L240 bloated, breathing rapidly

[drpleco]

Hi everyone,

I need help with my large female L240. I've had her two years and she's been perfectly healthy the whole time, but then I found her the other night bloated and breathing very, very fast.

I've been treating with tetracycline and metronidazole (the only meds I had on hand), with no improvement over three days. Eyes are getting cloudy, as well. On a positive note, she's not getting worse, but definitely not getting better.

Can anyone offer any suggestions for effective treatment? The only other med I have right now is prazi, but that reduces oxygen in the water and would probably kill the fish. I doubt this would be a parasite issue, anyway. I'm thinking egg impaction or an internal infection.

Parameters are fine - it's the same tank the colony has been in for two years. There are two adult males and four females from 5-9".

Thanks in advance

[CanadaPleco]

have you changed their food lately? I had a number of L240 bloat real bad after a food change (too much meat).

[drpleco]

thanks for the reply! I generally feed NLS pellets to all of my fish but I do remember using up some frozen brine shrimp a few weeks ago.

How did you treat your fish?

[Janne]

The only way I have succeed to cure bloated plecos is to isolate the specie in their own tank, high temp. 29-30C with good circulation, add 750mg-1g (1,5-2 tablets) Metronidazole + salt 30-50mg/100L water day 1, day two Metronidazole 500mg (1 tablet) and then I do nothing, no feeding until the stomach look normal which can take from a week to a month and sometimes more. OBS: no food at all under the whole treatment until it looks normal, even if it take 1 month.

Depending how long time the pleco have been bloated it may not able to save all, the earlier the better and higher odds to succeed.

Janne

[apistomaster]

There are several possible causes for plecos bloating but the one I have encountered most often, even among those species with carnivorous leanings, is when they are fed beef heart blends frequently as some plecos are when kept with Discus being fed frozen blended beef heart regularly.
I have never been able to save any from that type of bloat or any other.
I believe what Janne wrote but I doubt if many fish can be saved even using his method once they are badly bloated.
I sell a lot of L134 and L333 to Discus keepers but I always warn them before hand to avoid feeding plecos a meat diet.

Frozen Blood worms and brine shrimp are normally safe unless the package has been thawed and refrozen.

[wrasse]

The problem with putting an antibiotic in the water is it can wipe out your filter bacteria.
I used metranizadol (prescribed following dental treatment) to successfully treat a geophagus with a nasty condition... a skin and scale-eating infection exposing patches of bare flesh. The fish was still eating well, so i crushed the antibiotic tablet and mixed some of it with a home-made shrimp meal. Each time it ate it was getting approx half a tablet of the drug, which is probably way too much, but it ate for 4 days before it went off its food. The infection cleared-up and the skin and scales grew back.
I wondered that the antibiotic was going into an enclosed system and could still affect the filter, but by treating the fish internally I think it worked faster and directly.
If your pleco is still eating and you have a suitable food to mix/conceal the medication in, I'd try it.

[apistomaster]

I don't think sulfa drugs have much effect on biological filtration.
The classic antibiotics which originate from molds are the worst offenders.
That said, if it is possible to get the fish to ingest antibiotics the drugs tend to be more effective.
It is just a fact that in many cases sick fish don't eat well and so it is often necessary to at least begin with the bath method of treatment.

[Unungy]

I had good results feeding garlic if they are still willing to eat.

If they do not want to eat I will normally submerge them in garlic water intervals of 30-60 seconds 5-6 times twice per day for a whole week. I will not provide any other food while his treatment but garlic

[drpleco]

Thanks everyone. She's still alive, not noticeably worse, but not noticably better. The metronidazole as a bath is at least, maybe, preventing the problem from getting worse. I've treated african cichlids for bloat using metro and it worked great as a bath, so hopefully she'll do better over time.

I forgot that I fed the tank blackworms when I went on 4 days vacation in early September. Maybe that was the root of this.

[apistomaster]

I feed my plecos black worms regularly but in small amounts at a given feeding. I make them a part of an overall balanced diet. I might feed black worms 3 or 4 times a week but only if they are clean and their water is clear; not stained red.

I don't think Black worms are bad per se but sometimes fish do get sick when fed from a batch which is already dying.
In such a case it is the same as using refrozen thawed frozen foods where the food has gone bad.

It is nice to know that sometimes bloated plecos get well but so far I have never been so fortunate.

[drpleco]

She ended up dying last night - thanks everyone for all the help!

[Unungy]

Sorry to hear that.

[MatsP]

Also sorry to hear. Leporacanthicus are my favourites.

--
Mats

[vanillarum]

Bummer Andy, sorry to hear that.