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Noticed a pink/white 'thing' sticking out of my Moorii's bum on Saturday. Couldn't figure out what it was... so i took him to the vet today. He has a tumor

On the bright side, my vet seems to think he'll be O.K. He's going in for surgery Wednesday (in 2 days time) and the vet seems to think the growth is still small so it's all very promissing.

Why do all of this to my fish? Ahhh... guess i like him. Had him about 3 years now and he's a good 8"s. It's a bit rare to get them that size around me. Anyway, even the surgery will cost less than trying to replace him... and i like him a lot anyway

Right now, he's in my hospital tank, hiding under his favourite piece of drift wood and swimming in a mild mix of melafix. I hope t oget back Wednesday and let you all know how his surgery went. /:'

Way to go JESTER!

Could you grab a few photos of before and after? Fish surgeries are just fascinating!

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

wow.. they have vets for fish? where have i been? iguess when all the fish i have are under $10, its not really worth looking into a vet huh?

*Chelle*
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I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

I'll do my best to get pic's. He's shy at the best of times. I'm tempted to see if the vet will let me watch... though i am meant to go to work. Hmmm... cough cough.

Yeah, this guy's not a fish vet as such. A while ago when i was at this vet with my mum and her dog (who only obeys me ), i noticed they had a 8ft high marine tank with some very happy looking fish in it. Figured i'd give them a call today and see if they had anyone with knowledge/interest in playing doctor to my boy... and the head vet said yes. Said he's done simialr things before to fish, and seemed confident. My boy deserves the chance, so we're going in. I don't think it's a dollar thing - who can put a price on love? I love this fish, he's got character and he's very beautiful when he's well. The fact he's worth more than the surgery is just easy justification for doing it to my 'accountant'.

He hasn't poo'ed for at least a day, and i fed him pea's sunday night... which he ate. So, i think me noticing is a result of him being constipated and having a bit of a blockage. IMO, he's not going to live very long with this thing in him. Better give him the chance to get it out!

Keep us updated and I hope everything goes well.

Well, it's not a tumour... it' apparently a prolapsed anus. A hernia. When my vet was preping Flipper today, he had a better chance to look at the fish and concluded it's not a tumour but a prolapsed anus. He's never seen this in fish before, and after doing a bit of reading on the web... I have concluded not that many others have either.

However, there appears to be a common suggestion the prolapsed anus is caused by a lack of spirulina/vegetable matter in their diet and overconsumption of low fibre foods. In retrospect, this makes sense. My Moorii - Flipper - lives in a tank with some Oscars. He has eaten the Oscar scraps for the last 2 years, but recently has started eating whole pellets of Hikari and Nutrafin. I also regularly feed pea's... but the 2 big fat Oscars quickly gobble these up and Flipper is lucky to get any.

So, I’m left waiting for the vet to use his resources and see what he can find out abut fixing my Flipper. In the mean time, I’m going to change his diet purely to pea’s and spirulina tablets and flakes. I’m going to keep the quantities of food low, and see how that goes until the vet get’s back to me. I expect Flipper will still need some intervention to get his anus back inside him. I’m also hoping my vet can get me some Metronidazole (or other from it’s family) and some Nitrofurazone.

I’d love some help here, guys. If anyone has some experience dealing with a prolapsed anus, your input would be greatly appreciated. This has only been an obvious condition for 4 days now, and the extension is only about 4mm’s. IMO, it’s still quite small and hopefully I’ve got this early enough to mend. I have pic’s I’ll post tomorrow when I upload them to the server at work. I placed Flipper on a very wet towel to take the pic’s, so the detail is quite good.

I had something similar, but mine was from over-feeding (or more like this particular fish over-ate) once the gut went down, it fixed itself.


If it hasn't gone back of its own accord, it may need the vet to tack it back in there, but i don't know how easy that is on a fish. your main issue will be if it has twisted, but its been 3 days, if it had he'd probably be toxic already (that sounds bad, but its meant in a positive way).

I'll dig through some text books, maybe if he gets stuck there could be something on axolotls that could be applicable? Surely this happens to koi, and they get vet treatment all the time...

my fingers are crossed for Flipper

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I think the vets over here in England would laugh at us if we turned up with a fish. You are lucky to have such vets

http://www.greenspersonalprinting.com/

tessa38uk is right, we'd probably get thrown out at my local vets.
It can be very frustrating to have a sick fish and not any professional help - I recently lost my Alpha male Geophagus Jurupari that I'd had for 5 years, and I would have loved a vets opinion as he was still only a jeuvinile and had no outer symptons
GOOD LUCK WITH FLIPPER

Hi again... here's some pic's of Flipper:

http://www.delta-automation.com.au/fishpics/Photo-0048.jpg
http://www.delta-automation.com.au/fishpics/Photo-0049.jpg

I'm sorry to here about that sort of attitude from UK vets... but i'm sure it's not a case with all vets. I guess there's a good chance vet's in aus have the same attitude, but i'm just lucky to have found one who's willing to do a little extra.

Greetings again,

My Vet has still been unable to determine the best course of action for treating my fish. He's apparently waiting from some Australia fish expert to get back to hime about it.

Anyway, i have just started Flipper on a treatment of "Aquari-Cylcline" which is 375mg/tablet of Tertacycline Hydrochloride. This is meant to be a broad spectrum antibiotic, and it's easily attained in Aus. Anyway... my guy is started to show signs of Malawi Bloat. Being a Lake Malawi Cichlid and under a fair bit of internal stress, this is no supprise and i have been preparing for it - hence the Tetracycline. It says it's effective against gram negative bacteria and gram positive... and my reading points me at gram negative for Malawi Bloat.

So, my question is, will this med be effective? Does anyone know if you can get Clout or Maracyn in Aus yet? My vet seems unwilling/unable to get Metronidazole for me... and i suspect it might be because Flagyl is banned or in limited supply in Aus.

Any other suggestions in treating this secondary infection are welcome. He's already isolated in a 50L tub, plenty of airation and a nice place to hide. I'm doing 25% water changes daily, and prior to the Tertacycline, i've only added Melafix. I've been advised the Melafix and Tertacycline will mix without problem. He's losing a lot of condition now, and if i don't see improvement in the next few days, i'm affraid i may have to euthanasia him to prevent any more suffering.

so has anyone ever seen a fish be anesthetized? cuz... i kinda wonder how they'd do it... you can just... inject them, can you?

*Chelle*
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I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

i used to do maintenance work in piggerys ?sp and prolapses were very common , they would put a rubber ring around the protrusion and wait for it to drop off and voila the pig had brand new bumhole

OH TOLEEDY!

chelaine - Not all anaesthetics need to be injected. NO (laughing gas) is perhaps the most common in people that you inhale rather than having injected. Similarly, there are quite a few water soluble anaesthetic products now. In the right solution, add fish, fish out. Simple – once you know the right ratio.

Dan - thanks for the PM tip. I'll give them a try.

Hi Jester_Fu,

Sorry to hear your fish is having problems. Malawi Bloat shows visible anus problems (discoloration or swelling) as a symptom. I'm curious and just wondering if the bloat is not a secondary condition but the primary one, with the symptom (anus problem) beating the actual bloat to the punch ?

I'm hoping an Aussie in here has a metro stash and can help you out fairly quickly.

If not, I have a bit of pure metronidazole powder on hand in case needed. Perhaps I could try and sneak you an innocent looking 'birthday card' thru regular mail.
It won't get there in time to treat this particular fish but you'd have some on hand. If customs snags it however, I cannot be held accountable. Send me a pm if interested.

Best Regards and good luck,
DaFish

The Amazon Nut...

Hi Fishman... I'll keep your offer in mind, but the Tertacycline seems to be helping so far. Flipper is looking auite a bit better today, though he is still not moving a lot. This might also have to do with the 'tank' sides being white plastic, so he probably feels in quite a small space. I'm happy for him to rest.

I've also found we can get Protozin in Australia, so i'm looking for some of that. I'll treat with the tertacycline for another 3 days, then 100% water change and in with Protozin if the Terta seems to have stopped helping.

You might be right - it might have been bloat that caused the prolapsed anus. He was showing no other signs of bloat prior to the prolapse, though.

My Oscar's have been quite distressed about the Moorii leaving. They've settled a bit now... but i don't want more problems I knew i can't seperate my O's a they stress when they can't see each other... but i didn't know they were quite so fond of the Moorii.

I'm glad the tetracycline seems to be helping.
Flipper is in good hands

A coffee cup placed in a tank gives a sick fish a little 'safe dark place' to hide when feels the need.

Yup, oscars get stressed be weird things sometimes !
They miss their buddy.

Peace,
DaFish



The Amazon Nut...

have stash

I knew getting sick was good for something

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

You guys are great!

But... there's a new LFS near me i've been getting odd's and ends from and checking out. One of the staff (and the owner) are local Discus breaders. Sooo... was chatting to one and asked for Furan2 or Maracyn. He looked a little puzzled and then said he could get me Metro!!! I nearly did a little dance, but i have a sore toe So, i bought the Protozin - which they stock - and will finish the course of Tetracycline and see how he is. I'll give them a ring next week and organise the Metro if i think it's needed. I'm pretty confident now after some more research on the Protozin it should do the trick. Was not cheap - $35 for 900L treatment bottle. Thats about 300mL of the stuff.

They also gave me the number of a local fish and bird specialist vet... so things are looking up up up! He seems stable and his swelling has gone down. I'm still hopeful!