Help there's a sac coming out from my fish anus

[Scotty]

I just noticed when i got home just now that one of my Columbian Wood Catfish has something that looks like a sac coming out from its anus. 

[nabokovfan87]

The technical term is prolapse. There is some types of salt you can try, but research in that direction and you will find possible things you can do.

Right away, stop feeding, give the fish time to correct itself.

cc @Colu @Odd Duck @mountaintoppufferkeeper have either of you experienced this and resolved it before?

[Colu]

For a  prolapse I would fast for a couple of days I usually recommend treating with plain unsented Epsom salt baths 1 table spoon for 1 gallons for no more than 15 minutes for 5 days as Epsom salt acts as a muscle relaxant to help your fish reabsorb the prolapse I don't no how sensitive to salt Columbian wood cats  are I wouldn't risk that level of epsom salt I would quarantine and fast and add a small amount of epsom 1 table spoon for 5 gallons direct to the quarantine tank  for 5 days just remember to only put back in what you take out so if you do a 5 gallons water change put 1 table spoon of epsom salt back  as salt only removed though water changes @Scotty

Edited August 5 by Colu

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

I havent .....yet @nabokovfan87 im sure i will eventually though. I have added that method to my tool box here @Colu thanks kindly

Edited August 6 by mountaintoppufferkeeper

[Odd Duck]

It can be very tricky to correct prolapses since there are multiple potential causes.  Stopping feeding for a few days, trying the Epsom salt soaks, or deworming are all options.  Without knowing the salt tolerance for wood cats it’s very difficult to know the safe dose for Epsom salt soaks.  I’m not finding a lot of reliable information about their preferred water parameters other than acidic, soft water mentioned by a few sources.  Looking up by location of the species origin didn’t help much, either, other than mention of high metallic content with presence of bacteria that thrive on the iron oxides and other metal oxides in the water.

I would be very careful about salt dosing, trying the 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons first since that’s equivalent to a fairly standard plant fertilizer dose and should be safe for nearly any species.  Gradually increase from there (not in the main tank at the higher concentration).  Going to 1 tablespoon Epsom salt per 4 gallons, then 1 per 3 gallons, etc, as short soaks.  If the prolapse resolves anywhere in there, then you’re done treating.  If still present after a few soaks in 1 tablespoon per gallon, then you’ll need to switch tactics to deworming.

I couldn’t find any references for doses that were specific to wood cats, so I only have general fish dosing available to go by.  With the unknown, try levamisole first.  I’ve got a double up regimen below that alternates with praziquantal dosing, but with a species that’s not really got much info known about them, I would do only the levamisole first.  Sorry for the formatting, it doesn’t copy very well from “Notes” in my phone / tablet.

Deworming

Siphon out debris from the bottom before and after dosing to remove any expelled worms, eggs, debris, etc.  Levamisole is inactivated by organic debris and by light, so dose after lights out and black out the tank for 24 hours, remove organics via water changes and cleaning the bottom of debris as much as possible.

It’s likely that levamisole does what it can do within the first hour, but best to follow directions precisely.  If you have a bare bottom hospital tank available, it might be best and easiest to transfer the fish to that tank for the duration of treatment - up to 5 weeks total treatment time if doing 3 doses of praziquantal.

Levamisole treatment should be weekly for 4 treatments.  Praziquantal treatment should be every other week (at least) for 2-3 treatments and it is left in for a week at a time.  It can be dosed the day after levamisole treatment.  Remove any carbon or Purigen from filters before dosing.

Have enough dechlorinated water to do a 50% water change immediately if any adverse symptoms are seen in the fish.

A typical treatment regimen: 

1. 50% water change with careful siphoning of debris from the bottom of the tank.

2. Dose with levamisole and black out the tank for 24 hours.  Then 50% water change siphoning the entire bottom of the tank.

3. Dose with praziquantal directly after the second 50% WC.

4. One week later, 50% water change siphoning the bottom thoroughly.  Dose with levamisole following directions in step 1-2.

5. One week later (start of week 3 of treatment), repeat all steps 1-4 over another 2 weeks time.

6. Repeat all steps 1-5, then do last WC one week later after third dose of praziquantal.

Not all snails will tolerate treatments, so best to remove any snails in the tank.

Condensed, weekly schedule:

Week 1: siphon debris and do 50% water change, levamisole x 24 hrs, siphon.  Treat with praziquantal and leave in until next week.

Week 2: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon.

Week 3: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon, then prazi.

Week 4: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon.

Week 5: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon, then prazi.

Week 6: siphon.