you feed them at all, in my opinion.
Dr. Jim Greenwood of the Canterbury Veterinary Clinic suggests we avoid large imported bloodworms entirely, "A note of caution here on feeding the larger imported frozen bloodworm. These worms have a chitinous exoskeleton and numerous bristles that are indigestible for fishes with small intestinal apertures. The meaty portion of the worm is readily processed, but the hard bits remain and clog up the stomach in an immovable mass. Be careful not to feed your discus, rainbows and some tetras on the larger bloodworms."
You may also wish to presoak foods to avoid constipation, especially pellet forms. There's a happy medium there - soaking them too long may cause the food to lose some of its nutrient value. If you soak the food and its still hard & largely the same size after a reasonable amount of time, switch to another brand. Often in the desire to be stable in water, foods are difficult to consume and digest. Likewise, if the food expands too much, feed very little as the fish will overeat and repent later as the food expands in its stomach. Freeze-dried foods should be presoaked for fish who are particularly prone to constipation, and fed sparingly to all fish.
Diagnosis
You may observe small or non-existent bowl movements, or hard, trailing feces. Undigested pellets are another indication that all is not well, be it a problem with digesting them or overfeeding.
Unfortunately, the bloat that constipation causes will often be mistaken for a disease, such as 'Dropsy' (which is more a symptom of a disease than a disease itself). It can also include Swim Bladder symptoms as the blockages and swelling can impact the Swim Bladder, making the fish swim erratically. Hobbyists will often treat for Dropsy or Swim Bladder Disease and the problem worsens or the fish dies. The first step in any situation where a fish is bloated from an unknown cause should always be to treat for constipation.
Treatment:
Luckily you have two choices in treatment but the first steps are the same.
~ Stop feeding (except for foods suggested below).
~ Do a waterchange.
~ Turn the heat up a degree or two.
Then use one or both of the following methods to remove the blockage:
Food Method: If the fish will eat, try feeding softened (barely cooked), pealed, quartered peas or pre-soaked freeze-dried or fresh Daphnia.
Epsom Salts: If the fish won't eat or the peas/Daphnia didn't work, treat the water with Epsom Salts. You can also combine the two treatments if the fish seems to be worsening too quickly to wait for an outcome. Some say you can just add the Epsom Salts to the tank and do a water change when the fish has a bowel movement. Others say it should be given in a bath. If the fish is in a q-tank, I would leave it in the salts until they work, but not for more than 24 hours. The reason I say that is because I believe that moving the fish in and out of a bath is more stressful. You can also reduce the amount of Epsom salts for a long term bath. If you don't like that idea, place the fish in an Epsom Salt bath for about half an hour and then return him to his q-tank. The recommended doseage for Epsom Salts is 1TBSP/Gallon.
When It Doesn't Work
If the treatment for constipation does not work on your bloated fish, you are probably looking at one of two things:
~ An internal injury.
~ A bacterial infection.
Unfortunately, successful treatment of either condition is rare. I have never had luck with antibiotics but you may wish to try them. If so, be sure to treat in a quarantine tank and follow the directions on the package to the letter. If the fish does not seem to respond, you may wish to consider euthanization.
Hopefully it will not come to that and the odds are for you - the majority of bloat cases are, in fact, digestion related. :Smile:
---------------------------------------------------------
© Please note: While you are welcome to link directly to this thread, the contents are the copyrighted property of Melody McKinnon and cannot be copied. Thank you for respecting the effort that we've put into our content.
---------------------------------------------------------