possible sick tetras

[LjGar]

Two of my three black skirt tetras have huge bellies, while the third is still very slim. is this something I should worry about, or is it normal for them?

 

[sunsplash76]

LjGar~
A distended belly can be cause for alarm absolutely! My cichlid had a ditended belly and I diagnosed it as dropsy. By the time they show signs with that disease it is usually to late. Dropsy is a swelling of the intestinal tract which causes organ/kidney failure if not treated immediately with a broad spectrum anti-biotic. There may be other diseases that are associated with that symptom also, such as swim bladder problems, but you'll need to research. Quarantine may be needed at this point. Is there a loss of appetite in these fish? That is a big indicator trouble. When a fish does not desire to eat and hides, you got trouble! You can go to www. fish disease.com for some info. Also look in link section here for more web reading. Good luck and let me know what happens.

 

[LjGar]

Well.. their behavior is the main reason why I'm not sure that they're sick. They are some of the happiest fish in the tank, and certainly the hungriest. Is it possible that they're just fat? lol

 

[Grant R]

I know it's a long shot, but pregnancy possibility ??

 

[Somethingfishy]

How much are you feeding?
Do you have males and females? They could be pregnant?

I had some minnows, just the plain ones, and some of them also just ballooned while some of the others just remained slim. I also thought that they were preggies and seperated them in to 'birthing' chambers to find that they were just over eager eaters.

I would however keep a close eye on them just in case ?? :?

 

[LjGar]

lord, please don't let them be pregnant. :? anyone out in the area want some black-skirt tetras? lol

the possibility of them being over-eaters I feel is pretty high. They're the first two to the food when it hits the water, and you can tell they start eating faster when the other fist begin to look interested. They really are charactors... is there some way to monitor how much the two of them eat without neglecting the rest of the tank?

 

[Somethingfishy]

To distinguish if they are females look for the following:

Breeding
The anal fin of the female is parallel with the black line on her stomach. The dorsal fin on the male is narrower and comes to more of a point at the top.

I am not sure how you can monitor how much they eat apart from feeding less, :?

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

if i remember correctly, mature females have a slightly more distended looking abdomen than males ....but that isn't anything extravagant....