Cichlid disease

Question
QUESTION: I have a African Cichlid tank and I bought a few fish from a petstore that I never go to and it got my fish sick. So I went to the petstore and started treating it with salt and this other medicine. So now it looks like its gone. But still some of my fishes stomach is sunken in from the sickness. They act a little weird but not to bad. So what can I do to make them be healthy and make them fatter. I lost a lot of fish from this. How long should I wait until I can buy more fish.
ANSWER: Tyler-
Sorry to hear about your cichlids.  How long were your fish sick?  How many were in the tank?  How big is the tank?  How long did you medicate?  What type of medication?  There are alot of questions that I need before I can answer that question.  I'll be more than happy to help you, but I need more information if you could.  Post a follow up, and I'll answer ASAP.  Hope to hear from you soon?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Well all that I really want to know is how to get them fatter. They are not sick anymore. But I will tell you the information you need to know. I know all of the information but I  dont know what medicine I gave them.
They were sick for about a month a we had 45 small cichlids with two larger ones because we moved and only two made it from my older tank. So I bought more fish and it all equalled to about 45 fish. Now there are 15 fish with only one big one. My Peacock cichlids are the only ones with the sunken bellies. I have them all in a 75 gallon. And I treated them for about 5-6 weeks. And I dont know what I used to treat them but I know I used salt. Its been a while back but their stomachs are still sunk in. The sickness is gone from my tank just I want to know how to get my Peacock cichlids fatter.

Answer
Much like humans, its all about personal taste.  However, the most common strategy would be to starve them for a few days, then feed them whatever pellets you'd like.  When fish are stressed, they won't eat.  However, they don't want to die, so eventually they'll come up and feed.  I'd increase their protein intake, use Omega One or Hikari for that.  Lower fat intakes, because it makes fish lethargic.  You need them moving so they require energy to burn.

Do you have a hospital tank you could put the Peacocks in?  That would work best, that way they don't have to fight for the food, and the food will be available when they do become hungry.  Otherwise, you may want to consider overfeeding the tank, that way you insure that the Peacocks get some.  Good luck, hope it helped