How to prevent bloat?

daninmd

daninmd

Members
npbarca said:
I've only fed them spirulina flakes twice a day.
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I feed my adult mbuna probably 4 or 5 times per week, sometimes less and have never had bloat. these fish in the wild are not fat and super well fed. I think a lot of aquarium fish are overfed. I would cut back quite a bit. it will also save you money on food and have cleaner water. win win.
 
AquaStudent

AquaStudent

CCA Members
Could it have been because the flakes are dried? I prefer to feed my fish pellets. I have Ken's cichlid flakes that I feed occationally but I'm not a huge fan of it. I feel like it clouds the water and I often have an algae bloom after feeding with it.

I believe the dried flake foods expand when the get wet. This can expand in the bellies in the fish and cause problems. When I first started out I fed my small community tank with some of the cheap Tetra flakes. My neon tetras sometimes got so bloated that they would float upside down. (it probably didn't help that they were very aggressive and I overfed a bit to try and give the less aggressive guys some food...but the active ones just got more...). A simple switch to NLS, YFS, or other higher end foods helped out.

Not sure why spirulina flakes would cause this unless it's the flake aspect.
 
H

hollysangels

Members
Haven't kept mbuna in 15+ years but I did 33-50% w/c's everyday and treated the individuals with empson salt baths, and tank with clout-didn't lose but a few, found it to be more prevelant with F0's, maybe parasite from wild
One other thought is, I had a problem with angels dying of very similiar bloat like symptons, even though all my tanks(42) are changed a minimun of twice weekly, 25-33%, was stale food. I had food some food I forgot about(flake) and looking back within days fish started dying. Threw it out. Did massive changes for a week and since then no more problems. I now date and rotate my 15+ pounds of food I have around at any one time.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
In nature mbuna are constantly grazing auwfuchs (fancy word for algae and all of the little inverts and other stuff with them)... which means their intestines are built for high volume and low protein foods....and constant eating.

Not to say that I haven't successfully kept and bred mbuna for years on daily (or twice daily) feedings of just about any high quality flake and/or pellet but I think an ideal diet for them includes lots of algae in the tank plus Repashy Soilent green (on which they can graze). Occasional (say a couple of times per week) pellet or flake feedings can't hurt.

Worms and other high protein foods WILL cause mbuna to bloat but I think more often "bloat" is caused by: internal bacterial infections caused by stress and/or aggression and/or poor water quality (low immune system), internal organ failure from fatty deposits (lifelong diet too high in nutrition) and introducing sick fish to tanks of healthy fish (not quarantining) or just plain overfeeding (resulting in intestinal blockage).

Back to the OP: feeding spirulina flakes a couple of times per day isn't likely the cause of bloat.

Matt

daninmd said:
I feed my adult mbuna probably 4 or 5 times per week, sometimes less and have never had bloat. these fish in the wild are not fat and super well fed. I think a lot of aquarium fish are overfed. I would cut back quite a bit. it will also save you money on food and have cleaner water. win win.
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Raven20

Raven20

Members
Acpape0 said:
... Anyone ever had bloat with "xtreme" branded foods? Just curious


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I bought 12 Tropheus Ikola about a month ago..the seller was feeding them Xtreme Pee Wee pellets....I just lost 1 this morning and it looks like there are 2 more ready to go down....don't think it was from the food though..
 
npbarca

npbarca

Members
I cannot keep my tank without bloat. I've lost 8 Saulosi from it, gradually since I got them. One more has it as of yesterday. I've been doing water changes everyday, switched to a new food, and did a 75% change and rescaled the tank today. I don't know what is going on, and it is becoming very frustrating.
 
cichlidaddicted

cichlidaddicted

Members
You may want to do some research on what parasitic diseases are associated with causing bloat as a symptom. It may not be bloat your dealing with I've had fish die from bloat its usually pretty quick and not contagious. I've also lost fish that were bloated but didn't have bloat and that led to using medication.

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npbarca

npbarca

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All the fish that have died all had the same symptoms, and those symptoms matched with those symptoms of bloat. How would I know what other diseases it could be if the symptoms are exactly of bloat?
 
cichlidaddicted

cichlidaddicted

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All I'm saying is that other illnesses especially the internal parasitc ones can have symptoms that match that of bloat. If what your doing hasn't worked its time to consider other options.

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JasonC

JasonC

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cichlidaddicted said:
All I'm saying is that other illnesses especially the internal parasitc ones can have symptoms that match that of bloat. If what your doing hasn't worked its time to consider other options.

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+1 bloat is very often a symptom rather than a problem in and of itself. Unfortunately, its often the *final* symptom.
 
npbarca

npbarca

Members
What would be a good medicine to treat the bloated fish with, or the ones showing signs of bloat. I can move them to a quarantine tank for treatment. Also, would treating the main tank with polyguard be a good idea?
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
What size is the tank? Filtration? Current inhabitants?

If they all have "bloat" or are otherwise sick, I'd stick them into a separate quarantine tank (with a sponge filter), bleach the sick tank and start over.

Hopefully the sick fish will recover but it sounds like they've got internal parasites, Hex or God knows what.

When you start the tank again, make sure you quarantine anything before you add it to your tank.

Mbuna, if healthy and given a modicum of proper care, can stay healthy for many years.

Matt
 
npbarca

npbarca

Members
It's a 40b Saulosi species tank. Right now there are 7, and 2 are sick. The rest are healthy. I have 2 penguin 200's, and a large sponge filter. The other 5 are healthy, active, and eating.
 
npbarca

npbarca

Members
I can move the 5 healthy ones to some 20 longs that are empty, and treat them with meds to rid them of the parasite. Would the parasite in the main tank die eventually without a host?
 
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