Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Health => Topic started by: Beckins on June 30, 2020, 05:48:38 PM
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just got home and my rainbow fish is at the top struggling to pass a large poo what do I do???
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When you say "struggling" do you mean that the poo is very long and not dropping off?
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yes hes flapping around at the top of the water with it hanging from him
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Normally a long string of poo can be a sign of constipation and/or previous poor diet.
I've seen it with some of my fish, but I've not witnessed them struggling at the same time.
Any chance you can get a picture?
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here's a pic most of it seems to have dropped but hes still flapping. doesn't look normal either
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With the flapping is the fish gasping at the surface, or generally agitated in one area of the tank, or dashing about? Is it trying to rub itself against anything?
With the poo, what colour is it? Did it contain air bubbles?
Is the fish quite pale in general? Are there any signs of illness/infection/fungus/anything?
Have you tested your water parameters?
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Is the fish struggling to stay upright?
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He is struggling to stay upright yes keeps going upside down. kinda looks like he wants to try to swim down sometimes but he cant. Not staying in one place has been all over around the surface. The poo is kinda white/pale brown and stringy looking, not normal. Dont think hes trying to rub against anything hes just at the surface all the time flapping about.
He has got some missing fins on his top edge ...he was like this when I bought him but has been fine for the few weeks I've had him health wise other than that
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colours look normal on him
nitrite is 0ppm ammonia 0ppm I've not tested nitrates for a couple days but never seen much more than 5ppm
no bubbles in poo
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Have just started a second course of esha2000 last night....had a few days break inbetween and a water change, not sure if that's relevant or not but all my others seem fine
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I'm wondering if the fish has a bit of bloating and/or a swim bladder issue.
Looking at the picture it does look as if the stomach is slightly distended, and being at the top of the tank & struggling to stay upright could also indicate this. It does ten to stress them out as well.
I'm not sure if this could be from over-eating/constipation, or if this is a more serious issue relating to the swim bladder.
I'm going to look for some information as I don't have any experience with these particular fish.
Hopefully some of the others will also be able to offer some advice too.
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I fed them freeze dried blood worms yesterday, though I always make sure to soak them in tank water for a good time before feeding :/ maybe he ate one that was too big for him? seems to have calmed down a little now and has made a few better efforts to swim downwards but still goes back to the top
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His belly does looks a bit rounder than my other fish, what can I do about bloating will it sort itself out?
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Alot calmer and upright now just at the top still :/ better pic here seems to have finished pooping at least
Might stay away from the dried blood worms from now on :-o
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At the moment I'd be tempted to think it might be a diet/constipation issue.
I have had individual fish that have been particularly greedy, have eaten more than their share, and ended up with bloated stomachs and constipation.
If you fed the freeze dried bloodworm yesterday I wouldn't have thought soaking them would have been the problem as I would have though the fish would have had issues yesterday if the worms had swollen after eating.
Bloodworms are very popular with most of my fish, so I'd currently guess at over-eating being the possible cause with the issues you're seeing with your fish. The fact that it had managed to poo and has calmed slightly since seems like a good sign.
If it is over-eating/bloating/constipation then it wont hut for the fish not to be fed today/tomorrow, and just keep observing the fish for any further issues. Hopefully things will calm down & return to normal over the next few hours.
I'll make sure I head back to the forum on a regular basis this evening, so please keep us updated on your fish so that we can help if anything develops.
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The rainbows do always seem to have a good appetite :-o
Prehaps hes just been a piggy then. Hopefully once hes got some strength back he will start to swim back into the tank again :/ has made a couple better attempts ...
These fish are gonna give me grey hair!! Scary to see him flapping about trying to poop :(
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He may still be a bit bloated and may take a while to return to normal.
Over-eating can cause the stomach to press on the swim bladder, causing buoyancy problems.
Keep an eye on him and keep us updated.
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Yes, absolutely I would think this is a constipation issue - and that was before you mentioned the freeze-dried food which is the likely cause. I would fast the fish for a day or two, then try some pea (shell off, each half chopped into tiny morsels) to induce an intestinal clearout - possibly even trying the pea earlier if the situation deteriorates.
Are all the fish getting the eSHa 2000 treatment? If so, that can be tough on them generally and may interfere with their digestion. Usually, a hospital tank is advised to spare unnecessary treatment for any non-affected fish - a small plastic tank would be ideal but you would need another filter and heater.
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It is possible he has air trapped in his gut. Do these fish usually feed from the surface? Sometimes fish which feed on the surface gulp air in with the food. In these cases, the air passes out again through the anus.
But if this fish dioesn't feed from the surface, that's not the cause here.
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I was treating the whole tank with esha as thought it might be best to ensure my other fish weren't going to develop any fungus too?
He is pooping again now it looks big :/
My rainbows dont generally go from the top they tend to wait for most of it to start falling, still feed near the surface but occasionally they do go to the very top when they seem extra ravenous and the food hasn't fallen yet.
I do have a spare tank I bought for emergency purposes a fish pod moon 39l for £15 second hand a couple days ago, has built in filter but it's not the best, I do have spare heater too, should I get that set up and take the two tetras out then? Guess the fact it's not cycled doesnt matter so much just for 2 tetra?
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Yes, definitely best to treat in the spare tank. If you can cut / take out a small portion of the filter media from the main tank's filter and put it into the spare tank's filter (whatever fraction would correspond to the two tetras' body mass relative to the other fish), that ought to be sufficient to process the two tetras' waste.
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Any update on your fish today @Beckins
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He seems better today, he is at normal position in the tank, doesnt seem as active as he normally is though, hopefully will improve in a couple more days. Im holding off feeding for today, and gonna throw away the freeze dried bloodworms just incase that was part of the cause. I bought a frozen tropical mix from the fish shop yesterday anyway so will give that a try for a treat once a week instead :)
I have put the two tetras in a seperate tank and treating with esha2000 double dose yesterday, couple more days maybe i will see some improvement, they look all lonley in a 39L tank on their own lol.
Thankyou for all your responses, i am learning more and more each day about these fish! I seem to have been quite unlucky in some ways so far :-/ which brings me onto something else that has been bothering me about one of my female rainbows....
Shortly after i bought her i noticed she had something differerent 'inside' her to the other females, she acts totally normal and seems happy etc but im wondering what it is. Almost looks like a lump on the inside or something, the outside of her scales are unaffected. Pics attached, i circled the area its in, not so easy to see in pics i guess. (Pretty funny snap of her with her mouth open next to a tetra too lol)
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I can't actually make it out but it might be a bruise. I'm only basing that on my experience of x-ray tetras getting what looked like a splinter in that location, only for it to disappear after a few days or so. There is often individual variation between fish and it can take a while to figure out what's normal and what isn't, what's benign and not to be concerned about, and what is a disease. Without having kept that species myself, I can't be certain.
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Just to update stumpy the constipated fish is back to his normal self :) Thankyou for all your help! :fishy1:
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Thanks for the update.
You may have to keep an eye on him at feeding time if he is prone to being greedy. :)
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I have thrown away the freeze dried blood worms...and after seeing the difference in the blood worms that come in the frozen food I am glad the freeze dried ones are gone as they looked nothing like what's in the proper frozen cubes!!