sick flower horn fish

Question
Our flower fish I think has intestine hangin out of its bottom. It will come out an inch then after time it will go back in. His belly protrudes out alittle. Im not sure if its a hernia. The levels in the water are fine. He barely eats. We did change tanks 3 weeks ago and the night we changed tanks, we gave the fish an earthworm before putting him in the new tank. Please help! Thanks!

Answer
Hi there,
Wow, I'm sorry to hear about that...

I honestly can't say the exact right thing to do but I can only make educated guesses. A picture right now would really help, and I could send it to other experts that might have better ideas than me.

If you'd like, you can send them here-
nature_girl2u@hotmail.com

The bloated belly may be pushing out organs due to so much fluid buildup. Its said Epsom salt can help draw out excess fluids from the fish. But I can't guarantee anything.

You might want to see if the fish still eats, if he doesn't. That could be a sign he has a bacterial infection of some sort.

But unfortunately it can be very difficult to determine exactly the cause of the bloating. It can be a viral infection, bacterial infection, egg-binding, or even tumors. All you can do is try your best.

Change the water as often as you can. At least everyday 50% or more making sure to clean the gravel as well with a gravel vacuum.

Epsom salt- 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons pre-dissolved in a cup of warm water first can help as well until we can further determine what's the matter with the poor fish.

I hope this helps!
Karen~