Diamond tetra with bloat?

[FeatherFin]

Greetings everyone!

I have a 29g planted tank with 7 diamond tetras and a pair of pearl gouramis. I use a Penguin 200 over the back filter, I feed my fish usually twice a day. Once with plant based flakes and once with fish based. Once a week I feed frozen blood or tubifex worms before their water change. I do water changes once a week. The tank's temperature is at 78F. The last water change I did was 3 days ago aside from the one I did today. I usually syphon about 1/3 of the gravel in changes and do about 20%.

I noticed one of my female diamond tetras has what appears to be bloat but I want to make sure in case there's something I'm missing and treating for the wrong issue. I tried to get a picture of her but she's staying towards the back of the tank which is up against a wall and has a backing. If she swims to a better placement, I'll see if I can get a pic.

Her symptoms include:
Swollen belly - it doesn't look wholly unnatural just fat in comparison to the others. The belly is also more opaque and white. There is some very slight and small red streaking extending from underneath her and about a 3rd up the edge of where her belly ends on her body.

Awkward swimming and lethargy - She seems to be able to swim and still comes up for food. However, she moves a little awkwardly but not pointing down or sideways. She just sort of looks drunk but doesn't seem to have issues staying horizontal. I'm not sure if it's part of the disease she has or just due to being plump.

Heavier breathing - She's not gasping at the surface and doesn't have swollen, flared or discolored gills that I can see. There isn't any red streaking near her gills so again, I'm not sure if her breathing is due to needing to put in more effort to move or due to a disease.

My current water quality readings are(using liquid tests):
Ammonia - .25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrates - I'm having trouble reading it. I think it's at 10 according to the result card. Looks between 5 and under 20.
PH - 8.0 The water in my area is very hard. I can't seem to get it to lower further, naturally despite several efforts with tannin water, softening pillow, peat, driftwood. I'm afraid to use chemical lowering due to fluctuation. If anyone has ideas, let me know.

So far I've done a water change and am watching her for changes.

The tank has been going pretty well for about 3 months with the gouramis and since March without. No bullying issues in the tank that I've noticed.

Thanks for any assistance! Sorry for the text wall.

 

[Titaniumtim]

I t doesn't sound like a constipation problem, but hey, throw in a cooked pea (without shell of course) and see if the bloating goes down. I had a Dalmatian Molly that had swim bladder problems. She would be doing back-flips still if i didn't introduce her to the power of the pea!!
As for the PH, mine is at 8.2 but my fish are used to it so I just try to leave it at that level, since it comes out of my tap that way. So if i need to do big water changes, i don't have to worry about PH swings!
Other than that, the only thing i could think of is internal parasites(or pregnancy). Whats your fish pooping? Regular stuff or white and stringy or not at all?
Your water seems good. The other fish all normal? Try bumping your temp up to 82 slowly for a couple days. Gets the fish more active and sometimes gets them through the weird parts!
Other than that, its all down to genetics.
Oh, and never be sorry about giving alot of info! Its needed in this hobby

 

[Delapool]

Could be a bacterial infection. Something like Septicemia. Would that match?

Tropical Fish Disease Identification with pictures and cures.

 

[FeatherFin]

Thanks for the replies!

I gave her a pea a few days ago. Her swelling has gone down and she seemed to have gotten better in that regard but I noticed the red streaking again today which appears to be around her anus. She's also still lethargic and seems stressed but no longer swims oddly. I've also noticed what looks like a jetting of white skin protruding from near her anus. It looks like a hardened injury more than the poop from a bloating issue or a parasite but I'm not sure.

It looks like it could be septicemia based on the description. She doesn't have discolored eyes or gills but it's possible. I'll prepare for anything at this point but I'm worried about using antibiotics if it's not what she has. I'll see how a bath and raising the temp a bit goes and then try other methods. She's still eating so that's a good sign.

I'd like to give her a salt bath of some sort but I'm not sure which to do. My hospital tank is also currently occupied by a larger fish that may attack her. It seems all the other fish in the tank are fine but the males are being more aggressive than usual in the last few days after I changed their food from flakes to pellets... weird.

