is my fish pregnant or sick?
15 posts • Page 1 of 2
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luvmuff - Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:16 am
is my fish pregnant or sick?
i have a community tank, 55g , n noticed tonight that 1 of my 6 blue gouramies is super fat. is she pregnant or sick ,do they give live birth or lay eggs,not sure what to do.n not sure how to tell male from female , i do have a 10g tank i can set up if needed . any help would be greatly appreciated,my other fish are black mollies , weather loaches ,barbs,tetras,yellow gouramies ,plecos n a few more species i cant remember,are any of these fish cannibals?
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mro2you2 - Posts: 625
- Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:37 pm
does the affected area seem to float to the top??? like some bloat. Ive seen gouramis who have bubble boat all the time.
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luvmuff - Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:16 am
looks like she swallowed a marble,ive been watchin all day n she took healthy dump n now ive noticed what im assuming to b a male hanging by her side all day.there hanging out in lower corner behind plants
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mro2you2 - Posts: 625
- Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:37 pm
There are two possible causes: dropsy or constipation. Dropsy is a fairly easy one to diagnose, as the scales will pinecone away from the body ( http://flippersandfins.net/Images/Dropsy… ). If the fish is constipated, it will often times refuse to eat, float at odd angles, and have white, stringy poop, or no poop at all. How long has the fish been swollen? as this will be another clue.
Bloat (another term for dropsy) is rarely contagious. There are numerous causes of dropsy/bloat, including kidney failure (infection, genetics, toxins), hemorrhaging (often from injury or septicemia), tumors, or similarly destructive infections--because of the numerous causes, it is nearly impossible to treat, but the swelling can often be alleviated with the use of 2 tablespoons of epsom salt per gallon (this, unlike other salts, passively diffuses into the body, removing some fluid).
While there are many causes of bloat/dropsy, swim bladder infection isn't one of them... that's called a swim bladder infection, which doesn't cause swelling, just lack of control of bouyancy.
Bloat (another term for dropsy) is rarely contagious. There are numerous causes of dropsy/bloat, including kidney failure (infection, genetics, toxins), hemorrhaging (often from injury or septicemia), tumors, or similarly destructive infections--because of the numerous causes, it is nearly impossible to treat, but the swelling can often be alleviated with the use of 2 tablespoons of epsom salt per gallon (this, unlike other salts, passively diffuses into the body, removing some fluid).
While there are many causes of bloat/dropsy, swim bladder infection isn't one of them... that's called a swim bladder infection, which doesn't cause swelling, just lack of control of bouyancy.
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LUVMUFF9326 - Posts: 119
- Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:00 am
well the fish aint swimming @ weird angles,scales dont seem to be pineconey just has fat gut,should i remove the fish from tank? if it is sick or contagious i surely dont want the rest sick. ive got alotta fish including a weather loach about 9'' long n if he/she dies i cry its my pride n joy fish
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Peterkarig3210 - Posts: 1980
- Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am
I don't know! That article said a lot of useful things.
I doubt it's contagous though.
Maybe try epson salt like they said. Make sure you use salt with no potentially harmful additives.
If it's been getting fat over a longish time it may be pregnant (maybe they make their nests when they're rady to pop??? Mro2you2???)
But if it happened in less than a week I'd think it would probably be dropsey per the info above.
I rarely use chemicals if I don't have to, but there may be a med that treats this if you do some research.
Good luck.
I doubt it's contagous though.
Maybe try epson salt like they said. Make sure you use salt with no potentially harmful additives.
If it's been getting fat over a longish time it may be pregnant (maybe they make their nests when they're rady to pop??? Mro2you2???)
But if it happened in less than a week I'd think it would probably be dropsey per the info above.
I rarely use chemicals if I don't have to, but there may be a med that treats this if you do some research.
Good luck.
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LUVMUFF9326 - Posts: 119
- Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:00 am
i think it is too,im not so sure i can treat it with the salt becuase i heard its bad for scaleless fish n i have 3 dojo/weather loaches which 1 ive had since i set my tank up,hes pushin 9 to 10'' n he was like 2'' when i got him, so i think thisweekend im setting up my 10g tank to treat it,i work 530 pm til 530 am so my scedule 4 the week is work sleep, repeat.....lol
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mro2you2 - Posts: 625
- Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:37 pm
good choice on the salt and the scaleless fish.
what I know about bloat or dropsy, it is caused from a bacterial infection of the kidneys, causing fluid accumulation or renal failure. The fluids in the body build up and cause the fish to bloat up and the scales to protrude. It appears to only cause trouble in weakened fish and possibly from unkempt aquarium conditions.
An effective treatment is to add an antibiotic to the food. With flake food, use about 1% of antibiotic and carefully mix it in. Ive seen fish at petsmart who had it and ask them what they do to treat it and they said trash the fish.......
what I know about bloat or dropsy, it is caused from a bacterial infection of the kidneys, causing fluid accumulation or renal failure. The fluids in the body build up and cause the fish to bloat up and the scales to protrude. It appears to only cause trouble in weakened fish and possibly from unkempt aquarium conditions.
An effective treatment is to add an antibiotic to the food. With flake food, use about 1% of antibiotic and carefully mix it in. Ive seen fish at petsmart who had it and ask them what they do to treat it and they said trash the fish.......
