Bloated Catfish? Do not panic! This is the Cause and How to Treat It!

Bloating is one of the diseases that often attacks catfish. In the worst case, this disease can cause death in catfish. So, what causes bloated catfish?

Flatulence catfish disease is a disease in which catfish experience growth disorders directly or indirectly due to difficulty moving. 

This catfish health problem is caused by bad bacteria that can attack all types and sizes of catfish, both small catfish and adult catfish. If you can't handle it, the worst consequence is that many catfish will die.

Symptoms of Bloated Catfish Stomach

One of the symptoms of bloated catfish that is easily detected by fish cultivators is when catfish are often seen floating on the surface of the water. Catfish also looks less energetic than usual days. So that you can take treatment and prevention measures, you should first know the symptoms of bloated catfish.

1. Stomach Looks Bigger

Pay close attention to see if any of the catfish that you cultivate have the physical characteristics of a larger stomach than usual. If you find it difficult to pay attention, you can randomly select several fish for sampling and see if their stomach is larger than usual.

If you find a catfish that has these physical characteristics, you can gently press its stomach and feel whether it feels soft or not. Mackerel catfish have a belly that is smooth to the touch.

To prove it, you can split the stomach. If the catfish is bloated, there will be clear liquid coming out of the stomach.

2. Often seen floating on the surface of the pool

Generally, catfish are rarely seen swimming and floating on the surface of the pond, especially when the catfish have entered adulthood. However, if there are catfish that are often seen swimming and floating on the surface of the pond, then you need to carry out further tests because this is a symptom of bloated catfish.

3. Decreased Appetite

Another symptom is a decrease in appetite. Catfish have a habit of always being aggressive when given food.

However, if there are catfish that look less aggressive, the fish is experiencing a decrease in appetite. This decrease in appetite is caused by a clear liquid that settles in the fish's stomach so that the fish loses its appetite.

4. Losing Balance

The last symptom is catfish swimming sideways. Fish that are exposed to bloated catfish tend to find it difficult to regulate their body balance when swimming so they swim in an oblique condition.

Causes of Bloated Catfish Stomach

The causes of catfish bloating are classified into two factors, namely internal factors originating from within the catfish's body itself and external factors that affect the environmental conditions of the ecosystem. Here are 8 causes of catfish experiencing flatulence.

1. Dirty Pool Water Conditions

To protect and clean themselves, catfish use the mucus that comes out of their skin. The function of mucus is to remove dirt that sticks to the catfish's body. The reason is, catfish do not have scales so they produce mucus to protect themselves.

This slime contains ammonia compounds and is simply mixed in pool water. If you use an earthen pond type, this ammonia compound can decompose at the bottom of the pond. 

However, if you use another type of pool, these compounds will simply mix in the water. If pool water is rarely cleaned and dirty, these compounds will be swallowed again and cause catfish bloating.

2. Pool Water Has a High Temperature

Ideally, fish ponds have a water temperature between 26-30 0C. When replacing pool water with new water, you need to ensure that the water temperature is ideal. 

In special conditions after rain, usually the pool water temperature can increase and turn cold. This high pool water temperature causes catfish bloating and catfish seeds to die young.

3. Lack of Oxygen Levels in Pool Water

One of the external factors that causes catfish bloating is because pond water has less oxygen levels so it is difficult for fish to breathe. One reason is dirty water.

4. Too Many Fish in One Pool

There are own rules regarding the proper size of the pond according to the number of fish in it. The more fish that are cultivated in one pond, the larger the size of the pond that must be made. 

As a result, if you don't pay attention to this, the catfish will get bloated because too much mucus is produced in one pond and makes the pond dirty quickly.

5. Feeding in Large Amounts

Even though catfish have a greedy nature, aka a high appetite, it is still not right to give too much fish feed. Friends of Cultivators need to control the amount of feed given so that the catfish's stomach does not swell and bloat.

When catfish consume excessive feed, the capacity in their stomach exceeds the limit and health problems occur in their digestive system. The solution is that fish need to be fasted to stabilize their body size.

6. Exposure to Bad Bacteria

Another external factor that causes catfish flatulence is exposure to bad bacteria, namely motile aeromonas septicemia. In fact, many cases cause catfish to die from flatulence due to this bad bacteria.

When exposed to bad bacteria, freshwater fish can experience skin bleeding, cuts and the base of the fins for fish that have fins.

7. Digestive Disorders

The internal factor that causes catfish bloating is digestive disorders in catfish in processing food that enters its body. 

If there are organs that are not functioning optimally, catfish can experience disturbances in the digestive system and cause flatulence. Not only adult catfish have the potential to experience digestive system disorders, catfish seeds also have the potential to experience the same thing.

8. Decreased Immune System

The last internal factor that causes bloated catfish is a decrease in the catfish's immune system. When the body's immune condition decreases, all kinds of bad bacteria and viruses will easily enter the catfish's body so that it has the potential to cause other types of fish diseases.

How to Treat Bloated Catfish Disease

When you find that catfish have symptoms of catfish bloat, you will also find out the cause of the catfish bloat. The next step is how to treat the catfish so it doesn't die and doesn't spread the disease to other fish.

Here's how to treat catfish flatulence:

1. Isolate or quarantine catfish that are bloated with healthy ones.
2. Let the water flow continuously until it reaches a volume of 80% from the pond.
3. Add salt to the pool, at a rate of one teaspoon of salt for 1 gallon of pool water.
4. Apply a fasting system or give small amounts of feed.
5. Sprinkle antibiotics for bloated catfish, or
6. Mix fish feed with probiotics for bloated catfish.

Next, clean the catfish farming pond and replace the water with a new one. Remember, one of the causes of catfish bloating is the catfish's own mucus being sucked out of the body's mucus. 

Therefore, so that sick catfish and healthy catfish don't eat the slime, you need to clean the pond and replace the water with new water. Ideally, you need to drain the adult catfish pond once every two weeks, while you can clean the baby catfish pond once a week.

After the pond is drained, the pool needs to be cleaned and replaced with new water. You also need to add some natural ingredients such as basil leaves, lemongrass, garlic, turmeric, pepper, ginger, brown sugar, and kencur.

Steps to Prevent Bloated Catfish Disease

Instead of treating it, it's better for you to prevent catfish flatulence so you can minimize the potential losses that will be experienced due to fish that are sick and die young.

The following are steps to anticipate so that catfish do not get bloating:

1. Monitor pool water conditions regularly.
2. Make sure the pool water has neutral oxygen and acid levels, and has a temperature that is not too cold.
3. Routinely clean and replace pool water with new ones.
4. Use catfish feed that has good nutrition.
5. Control of fish feeding.
6. Give a special vaccine to build the body's immune power.
7. Provide probiotics and organic fertilizers.