Why do fish get bloated?

[Big C]

I'm so upset! My denisony barb is lying in the bottom of the tank grasping for air.

It got bloated like a week ago, so I put them all on a diet. They were eating every other day. For the last two days I started them in veggies again and fed lightly every day. Last night she was bloated again and already in the bottom.

I lost my blue gouramy a couple of months ago like that... and now the barb! All the water parameters are right, I feed them a lot of different stuf, what is going on?
:?
Thank you!

 

[Big C]

He's dead! And I'm very sad. Any advice will be appreciated so I don't loose any more fish like that.

Thans guys!

 

[RoK]

Hm, did you try giving them shelled peas?
I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[ace1uno_00]

Sorry to hear about that.
Fish can get bloated from stress. Have you added any new tank mates/Plants?
Changed filtration? changed food besides the peas lately?

 

[Big C]

No, no changes. Now the angel has a red (bloody?) gill. Can this be a bacterial infection?

 

[joedarat]

might be parasites.. you could try coppersafe - worked for my red-gilled female apisto.
i forget if its bad for plants, but i know it's bad for snails/shrimp-it kills them - but safe for all other fish.

 

[ace1uno_00]

That does sound like some type of infection. Marycen works well.

 

[FMJnaX]

Any signs of dropsy (scales sticking out)? It sounds like a problem, and not a constipation/over-eating problem. We'd probably need more information for a more accurate diagnosis.

 

[Big C]

I missed this one, FMJ. Yes, it had scales sticking out. And his head looked small for the body because he was so bloated. What other info do you need?

 

[Big C]

Well, that search engine does work. I just read a few threads about dropsy and it sounds like that is what the Barb had. Although he didn't loose his apetite and he kept moving fine until the night before he died.

The blue gourami didn't have any scales sticking out though. May be he died of something else.

I hope none of the other tankmates gets sick now. But it sounds like if it was dropsy they might be OK. I'll keep watching them very closely.

Thank you, guys.