Lumps in belly, cant swim

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Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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mortaldivine
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Lumps in belly, cant swim

Post by mortaldivine »

My GSP has developed two lumps in his belly. He cant move his back tail so he cant really swim. His belly looks swollen. Started a week after I gave him some new foods (shrimp and crab from the grocery store) Any thing I can do?
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Post by Pufferpunk »

Could be constipated. Try 1tbsp epsom salt/5gal. Is it in brackish water? How are the water parameters?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Post by mortaldivine »

epsom salt bath in a seperate container or in the main tank?
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Post by Pufferpunk »

Main tank. Please answer my other Qs too.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Post by mortaldivine »

brackish, 40 gallon. There is another gsp in there with him. He is pretty much upside down, has been for 3 days now but still swimming around and staying semi-active.
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Post by Pufferpunk »

Upside-down? Sounds like it swallowed air. There's an article in our Library on how to burp them.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Post by mortaldivine »

tried the epsom salts and also the burping. Still floating upside down, still doesn't seem to have control over his back tail either.

I had to trim the other gsp's teeth last week. Then introduced the food and that's when the problems started. He's always been a fat puffer to begin with, could he have over ate or be having problems with his bowels? Should also note that he has never puffed to my knowledge. He's about 5 or 6 years old as is the other gsp in the tank. They've never fought with each other and refuse to eat ghost shrimps but will pick at snails when I can get them.
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Post by Pufferpunk »

OK, time t post water perameters. Actually, go to the top sticky in this forum & answer those questions.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Matosmom

Post by Matosmom »

Here's the low-down. 2 gsp's "tank" and "toof." Tank has always been the bigger gsp, he eats more than toof will. They're about 5-6 years old now.

1) Your water parameters - The salinity is 1.009 or 12ppt. I'll have to pick up another testing kit tomorrow as we haven't had one for probably 2 years now, haven't had any tank issues in a long time.

2) Feeding and water change schedule. Feeding is done nightly. Water change: we have a lot of evap. so at least 2-5 gallons are put in a week. Full cleaning is done once a month or every other month.

3) Changes already stated, clipped Toof's teeth, introduced king crab leg, and shrimp from the grocery store. "Tank" started floating upside down after about a week of this new food. He's happy, not stressed unless you try to handle him (tried the burping and he got pissed).

4) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it?
the tank has been set up 4-5 years. We have 2 filters in the tank a topfin 60 and a fluval 204.
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Post by Nick »

By changes we mean when you remove old water from the tank and replace, which is separate from evaporation loss and replacement, since water lost to evaporation doesn't take nitrates, phosphates, or salt mix with it. I'm guessing if you only do monthly water changes, a nitrate buildup might be the problem, so make sure you include that in the test kits you get, even though it's not a "fish die right now" thing like ammonia or nitrites.
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