Sunken Stomach

[FaerieWhings]

Hi. I was wondering if anyone can help me with my fish. We have a tank of African Cichlids. One has developed a sunken in stomach (almost like an upside down 'V'). This fish isn't behaving as if it is sick and has an appetite. It seems strong; when ever I try to catch it, it swims very fast into the rocks that we have set up.

Does anyone have any idea what is wrong and if this could affect the other fish in the tank?

A little history: We have had this set up for about 4 months or so. Previously the tank had Oscars in it. We adopted out the Oscars, cleaned the tank and prepared it for the Cichlids. About a month ago we were losing one fish after the other due to an over load of nitrates from our pletcos waste. I'm not sure if this would have anything to do with it, but just thought that the brief history may be of help.

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I just remembered that the fish does behave a little strange, twitching and swimming sideways occasionally.

Thanks in advance for any information.

 

[tjudy]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

Can you tell me the species of fish we are dealign with here? Sunken bellies can be a number of things, but the most common is a fish eatign the wrong diet. There are westies wiith feeding stratefies ranging from phytoplankto to other fish, and everything in between.

Ted

 

[FaerieWhings]

Cichlids

My fish are cichlids. The only reason I didn't say that was because I thought this was a cichlid only forum. Can we ask about other fish here as well? I have a second smaller tank that I am having problems with as well, but that is another story.

From what I read the most probable reason is a bacterial infection. Could this be the issue? We are feeding them cichlid pellets. HBH African Cichlid Attack small sinking pellets.

 

[tjudy]

Hi,

We are a dwarf cichlid forum, but we will talk about anything... and try to help regardless of what type of fish you have. There are many hundred (thousands?... anyone have an actual somewhat accurate count?) species of ciclids in the world. Africa has more species that all other continents combined. Some are herbivores that need adiet of green vegetable matter only, others are carnivores... most fall somewhere in between. The oscars that you adopted out are carnivorous cichlids from South America. Knowing the type of cichlid would help.

I suspect that your African cichlids are some fo the many colorful speies from Lake Malawi in east Africa. Many of those species cannot handle high protein in their diet. The HBH African Cichlid Attack is a good food, but it is designed for the fish from that lake that are more meat eaters. I would suggest a spirulina-based flake food as a supplement to the HBH food.

 

[FaerieWhings]

Ok. I'll change the food, but this is the only fish that is like that. Is it possibly a parasite or bacterial infection? And can that infect the other fish? What could I do? This fish won't let me catch it to get it to the fish store to be looked at. Like I said, it is eating just fine, so it's not starving. I'm just at a loss. I think this fish also lost it's color, we had only colorful fish and this one is a dull grey.

 

[tjudy]

I doubt the problem is bacterial. Those infections in cichlids almost always result in the fish bloating. A parasite is possible, but there are usually other signs if an intestinal parasite is in the fish. Usually a swollen and/or red anus. Intestinal parasites are really not all that common in tank or farm raised fish. Wild fish are a differnt story. It is very unlikely that your fish are wild. Wild stock from Africa is sold through specialty retailers for high prices and are marketed as being wild caught.

I am going to move this thread to the health forum. Some members into helping with these issues might not be looking at the thread in this forum.

 

[FaerieWhings]

Thanks. I'll look at the fish's tail. I am not a fish expert, we have a tank for about 2 years now, but this just seemed weird to me.