Malawi bloat contagious?

Question

I have 125g tank of Mbuna cichlids. I bought some ps. demasoni for the tank. I feed them new spectrum flakes and new spectrum 1mm pellets. I started feeding them bloodworms once a week (3 times altogether) until I found out that it was a mistake (herbivores). The tank is cycled, water parameters fine, ammonia & nitrite 0, nitrate 10. I lost two last night. It is definitely bloat. The last bloodworm feeding was saturday or sunday. Is the bloat contagious? I've read conflicting reports about it and I don't want to put meds in if I don't have to. All the others seem to be doing fine and have an appetite. I'm almost certain it was b/c of the bloodworms. This is really frustrating :( , I put a lot of time and money into this setup and I don't want the whole tank to get wiped out because of one mistake. So if bloat is brought about b/c of improper diet, it wouldn't be contagious right?

Answer 1

In most cases the bloat is not contagious. It's great you discontinued feeding bloodworms to your ps. demasoni. With this and many other species, meaty "treats" do more harm than good (as you've discovered). Stick with a quality food containing less than 42% protein unless it's predominantly spirulina based. Bloat can be treated with metronidazole, clout and probably other meds.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Malawi Bloat is bacterial in nature, so I guess it is contagious,but if the fishes diet is not too rich in meat products their immune systems should resist it.Let all of the Mbuna fast for a day or two and concentrate on good water management. I think it's present in the water or the fishes guts all the time. I've never seen it cured with medicine anyway,and who could afford to treat 125 gallons of water with anything that would be effective against internal bacteria. It would have to be something on the food and fish I've seen with bloat won't eat anyway. I think the other fish will be OK,but if not the rule is that the most expensive ones die first. Hope they are OK. PeeTee

Answer 4

The dreaded malawi bloat. Not contagous. Meats "block" intestins and allows gas buildup in the body. Mbuna are most prone to it(vs haps/peacocks). Ive never used spectrum flake, is it spirulina based?If so feed this strictly for a week to help "clean out" digestive track. Then go back to both NLS foods strictly. You dont need any other foods(Ive been feeding NLS cichlid formula and growout for over 4 years without a problem). If you happen to lose too many Dems, make sure you get more to get the colony back up in #'s.

Answer 5

they get bloat because their digestive tract cannot handle meaty foods without a lot of veggies in between. Their intestine gets blocked (like bad constipation.) Stop feeding meats and start a regular malawi cichlid food. Bloat is not contagious (at least in my experience) and some fish do recover (maybe they get a good poop on) so i'd wait and see what happens. No medicine helps much, so i wouldn't medicate. Hopefully, all signs of the bloat will be gone in short order.

Answer 6

It's actually not too clear whether it is contagious, but according to a Tropheus breeder I spoke with at length (Tropheus are highly susceptible to it) they can get it from the poop of infected fish in their earlier stages when they can still defecate.

Pay very close attention to the fish and their behaviour so that you can catch it right away - bloat is only fatal if we miss the initial symptoms. Look for a loss of appetite, white, stringy poop, and lethargic behaviour. If it looks like the problem still exists then you really need to medicate - the medication is tough on the fish, but it won't kill them the way bloat will.