fish constipation....

acocacolagirl

acocacolagirl

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Dec 2, 2004
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I heard that freeze dried food can constipate my fish if it gets eaten before it is completely hydrated....so, how do I know if my fish is constipated, and what do I do about it?

Note:
I have tried to explain to my rope fish that he should let his food hydrate and that he shouldn't gulp it down in one bite, but he refuses to cooperate. I don't feed live worms for one reason - it's inconvient. I know that is a stupid reason, but it is a fact. Ok, so there is more than one reason...I'm also not introducing unknown pathigins to my tank every time I feed. And he likes his freeze dried worms better than frozen worms. But he gets frozen shrimp once or twice a week. Currently I have no reason to think he may be constipated, I just want to know what to watch for.
 
Try this

One thing that helped me when I was feeding frozen foods, was to get a small container and scoop out a little bit of the tank water. I would defrost the food in the container then dump it into the tank.

I've never had to deal with fish constipation, but I did it that way anyway.
 
I soak my betta's pellets in a little cup of tank water for about 5 minutes before feeding. It's a pain, but he finds it easier to swallow than the hard pellets.

Constipation might appear as a 'bloated' looking fish, sometimes the fish has problems swimming too. Some people cook and shell a green pea, and cut it up into tiny pieces to help digestion. I've also heard that a little epsom salts in the water helps too (acts as a laxative), although doing this could change your tank's water chemistry temporarily.
 
Ok, that all sounds good. I have noticed that sometimes my fish, particularly the platy and the betta spit the pellets out a couple of times before eating them. I will try hydrating them first. And I will hydrate my rope fish's freeze dried cubes too. I did thaw his frozen worms first, but maybe they were still too cold making them unpleasnt to eat. I'll try thawing them longer.
 
Symptoms of constipation include:
- Fish is not pooping.
- Fish is "bloated".
- Fish is not eating.
- Difficulty swimming due to pressure on swim bladder.

These sypmtoms can also be indicitive of other problems.

Shelled peas are great fiber food if the fish will eat them and may alleviate the problem.

If the fish is not eating, wont eat the peas or they have not done the trick, then Epsom salts works great. It will not mess with your water params, live plants like it and it is cheap and easy to use. Dose 1 teaspoon/gal/day for a few days. Mix the Epsom with tank water and add it that way.
 
Thanks.
 
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