fat or swollen?? (pic included)

[jodiem]

hi i have a male thick lipped gourami, he has gotten fatter over the few months but now he is massive!!

he swims around as normal, have i over fed him or has he got a problem,
How can i make him thinner??
Thanks Jodie

 

[Zagz]

Are his scales sticking out at all? I can't enlarge the picture so can't see enough to tell you if it looks like dropsy.

Also there is a sticky at the beginning of the forum that has questions that should be answered to facilitate our helping you.

 

[removedastars]

he may also be swallowing air, i think this is usually not fixable. you could try feeding below the surface [ie no floating foods or sink things such as flakes]

 

[aqua man]

Honestly my friend It looks like the begiinning of DROPSY. The outcome usually is not good. Gourami's are particulary prone to this disease. This disease is characterised by a swollen or hollow abdomen Asicites. A concentration of fluid in the body tissues and cavities causes the fish's abdomen to become swollen and appear bloated. Swollen areas may exhibit a 'pine-cone' appearance caused by the fish's scales sticking out. You can best see this by viewing your fish from the top. Fish may also stop feeding, appear off-colour, become listless and/or lethargic, have sunken eyes, and hang at the top or stay at the bottom of the aquarium. however dropsy does not take months to occur.

 

[jodiem]

hi thanks for ur help, i cant see any scales sticking out here is another picture that may help

i did touch his stomach (after seeing another post about this problem from a different persons fish) to see if he poos or anything like that and it was soft for a few mms then got hard

Hope u can help!
Jodie

 

[aqua man]

that does not look like dropsy, i don't know

 

[jodiem]

ok thanks for ur help, it doesnt seem to be causing him pain. so he may be ok maybe just a fat pig
LOL

Jodie!

 

[AlissasDad]

Is he pooping?

 

[Alaris]

He could be constipated. Try feeding him a blanched peeled pea.

 

[Zagz]

I agree, feeding a blanched skinned pea would be what I would start with. Also add some epsom salts to the water to ease the bloating. I've had some gourami's that do look like that before it becoming full blown dropsy.

Checking your parameters and posting them may help us help you more.