Sailfin Tang has swollen overnight!!??

[dun2run]

This morning I noticed my sailfin tang was still hiding out in his "cave". He finally came out when I fed him and I noticed his belly is really swollen. It looks like its really throwing him "off balance", he just kinda drifts around now. All this happened overnight because he looked and acted normal yesterday.

I feed a very small amount because I only have the sailfin and a yellow tang so far. What could be going on??????

[dun2run]

bump

[dun2run]

anybody home?

[Shane Hoffman]

Google swim blatter issues

[Shane Hoffman]

Oh and "aquarium fish bloat"

[dun2run]

Should I go a day without feeding and see what happens?

[squidy3]

Wish I could help but this is a new one for me. Keep us posted as I also have a sailfin.

[dun2run]

Sailfin still bloated today. Fed some nori and the yellow tang ate well. Sailfin didnt seem too interested. Hes still hiding out in their sleeping spot.

[MarineGirl411]

Can u post a picture?

[Daniel Reef]

I found this info at http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm

Dropsy

Symptoms: Bloating of the body, protruding scales.

Dropsy is caused from a bacterial infection of the kidneys, causing fluid accumulation or renal failure. The fluids in the body build up and cause the fish to bloat up and the scales to protrude. It appears to only cause trouble in weakened fish and possibly from unkempt aquarium conditions.
An effective treatment is to add an antibiotic to the food. With flake food, use about 1% of antibiotic and carefully mix it in. If you keep the fish hungry they should eagerly eat the mixture before the antibiotic dissipates. Antibiotics usually come in 250 mg capsules. If added to 25 grams of flake food, one capsule should be enough to treat dozens of fish. A good antibiotic is chloromycetin (chloramphenicol). Or use tetracycline. If you feed your fish frozen foods or chopped foods, try to use the same ratio with mixing. As a last resort add at most 10 mg per liter of water. Also, if unkempt conditions are the suspected cause, correct it.

African Bloat or "Malawi Bloat"

Symptoms: The first sign of 'bloat' is loss of appetite which is then followed by swelling of the abdomen, labored breathing, listlessness, reclusiveness, possible red striations on the body, and stringy white feces. .

There seems to be no explainable rationale as to its cause of bloat. Once a fish becomes afflicted it is often fatal. A fish that is not eating must be treated immediately or it can quickly become incurable and die. Though It is not certain what this disease is, it is generally believed to be caused by a protozoal parasite complicated by bacterial infection. Bloat is a serious malady often associated with African cichlids especially those from Lake Malawi, thus the common name 'Malawi Bloat'. The Tropheus species from Lake Tanganyika are also very susceptible.

The most common cause of this disease is stress and the first sign if illness is not eating. Stress can be caused by such things as transport, netting, poor water quality, insufficient diet, over feeding, and a lack of hiding places. Other causes, that are easily remedied, are an improper diet and adding too much salt to the water. Prevention is of utmost importance, and It is possibly to cure a fish if treated right away.

Following are some techniques aquarists use:

* Any new specimens you obtain can have bloat or will often soon develop it. When you first acquire them try to provide them with the same food that the dealer was feeding, and then wean them onto a good vegetable based diet; Spirulina flake and pellet.
* Some will soak the food in dissolved metronidazol and feed them that for the first few days when first obtained. Seachem makes a metronidazol that can be bound to food when used with their Focus product.
* A good vegetable based diet is important.
* A healthy group of fish will eat with gusto. But even though they can be very active feeders it is important to not overfeed them. Keep an eye on them, and if one is not eating with vigor some aquarists will then treat the tank with Clout.
* One author says that they will segregate an ailing fish the second they see signs of not eating, and then will do water changes every day for 5 days in the main aquarium.

Metronidazol is considered the most reliable cure and some use Clout as another cure, but do not use them together.