vedder9
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I'm guessing the answer is no, but is there any hope for a fish whose stomach appears to have burst?
I've had this fish for several years and over the past year he has been spending quite a bit of time at the top of the tank upside down. I did some research after I first noticed it and it was clear that it was having a difficult time digesting food. I significantly cut down what I already believed to be a rather moderate amount of food and though it did it less often, it would still sit at the top of the tank upside down from time to time.
It has been fine for the most part lately, but about a week ago it was staying at the bottom of the tank and breathing significantly faster. More research suggested it had a stopped up digested track. I gave the 'frozen pea without the skin' method that seemed to help with the floating upside down issue a try, but it refused to eat.
A couple days ago I noticed that its abdomen area had turned red. I was pretty sure that meant something on the inside finally burst. Now, this morning there is what appears to be a small hole in this same area.
First, am I correct in thinking that things got so backed up that they just finally burst? Second, it still swims around if I get close enough to the tank and looks incredibly healthy in every other way. I can upload pictures if anyone thinks it would be helpful.
I'd hate to have to euthanize it, but if I know there is no getting out of this situation I'd much rather do that than let the poor thing suffer for an even longer period of time.
I've had this fish for several years and over the past year he has been spending quite a bit of time at the top of the tank upside down. I did some research after I first noticed it and it was clear that it was having a difficult time digesting food. I significantly cut down what I already believed to be a rather moderate amount of food and though it did it less often, it would still sit at the top of the tank upside down from time to time.
It has been fine for the most part lately, but about a week ago it was staying at the bottom of the tank and breathing significantly faster. More research suggested it had a stopped up digested track. I gave the 'frozen pea without the skin' method that seemed to help with the floating upside down issue a try, but it refused to eat.
A couple days ago I noticed that its abdomen area had turned red. I was pretty sure that meant something on the inside finally burst. Now, this morning there is what appears to be a small hole in this same area.
First, am I correct in thinking that things got so backed up that they just finally burst? Second, it still swims around if I get close enough to the tank and looks incredibly healthy in every other way. I can upload pictures if anyone thinks it would be helpful.
I'd hate to have to euthanize it, but if I know there is no getting out of this situation I'd much rather do that than let the poor thing suffer for an even longer period of time.