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Hello, we have several of the L260 queen plecs. 55g, water parameters are within range... but I've lost two of them since this morning... both of them looked completely normal except for extremely bloated bellies. I do not wish to loose anymore, if anyone has any ideas what's going on and what I can do to stop this from happening to the rest I would be greatly appreciative. Thank you!

Edit: Warning to those with weak constitutions reading this thread, this show contains graphic subject matter.

Last edited by ~jamie~ at 06-Sep-2005 18:03

Do a large water change just in case, I would do 50% or so. Has anything in the tank changed?

Sudden bloat like that can be a lot of things, sounds like dropsy which can look like extreme tummy bloat in scaleless fish and happen really fast. There are a lot of different causes of dropsy so it's a bit tricky narrowing it down. Septicaemia is a common cause of sudden dropsy and can progress that quickly, the hemorraging it causes can look like really bloated bellies. Check the bodies over really carefully for any bloody streaks.

(WARNING: STOP READING NOW IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH!!!) If you have the stomach for it you can cut the bellies open and see if there is any hemorraging. You will notice a lot of bloody (red or yellow tinged) fluid in the body cavity. You should also be able to see whatever is causing the distended tummies, whether it's fluid buildup, hemmorage, etc.(OK, safe to read again now)

I wouldn't treat the tank with anything though, for now just do a large water change.

I cut open the belly... I didn't see anything out of the ordinary... just gutts and yellow stuff. No parasites or anything, didn't even see blood or any bloody streaks. It sure did smell gross however. I will do a large water change... but what will that do? Thanks.

Last edited by ~jamie~ at 06-Sep-2005 17:04

wouldn't the yellow stuff you saw be a sign of infection? - you know like pus in spots only on a larger scale?

or is the yellow stuff normal?

GFG

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Just in case there is anything in the water causing it (which I usually suspect when you have any sudden deaths that you can't explain), a water change will remove it. With dropsy it could be anything, it's usually a sign of organ failure that could happen from a lot of different things that are hard to narrow down. Poisoning could do it, so a water change is a good idea.

The body cavity shouldn't smell that bad unless the fish have been sitting around for a while. And the yellow stuff you saw....I don't mean to be morbid but could you describe it?

(This thread should have a warning label)

How are the other fish looking?

The yellow stuff was a mostly clear like liquid. It had not been dead more than a couple of hours and had only been out of the water for a matter of minutes before being disected. I did feel that the smell was rather foul even for the inside of a plec not out of water long!!!! *yuck* Is there something I can treat the tank with to make sure the other plecs don't have it in the tank? All of the other fish appear at this point to be okay.

If you want to be totally safe, treat the tank with a broad spectrum antibiotic. The yellow fluid and the bad smell sound suspicious to me. I just hesitate because sometimes plecs don't take well to meds. Maybe try 1/2 dose and then go from there.

Try something like Furan 2, Jungle Fungus Eliminator (better) or Fungus Clear, etc.