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Bloat - parasites?

Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2019 5:04 pm
by andyroo
Good and wise,
Sorry, not re. the loaches but the African brown/black knife that may soon share a tank with the new clowns (et al)

I've owned said knife for about a year. She (according to little backward-pointing anal fin spike) came to me fairly wee and with a bit of a what looked like a bloated belly. The rest of the shipment had similar tummy, as chalked up to big feeds since landing in the shipper & shops.

This (poor?) fish went into a "mud" system that I was experimenting with, primarily for crabs, snails, scuds, gobies & guppies and female bettas. Low-flow, dark/black but otherwise healthy water with various tubifex-types (etc) in the bottom, where she dined on all & sundry but remained very skittish. I've recently moved house & office and she's moved into clear/white water with the juv. silver arowana - best of mates, running up & down all the time and greeting me in the mornings. She's grown more than this species' reputation for 12months, too.

And the belly- huge, round like a marble. A week+ of no-food through transition and the belly hasn't abated. There seems to be some discolouration though no apparent discomfort, though I've not seen her eat since transfer. I'll try to get a picture.

In the meantime, a) should I worry, and b) tell me about treating for parasites including prophylactically. Anything that I can dip/soak a segment of earthworm into, or do I need to pull her out & dose her? I've asked on other forums, and people tell me of off-the-shelf foods that I can't get here... and are breathtakingly costly.

Thanks in advance,
Andrew