I've tried salt baths before but in all but 2 instances, the fish died and that was with a hospital tank so I'm a little paranoid about it. I have an empty 10g I can put her in but I feel I may have messed up somehow.

What kind of salt should I use(aquarium of epsom)? How much water should I put in the 10g? Is there anything else I should add? How long should I leave her in the bath and for how long? She's a little over 2 inches in length.

Thanks again!

 

[Delapool]

Thanks for the replies!

I gave her a pea a few days ago. Her swelling has gone down and she seemed to have gotten better in that regard but I noticed the red streaking again today which appears to be around her anus. She's also still lethargic and seems stressed but no longer swims oddly. I've also noticed what looks like a jetting of white skin protruding from near her anus. It looks like a hardened injury more than the poop from a bloating issue or a parasite but I'm not sure.

It looks like it could be septicemia based on the description. She doesn't have discolored eyes or gills but it's possible. I'll prepare for anything at this point but I'm worried about using antibiotics if it's not what she has. I'll see how a bath and raising the temp a bit goes and then try other methods. She's still eating so that's a good sign.

I'd like to give her a salt bath of some sort but I'm not sure which to do. My hospital tank is also currently occupied by a larger fish that may attack her. It seems all the other fish in the tank are fine but the males are being more aggressive than usual in the last few days after I changed their food from flakes to pellets... weird.

I've tried salt baths before but in all but 2 instances, the fish died and that was with a hospital tank so I'm a little paranoid about it. I have an empty 10g I can put her in but I feel I may have messed up somehow.

What kind of salt should I use(aquarium of epsom)? How much water should I put in the 10g? Is there anything else I should add? How long should I leave her in the bath and for how long? She's a little over 2 inches in length.

Thanks again!

http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/healthdisease/119-fish-bloat.html

This site may help. I'd try Epsom salts first.

Also is there any chance of parasites or disease in the worms? I assume frozen worms are also treated or something, it just I've seen a few unhealthy fish posts with blood worms fed. I assume coincidence but just in case.

What dosing level were you doing the baths?

 

[Titaniumtim]

I also suspected my frozen bloodworms for a multitude of deaths...but on my second tank and feeding same batch of worms and no problems so far...

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[FeatherFin]

It is possible that it's the bloodworms. I didn't know they could carry diseases as I thought they'd be treated but I can switch to something else just in case. Different frozen foods aren't hard to come by around here.

I did 1/4 tsp per gallon. I think I left the fish in there 5 mins as they had died within that with the 2 exceptions. The other two I think were in 15mins twice over a couple days. It may have been that the fish that died were just too sick and not the bath or shock from being moved and already stressed. Let me know if the dosage and timing is wrong and what I should be doing.

Thanks!

 

[Noviceafter2yea]

Kind of sounds like she is pregnant. But I think they are egg bearers, not live- bearers. When you are able to post a pic, it will be helpful.

 

[FeatherFin]

I thought about her maybe being filled with eggs but I wasn't sure how long that would last, nor do I know how that affects behavior. It may be an explanation for why the males are acting crazy now but they don't seem to be only harassing her, instead mostly just harassing each other. I've never had fish breed before so I have no idea how it works outside of general information.

I'll see if I can get a pic of her. So far, I've been able to get pictures of several mysterious, vaguely fish-shaped blurs.

Also, Titaniumtim, I really like your signature ^^

 

[Delapool]

It is possible that it's the bloodworms. I didn't know they could carry diseases as I thought they'd be treated but I can switch to something else just in case. Different frozen foods aren't hard to come by around here.

I did 1/4 tsp per gallon. I think I left the fish in there 5 mins as they had died within that with the 2 exceptions. The other two I think were in 15mins twice over a couple days. It may have been that the fish that died were just too sick and not the bath or shock from being moved and already stressed. Let me know if the dosage and timing is wrong and what I should be doing.

Thanks!

Well it's just a thought on the blood worms. I always thought they were irradiated or something. Just thoughts on triggers.

Dosing seems ok, hard to know.

 

[FeatherFin]

Well, whatever she had seems to have cleared up. I tried the epsom salts and as of today, she's doing swimmingly lol. Thanks everyone for your help

 

[Titaniumtim]

That's great. A happy ending. Good job!!!

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[Delapool]

Grand news