Constipated fish?

[DaveS]

So I got this nice cute little Power Blue Tang from a LFS about 2 weeks ago. He seems healthy and is even eating. Problem is, his stomach is always swollen and I have yet to see him poop. I've even not fed the tank for 2 days and it's still bulging. He does eat mysis and picks at the rocks in my tank just fine. Normally I would think the bulging stomach is a sign that he's eating a lot but I'm just kinda getting worried after 2+ weeks of this. Anyone know of a condition I should be worried about?

[davelin315]

My uneducated guess is that there are some parasitic worms inside your fish. If it's not eating and its stomach is bulging, they are probably taking in all of its nutrition and slowly killing it off. I would suggest a dewormer, but the last time I did that I ended up killing the fish I was deworming (I think it's similar to heartworm medications for a dog with severe heartworms). Try some medications that will help to dislodge them slowly. It could also be nothing, but again, that's my guess. As you feed the fish, the worms eat the food in its intestine, preventing it from producing any waste. Kind of like a tapeworm in a person.

[jamal]

internal parasites perhaps. i use this stuff for internal parasites every now and then but i have never had this problem so i wont be much help. prune juice?

[DaveS]

Hmm, well the thing is the fish IS eating so at first I thought he was just a pig. But now, about 2 weeks later, he's still bulging. I reduced my feeding and even stopped entirely for for 2 days and during that time his stomach didn't get any smaller. I mean in theory he could be finding tons of food in my tank but it's a little hard to believe there's enough food around to keep him bloated like that for so long. This added with the fact I haven't seen him poop makes me wonder if there's more to it.

 

Thanks for the input so far guys.

[davelin315]

The fish itself may not appear emaciated and thin because it's the parasite inside it that is getting fat, not the fish. As the parasites multiply, they are causing him to be fatter, but they're not getting removed from his digestive tract and so it's essentially blocking him. I would stop feeding him and get him medicated. I could be very wrong, but that's my opinion. Usually, a bloated belly is a sign of a problem, but that typically is more associated with feedings when the fish looks like it has an embellism. This sounds worse and more like a parasite if it never goes down. Could be wrong, but post a picture and that may help.