Diana hogfish bloated

swervinscoot · Mar 16, 2023

Over the weekend I broke down the tank he was living in as I am upgrading my fish only which I will post more about later on. Unfortunately where the new tank is going and where the “old” tank was I could not keep the one up and running. Moved the fish into my QT set up for the mean time.
All fish have been in the system for 5 days now and noticed last night that the hogfish didn’t eat much, was eating fine the day before. Also noticed the day before he was loving the nori and ate a lot of it. Then tonight he is bloated right around his anus. The fish is having no issues swimming and controlling buoyancy, just not eating well and now quite bloated.
I have had the fish now for around 2 months and has been doing great.
Any idea?

water temp - 77
Nitrate - 9.9
Ammonia- 0
Phos- .09

vetteguy53081 · Mar 16, 2023

swervinscoot said:
Over the weekend I broke down the tank he was living in as I am upgrading my fish only which I will post more about later on. Unfortunately where the new tank is going and where the “old” tank was I could not keep the one up and running. Moved the fish into my QT set up for the mean time.
All fish have been in the system for 5 days now and noticed last night that the hogfish didn’t eat much, was eating fine the day before. Also noticed the day before he was loving the nori and ate a lot of it. Then tonight he is bloated right around his anus. The fish is having no issues swimming and controlling buoyancy, just not eating well and now quite bloated.
I have had the fish now for around 2 months and has been doing great.
Any idea?

water temp - 77
Nitrate - 9.9
Ammonia- 0
Phos- .09

Appears to be constipation. Have you been feeding this fish a lot of pellet foods?
did this fish at one time have flukes?

this may be what is referred to as edema where the fish has a hard time maintaining its bodily fluids with the current tank water related to kidney or liver failure.
If you see rapid breathing , it may involve the fish's entire body. often feeding brine shrimp IF eating may help any stuck foods pass as prolapse may be developing.
Constipation
Egg binding (females unable to lay their eggs)
Over eating (my personal issue)
Ascites - fluid in the abdomen due to liver/kidney failure
Edema - fluid build up in the all of the fish's tissues (unlikely in this case as the rest of the fish isn't bloated)

Second opinion. . . @Jay Hemdal

swervinscoot · Mar 16, 2023

No hard breathing or any signs of stress other than during the move. I feed that tank clams, mysis, brine, pellets and nori. This is mixed through out the week and he would eat all of it. Also has never had flukes since I’ve had him, I always fresh dip and QT new fish.

Jay Hemdal · Mar 17, 2023

Looks like it could be an intestinal blockage, perhaps from gorging on nori. In the picture, it seems to have a bunch of tiny bubbles trapped in mucus around its vent, any idea what that is from?

Jay

swervinscoot · Mar 17, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Looks like it could be an intestinal blockage, perhaps from gorging on nori. In the picture, it seems to have a bunch of tiny bubbles trapped in mucus around its vent, any idea what that is from?

Jay

The problem came up right after the nori so that makes sense. His scales are doing the “pinecone” and allowing bubbles to get trapped. I do aerate the qt.

Still swimming fine this morning and no heavy breathing.

swervinscoot · Mar 20, 2023

I’ve mixed kanaplex and focus with a little entice as he is not eating. Any one have any luck with a possible force feed? I know if this isn’t a parasite or constipation I could make it worse but I have to do something for him!

Jay Hemdal · Mar 20, 2023

swervinscoot said:
I’ve mixed kanaplex and focus with a little entice as he is not eating. Any one have any luck with a possible force feed? I know if this isn’t a parasite or constipation I could make it worse but I have to do something for him!

Here is my article on tube feeding fish. However, if this is a blockage, tube feeding will only worsen the condition by adding more food.

Tube / Force Feeding Fish

This article describes methods of tube-feeding and force-feeding fish

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

swervinscoot · Mar 20, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Here is my article on tube feeding fish. However, if this is a blockage, tube feeding will only worsen the condition by adding more food.

Tube / Force Feeding Fish

This article describes methods of tube-feeding and force-feeding fish

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thank you and nothing I can really do if it is a blockage?

Jay Hemdal · Mar 21, 2023

swervinscoot said:
Thank you and nothing I can really do if it is a blockage?

Some people have found that moving the fish helps - I suspect that the fish thrashing around when being caught helps move things along. Epsom salts helps, but for marine fish, it needs to be added to the food at 3% by weight, and if the fish isn't eating, then you can't do that.

Jay