Kole Tang Very Bloated Today Help!!

[splix]

I noticed my yellow eye kole tang is crazy fat this afternoon, but it's beyond what looks normal. I did feed a decent amount of nori this morning and I'm hoping he just gorged himself on it but still...something doesnt seem right. I've had this guy for almost a year now.

He's swimming fine. He's able to maneuver like normal, but he's acting off. Usually he's very care free, swimming around like crazy kissing the glass and rocks. Now he's just swimming from cave to cave and hovering. No one bothers him, he doesnt bother anyone else.

Any ideas? I've got the QT warming up now just incase.

Trying to get good pics of him, but he keeps swimming away.

 

[Humblefish]

I would hope its just constipation. Try feeding a peeled boiled pea (or several) to help push things out. If that doesn't work, we'll consider other options.

 

[splix]

Going to try peas. Hopefully he eats them. Trying to get him to eat them without the others attacking the food is going to be tricky.

 

[splix]

Just tried boiled peas, he's refusing to eat.

 

[melypr1985]

Just tried boiled peas, he's refusing to eat.

You can keep trying every so often to see if you can get him to eat a few. You might try adding a little garlic to them or soaking them with mysis to make them smell more appealing. If he's back to normal by morning then I'd say he was just a huge pig today and you would want to moderate his food intake so he doesn't get unhealthy from it.

 

[splix]

I've not done anything abnormal I havent been doing for the last 8 months. 2 squares of nori in the morning. I fed NLS pellets about 2pm but wasnt paying much attention since I was working. He's usually not one to sit there and pig out to the point of getting ridiculous.
Best case is a good chunk of nori was torn off and floated around and he randomly decided to just eat the whole thing (which still isnt like him).

 

[splix]

I got him into QT at around 1am (why am I always catching fish at 1am....). This morning he's not looking any better but the QT gives me the chance to isolate him and help him without interference from others. I added about 6 tsb of mag sulfate to the QT water (around 15g) since I guess it's supposed to help with muscle relaxation.

It's definitely digestive now that I've gotten a good look at him.

 

[Humblefish]

@splix Another option you have is to dose Kanaplex into the water. The active ingredient (kanamycin) lists diarrhea as a side effect.

 

[splix]

To update: The poor guy didnt make it.
My LFS had an idea since he recently had the same thing with an angel and was able to "purge" his bladder and relieve him and all was well with that fish. I tried to get the owner to come to the house but he was crazy busy and wouldnt have been able to make it today. I had nori in the QT which the kole didnt touch so that concerned me. I decided it probably couldnt wait and I would take him to the LFS myself. He died on the way to the LFS. I guess he was a lot worse than I had expected and the little bit of stress pulling him from QT was enough to push him over the edge.
Sorry little guy, I tried everything.

 

[melypr1985]

I'm sorry for your loss. The "surgery" of deflating the swim bladder is pretty risky. There's a really good video of how to do it in the stickies and as an article I believe. It's worth a watch and read for sure.