Demasoni bloat

[joker1535]

Hey guys, out of my group of 15 demasoni cichlids 3 males got bloat. 1 died already really fast. the others are just sitting at the bottom. Their bellies are swollen so i know its bloat. I only feed them lettuce and spirulina pellets and flakes. I never overfeed either, just enough for about a minute of food. Water parameters are tested and came out perfect.
What can i do to help them? And how to prevent bloat?

[clintgv]

Hey guys, out of my group of 15 demasoni cichlids 3 males got bloat. 1 died already really fast. the others are just sitting at the bottom. Their bellies are swollen so i know its bloat. I only feed them lettuce and spirulina pellets and flakes. I never overfeed either, just enough for about a minute of food. Water parameters are tested and came out perfect.
What can i do to help them? And how to prevent bloat?

Do you feed all 3 at once? Or just one type of food a day?

[bonsai dave]

you can try using epson salts.

[Rastapus]

Hey guys, out of my group of 15 demasoni cichlids 3 males got bloat. 1 died already really fast. the others are just sitting at the bottom. Their bellies are swollen so i know its bloat. I only feed them lettuce and spirulina pellets and flakes. I never overfeed either, just enough for about a minute of food. Water parameters are tested and came out perfect.
What can i do to help them? And how to prevent bloat?

Classic symptom of low GH in hardwater fish. If you are not using something already you need to and slowly raise your GH to at least 15. Good luck.

[Mferko]

crazy, ive never had that problem and mine eat like pigs, NLS cichlid pellets 30-45 seconds worth 3-4x a day and occasional PE mysis shrimp on the wknds, i do keep my hardness up tho, usually like 8-10 drops with the GH test kit

according to this article, there are a couple effective meds, and epsom salt is a good idea, as well as leaving off the lights so they relax.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/malawi_bloat.php
also raise your temp to between 80-82 F if it isnt already

[charles]

would you be able to give us some reading?

KH/GH PH ammonia Nitrite, and nitrate?