Gravid, constipated, or something worse?

[Zachmantx]

Hello!

New aquarium owner here and I have a concern about one of my Peacock Gudgeons. She (?) has been in the tank for a month now. Still very active, hungry, and looks healthy other than her bloated belly.

I can't tell if she is constipated or gravid. I'm worried I have been overfeeding and she is blocked up. I'm feeding way less now and I'm going to fast the fish for a day or two. Please let me know what you all think! I also read it could mean worms, but none of the other fish have it and I can't see anything sticking out of her.

(The fish in question is the topmost fish in both the pictures attached)

Water parameters are great at 0 ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and 10 Nitrate. I did a fishless cycle before adding any fish.

Also, they may be too young to sex, but if you all have any ideas what all three of their sexes are, I would love to know! I'm currently thinking I have 1M and 2F, but don't know for sure.

 

[Andy Sager]

Hello!

New aquarium owner here and I have a concern about one of my Peacock Gudgeons. She (?) has been in the tank for a month now. Still very active, hungry, and looks healthy other than her bloated belly.

I can't tell if she is constipated or gravid. I'm worried I have been overfeeding and she is blocked up. I'm feeding way less now and I'm going to fast the fish for a day or two. Please let me know what you all think! I also read it could mean worms, but none of the other fish have it and I can't see anything sticking out of her.

(The fish in question is the topmost fish in both the pictures attached)

Water parameters are great at 0 ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and 10 Nitrate. I did a fishless cycle before adding any fish.

Also, they may be too young to sex, but if you all have any ideas what all three of their sexes are, I would love to know! I'm currently thinking I have 1M and 2F, but don't know for sure.

The only way to know for sure is if you fast the fish for a couple of days and there is no change in size to the belly. I suggest you do this in either a separate tank or place a divider in the tank so that this fish is isolated because the other 2 look a bit underfed. ( It could also be that the one is getting more of the food which is why it's larger than the others. ) When you overfeed, fish will eat but not necessary digest it all at once.
If the fish has worms, it won't necessarily mean the other fish will have worms so that doesn't rule them out. There are a number of different worms that can be found inside fish. You only really see camalanus worms because they will protrude through the anus. With most of the other worms, you will see a white or colorless sheath be expelled instead of poo.
As for constipation, if you see the fish poo, it's not constipated. The swollen area in the bottom picture appears to be all in the intestinal tract so it's not eggs.

For now, I would isolate the fish for the fasting then report back. If you use a separate tank, you can add epsom salt ( not regular salt) at a rate of 1 tablespoon per 3-4 gallons of water which can help relax the muscles in the fish to aid in defecation. You would also want to keep the bottom bare in the isolation tank so that you can observe if anything leaves the fish.

 

[Zachmantx]

Will do!

I'll go put her in my quarantine tank tonight and will continue feeding the other fish. I'll see if I can pick up some pure Epsom salt too. The stuff I have at home has essential oils in it, which I assume would be very bad for the fish.

Thank you so much for the response.

 

[Andy Sager]

Will do!

I'll go put her in my quarantine tank tonight and will continue feeding the other fish. I'll see if I can pick up some pure Epsom salt too. The stuff I have at home has essential oils in it, which I assume would be very bad for the fish.

Thank you so much for the response.

Yes, you want plain, no additives added Epsom salt.

 

[Colin_T]

The fish just looks well fed and I would not isolate her.

You don't need to use Epsom salts. It won't do anything.

You do have a really skinny fish there that should be fed up and if it doesn't start gaining weight, then deworm them and treat them for gill flukes. Fortunately some of the deworming medications also treat gill flukes so you can hit both with one medication (Flubendazole).

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DEWORMING FISH
Intestinal Worms like tapeworm and threadworms cause the fish to lose weight, continue eating and swimming normally, and do a stringy white poop. Fish can do this for months and not be too badly affected. In some cases, fish with a bad worm infestation will actually gain weight and get fat and look like a pregnant guppy. This is due to the huge number of worms inside the fish.

You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And use Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If you can't find these medications, look for Flubendazole, which treats both lots of worms and gill flukes.

In the UK look for:
eSHa gdex contains praziquantel that treats tapeworm and gill flukes.
eSHa-ndx contains levamisole and treats thread/ round worms.
NT Labs Anti-fluke and Wormer contains flubendazole.
Kusuri wormer plus (contains flubendazole) - sold mainly for discus, comes as a powder which is quite hard to dose in smaller tanks
Sera nematol (contains emamectin)

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second, third and forth treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time to prevent cross contamination.

You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24-48 hours after treatment too.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish the next time you treat them. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish.