FoxFace bloated! Help!

[iReefer12]

Had my foxface for almost 7 years. Extremely healthy, usually eats like a pig.

Came down to the tank the other day and he is massively bloated and is not eating.

Could this be constipation? Or is it dropsy?

Not sure what to do.

 

[Reeferdood]

@Humblefish

 

[Humblefish]

Could be constipation or an internal infection making his abdomen swell up like that. (Aeromonas bacteria can cause edema.)

Can you QT? Kanamycin (e.g. Seachem Kanaplex) targets aeromonads, and another benefit is it lists diarrhea as a possible side effect. So, you'd be covered either way. I've successfully used Kanamycin to treat a PBT with a similar condition. Food soaking the medication would be reef safe (provided you also use Seachem Focus to bind it), but you said the fish has stopped eating.

 

[iReefer12]

I’m really not sure I’m going to be able to catch him/her, usual trick with the fish trap only works if there eating, tearing the tank apart is not something that I really want to do.

Dose epsom salt?

 

[iReefer12]

What’s weird is that I was running without a UV, and I just set up a UV the day before the symptoms showed up? Coincidence? UV should have helped if it was bacteria right?

 

[Humblefish]

Dose epsom salt?

Worth a shot - 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water.

What’s weird is that I was running without a UV, and I just set up a UV the day before the symptoms showed up? Coincidence? UV should have helped if it was bacteria right?

A UV will (usually) prevent an infection from spreading (to other fish) in the water. But it provides no direct benefit to an already infected specimen.

 

[iReefer12]

Yeah, didn’t see the symptoms before turning the UV on, and the issue wasn’t the reason for the UV install, just installed it for piece of mind in the future, so just seemed coincidental.

I’ll give the epsom salt a try, I have tried feeding the Dr G’s bacterial food, but didn’t look like the foxface ate any. I’ll keep you updated, fortunately she was healthy and fat before this, so hopefully she can pull through.

 

[iReefer12]

I just noticed some white stringy poop from the foxface. Mmmm what does this mean?

 

[Big G]

I just noticed some white stringy poop from the foxface. Mmmm what does this mean?

Internal parasites. QT with dosing General Cure should take care of it. Catching the fish: wait until it's dark in the room and the lights have been off for at least a couple of hours. Using a small flashlight, shine the light at the fish's face. The light will mesmerize the fish. Net it. Works pretty good. Best of luck.

 

[iReefer12]

Just confirming this is okay stuff to use.

 

[Humblefish]

 

[Clownfish2]

Had my foxface for almost 7 years. Extremely healthy, usually eats like a pig.

Came down to the tank the other day and he is massively bloated and is not eating.

Could this be constipation? Or is it dropsy?

Not sure what to do.

Same thing happened to my Sailfin Tang. I put him in a QT with furan 2, kanaplex, and metroplex. When he got bloated he stopped eating. His bloating disappeared in 5-6 days.

 

[iReefer12]

I decided not to remove the fox face, she/he is not the type of fish that would have dealt with the stress of being removed well at all.

Happy to report, the foxface is back to full health and is eating fine and the bloating has gone away. So hopefully she was just constipated and that’s what it was.

 

[iReefer12]

So strange, 9 months later and the same thing has re-occurred with the foxface.

Looks worse this time, and it’s been about a week and it’s still the same as it was...

Had her for 7 years, but don’t think she’s gonna pull through this one.

 

[Big G]

Oh, man! Sorry to hear the condition has reappeared on your Foxface.

 

[iReefer12]

I tried one last round of Epsom salt last night, if it’s dropsy then nothing I can do, but strange that she overcame these exact symptoms 9 months ago, could it just be constipation?

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I tried one last round of Epsom salt last night, if it’s dropsy then nothing I can do, but strange that she overcame these exact symptoms 9 months ago, could it just be constipation?

Try boiling a pea and skinning it. Feed the pea innards to help constipation

 

[WVNed]

Could the fish be egg bound?

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Has anyone tried to give a fish antiinflammatories? Not even sure how to go about it, but may have benefiti n situations like this.

 

[iReefer12]

Boiling pees won’t work as the fish won’t eat.

Not sure on the eggs, there’s not another foxface in the tank, do they just produce eggs regardless?

Not sure on anti inflammatory, seems like that would just help the symptom and not the cause.