HELP!! Banggai Cardinal Passing Large Mass

[Hjnlssmith]

Have had our Banggai for 6 months and has seemed very happy. Today he is not eating and has this large mass coming from his anus it looks like. Can anyone help me understand what is happening? See attached photos.

 

[ScubaFish802]

#fishmedic / @Jay Hemdal

 

[vetteguy53081]

Have had our Banggai for 6 months and has seemed very happy. Today he is not eating and has this large mass coming from his anus it looks like. Can anyone help me understand what is happening? See attached photos.

This is a condition known as rectal Prolapse. Often it is caused by Constipation, straining to get rid of stuck food portion and at times, an unknown internal parasitic infection. This will usually self-correct itself. Sometimes, adding vitamins to the food and even feeding brine shrimp will help pass what is stuck. You can treat fish with seachem kanaplex to prevent area from getting infected .

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

+1 on it being a prolapse. There isn't any treatment for this (despite what you might read about feeding peas, or soaking the fish in Epsom salts). It is a physical malfunction that sometimes retracts and heals on its own, and other times, it doesn't - sorry!

Jay

 

[MnFish1]

It is a prolapse - it's unclear a prolapse of 'what'. If it's a rectal prolapse - to me that is a worse sign. If it's a cloacal prolapse - due to eggs - they can resorb and the condition can resolve. Either way - it's a sad development - and hopefully it will improve with time.

 

[Hjnlssmith]

Thanks for all the feedback. We have placed him into a quarantine tank in hopes that that keeps him calm and away from other fish that may want to mess with him. We will watch and hope.

 

[Hjnlssmith]

An update / closeout on this thread. Two days after the original post, our Banggai is back to normal. Seems responsive now and happier. No protrusion any longer around the anus. Here are a couple of photos. Thank you for all inputs.

 

[Rugops]

An update / closeout on this thread. Two days after the original post, our Banggai is back to normal. Seems responsive now and happier. No protrusion any longer around the anus. Here are a couple of photos. Thank you for all inputs.

That's a first. Never thought fish would get a prolapse.