constipated cardinal tetra

[mommytron]

i think one of my cardinal tetras is constipated. it looks like it swallowed a rock, and it's swimming around kind of frantically with a long string of poop dangling from it (which actually fell off). what can i do for a single constipated fish among 10 healthy ones???

 

[logansmomma1228]

feed them peas . I believe you take the skin off of them and nuke them long enough to make them soft. Might want to double check on that though. I do know that the peas will help the constipation.

 

[mommytron]

i just fed them a few peas. they went nuts! a couple of them actually looked bloated. but the first one i saw looked really bad, and one side of his belly it looks like a freakin tumor or somethin! they all mowed the peas right down, so hopefully that helps. i think it was the dried blood worms i gave them today. anyone else have better food suggestions so they don't get constipated anymore??

 

[Lowryder]

I actually include peas in my weekly feeding schedule.

 

[logansmomma1228]

It seems that they will accept a wide variety of foods, you could try frozen foods like brine shrimp ?

 

[dkpate]

I would stay away from anything freeze dried, it always bloats my fish, and feed the peas once a week.
I microwave the peas for 3 minutes (frozen peas) in a coffee cup of water, run them under cold water for a bit to cool them off, pop the middle out onto a spoon, mush up a little, and then give some to all of the fish, they LOVE peas!

 

[mommytron]

I microwave the peas for 3 minutes (frozen peas) in a coffee cup of water, run them under cold water for a bit to cool them off, pop the middle out onto a spoon, mush up a little, and then give some to all of the fish, they LOVE peas!

LOL that is EXACTLY what I already did!! only difference is I used a Pyrex measuring cup that's awesome, looks like I'm on the right track. will be headed out tomorrow morning for ferret food, gonna have to pick up some frozen food for the tetras too. thanks guys!!!

 

[Lowryder]

Pre-soak your flake or pelleted food. This will allow expansion to occur prior to the fish eating it, and will lessen the chance of impaction