help please, flowerhorn with a major hernia!

[jisatsuguy]

my fh spawned, and later i noticed the male had guts hanging out of his vent... not a lil but a big lump of guts... how do i treat this... this is my most valuable fish and id rather lose the eggs anyday... ive heard of this condition and it was always deadly... what do i do what do i do!!!

[Kiovo]

I would separate him, turn up the temp slowly, add salt and do not feed him

[jisatsuguy]

screw the eggs... from advice on the flowerhorn boards, i started with an emergency water change, followed by melafix and salt... extra salt and jackin up the temp to 88f... guts went back in, another water change tomorrow...

[jisatsuguy]

thanks kiovo, it did happen right after feeding... he will have his own 20 gallon hospital tank in the morning, i have to find a filter and heater

[jisatsuguy]

more research shows it has a 50percent survival rate... melafix and salt/water change helped almost instantly, guts went back in... fish never stopped actin normal tho, now he's chasing the female all over the place... temp is rising slowly, usually about 84, on the way to 88

[newb]

If you still come out tomorrw I got an extra heater if you need it.

[jisatsuguy]

hell yeah, ill be there, call ya in the morning

[newb]

I work from noon till 5pm. I will be home after that.

[jisatsuguy]

ok after 5 it is

[jisatsuguy]

whew, fish is back to normal this morning... thank god, i could not stand to lose this fish.
also, seems the extra salt helped bring out his color big time... his red is really standing out strong on his body and his fins... his femal tank mate is almost completly red... dont think the eggs like it tho

[jisatsuguy]

update- the hernia kept poppin out, and would go in, only to pop out later... fish also had white poo, and at first it was stringy, then it was white balls in a chain, hernia in or out... i used jungle parasite clear tabs, and did 2 treatments, with water changes and salt... temp was 88f... seems to have worked, havent seen the hernia, just white poop...
gonna continue water changes and salt for the next week...

[Zulaab]

White poo is an indication of a bacteria infection in the intestinal tract, causing constipation in the fish. Keep up the salt treatment, and if the problem does not go away then you need think about medicate with something stronger. I would recommend clout or Metro. If you use clout it does have Methylene Blue in it which is well known to stain silicone in your tank with a slight blue tint, so be aware of this if the hospital tank is also your show tank.

[jisatsuguy]

thanks zulaab, ill get some clout or metro tomorrow!

[Zulaab]

You can buy both at City Pets since I noticed you are located SW of town

[jisatsuguy]

hey zulaab, i hit up the guys at fishranch, i asked about clout and metro, and they told me it would be better to get the fish to ingest some medicine, somethin like gel tek... online some guys were actually catching their fish and squirting the gel tek into the fishes mouth, at least gettin some of it into the fish... i dont think i wanna do that, cus the fish is stressed out already... will the clout/metro treatment in the tank water get to the bugs inside my fish?