Cichlid is swelling

Question
Hello, Karen.  I have a tiger maganese cichlid that has not been well.  About 2 weeks ago, we found her stomach are swollen, and she seems to be breathing heavy and mostly just sitting on the bottom of the tank, although when she swims she does not seem to have trouble.  At first we thought she was pregnant, but now I am unsure.  The stomach is very swollen, and her under scales seem to be puffy.  She developed a translucent sack underneath, then it seemed to pop, and now is back again.  Is this a sickness?  What should be done for her?  Also, I have other fish in the tank, are they at harm?  

Answer
Hi Geraldine,
It sounds like your Maganese cichlid may have some kind of internal infection. But diagnosing fish diseases is probably the hardest thing to do. Especially with not being able to see the fish. Is there anyway you could send me pictures of the fish? I would say she probably has some sort of internal infection. Most sources would advise giving the fish a medicated anti-bacterial food. But this is only if the fish will accept it. If she is not eating you may have to try using just water treatments. According to mardel's website, Maracyn-two treats internal infections even if fish do not eat. Your fish may have dropsy, which is a very difficult disease to treat and usually once the poor fish gets to the pineconing scales and bloated body there is not much you can do about it. The internal damage is far too gone.
You could also try some epsom salt at 1/8 teaspoon per 5-gallons. This can help draw excess fluid from the fish and relieve some of the pressure.

But even then, I cannot guarantee that this will work. I'm afraid that the fish doesn't have that big of chance of recovery I'm sorry to say. But you can at least try your best. You can read more about dropsy plus pictures here-
http://www.fishjunkies.com/Diseases/dropsy.php

I really hope this helps!
Best of luck,
If you'd like to email me a picture of the fish, my email Address is- nature_girl2u@hotmail.com

Karen~