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hi guys,i was just reading the profile on the chichlasoma grammodes(mini dovi)and it said that these guys can sometimes get bloat due to bad water ect,ect.what is it,and what does it look like and can other types of chiclid catch it,like oscars,cons,firemouths ect ect.

Bloat is not a transmitable disease. Your fish get it from eating too much of the wrong thing. If you have a veggie eater, and eats too much protein, it can get bloat. Bloat is a disorder that "clogs" the passage of "crap"(bowel movement)spelling? Your fish will get an enlarged stomach and will continue to grow. Simple terms Bloat= Constipation. Hope this helps.

great, well now i know,id just never heard of it,in all the time ive had fish,and its always good to no a little bit about these type of things(thats why i rekon anyway).thanx.

[link=here's]http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Ranson_Malawi_Bloat.html" style="COLOR: #000080[/link] a nice article about bloat. this article is mainly aimed at malawi cichlids, however the bloat discussed is also the same bloat that some new worlds such as the grammodes, istlanum, beani, haitiensis and several thorichthys can be susceptible too.

as for the causes, yes improper diet can be a cause. however there are other causes as well. with many new worlds, the cause is either overfeeding (as is usually the case with Thorichthys species) or poor water quality as is usually the case with the grammodes complex (beani, grammodes, haitiensis and istlanum). I really don't think the grammodes is all that susceptible, I just put that in the profile as a general warning. all species in the grammodes complex come from very fast moving waters so they're used to very clean and well oxygenated waters. power heads and many frequent water changes can be used to replicate these conditions in the aquarium.

wow thankz heaps jason,that was a great article.ive never had this happen to any of my africans,but its always good to be able to do as much as possible to prevent these things from happening.

[link=Excellent Help]http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

This has some excellent help and it could kould help you.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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thanx that was also very informing.

No problem glad to have helped you.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

i just checked out your links,(keithgh)all i can can say is WOW,those pics of your tank are beautiful,and the pears and bannana,the fish frame,how on earth did u think of these,u must be doing something write,all your fish look top shelf,well done a great setup and feeding program.i almost forgot what it looks like to have a beautiful tank,keeping mostly agro chiclids this is somewhat hard most of the time,being destructive and digging stuff up.ill have to take a page from your book,once again well done.

Last edited by hokese at 11-Dec-2005 23:36

Oh, you can have a beautiful Cichlid tnk, but it takes a LOT of planning!

Many big Cichlids will rip up plants, so they're out of the window for a start. Which tends to leave rocks and bogwood/driftwood as your main decor.

And, as you've proably discovered already, even when not breeding, some Cichlids like to dig. When breeding, of course, even the ones not normally considered bad diggers can turn overnight into underwater bulldozers capable of excavating the Panama Canal in your aquarium, so rocks and driftwood have to be fixed firmly in place. In general, you can have a beautifully decorated Cichlid aquarium if you're prepared to cement things together with VERY strong adhesives such as aquarium-safe epoxy resins. Which for some of the bigger fishes you'll need to stop them tearing the setup apart ...

I recall a quote from Dr Paul Loiselle in The Cichlid Room on the subject of Guapotes - he said that they're not necessarily worse diggers than other Cichlids, but upon account of their physical size and powerful musculature, when they DO start digging, they're more successful at it. A big Guapote can shift a surprisingly heavy rock with startling ease, and bring an unstable rockwork setup crashing through the front glass into the living room if you're not careful, so with the bigger Cichlids, cementing your decor in place so that it's immovable except via explosives is probably the way to go if you want your Cichlid tanks to look decorative.

If you can get an aquarium safe rock that can also be sculpted with tools, carving cave formations out of one big solid rock would also be a way to go, but now you're in the realm of industrial hammer drills and other outlandish bits of kit, so unless you make your living breaking up roads with a pneumatic hammer drill, perhaps this is one approach that isn't for you!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

i no what you mean,but i chipped out a mad cave(sandstone) for my blue acara,with a hammer,and a concrete hand chipper(like a blunt chisel).i do have bogwood/driftwood and rocks all siliconed up,(i found that out the hard way,ages ago a blue afra pinned himself under a rock(diggen like a mad man) untill the morn when i found him,he was ok).anyway i just meant that its been a while since having a nice peacefull tank with vibrant coloured plants..one other thing i did(most of you probly know it already),for one of my b/n i got a peice of 1 inch pvc pipe,covered it in silocone,then dipped it into a container full of gravel,let it dry,then you have a great little cave that looks great.