schweeb

Tank: 26 Gal bowfront

Stock: 3 cardinal tetras, 2 fire rasbora

Parameters: pH 7.4, ammonia below .25ppm, nitrites not registering, nitrates not registering, temp 78.9F

I started this tank with SafeStart, because I had to do an emergency move of these fish from my fiancee's room. Her room temp swayed too much, and she couldn't afford the A/C required to keep it cool w/ a window unit. Safestart was applied 14+ days ago, I used a full bottle's worth for a 74G tank (bottle said to use it all no matter what)

I've seen ammonia spike a couple times, but it's been relatively low for the last 6 days, consistently. I haven't registered nitrites or nitrates ever, so either the safestart's STILL messing with my readings, or my test kit is bad (API FW test kit - brand new, good exp date).

I've done 30% water changes whenever I've seen ammonia get above .25ppm (max I've seen is .50ppm). Haven't changed any water in about 5 days.

One of the Cardinals has a badly bulging stomach, not sure what the issue is. All the others including the rasboras look well, and are very active. I'm not overfeeding, and I only feed every other day.

Could it be a female and be pregnant? What other issues would cause their stomach to swell like that?

I would take a picture, but my digital camera's broke. I probably couldn't get a good pic anyways, I'm useless with a camera.

Steve113

I would quarantine him if you have another tank. then you can keep an eye on him.

Are his fins poking out at the sides at all? (look at him from the top)
:<<<<- <
?

schweeb

I'll try to set up the 3gal I have tomorrow for him, it needs a cleaning since I've last used it, it's gotten some kind of slimy substance on the gravel.

I can't really see him well from the top, he seems to mostly be a mid-to-bottom dweller, and it's a somewhat tall tank (2ft?). Just tall enough that it sucks sticking my arm in to do work.

From what I can tell observing him from the front/sides, he seems to be moving his side fins just fine, similar to the other two.

Did you mean to ask if the sides were bulging? yes, he's bulging to the sides a bit, and to the bottom quite a bit.

And before anyone suggests they do better in schools, I do intend to purchase more, I'm letting this tank get further established first.

Steve113

when I asked about the scales and sides, i was referring to dropsy - a condition that causes a fish to swell resulting in it's scales poking out, almost resembling ruffled feathers, or a pine cone.

If it's dropsy, the he's very sick and is unlikely to pull through.

once you QT him you should be able to keep a closer eye on him. Watch for him getting any bigger and check for what I described above.

Linky links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_Dropsy

http://www.flippersandfins.net/Images/dropsy2.JPG

Is he eating?

peacemaker92

Steve has a good point. IT could be dropsy. It's best to quarantine him as quickly as possible so you can see everything that happens to be sure. So sorry your little guy isn't feeling well, hope he gets better. Good luck!

schweeb

I just tried feeding, and couldn't tell if he ate a lot or not. I saw him seemingly go after a couple flakes that fell, but couldn't tell if he actually consumed them. He wasn't going after as many as the the others, but that's understandable, being huge and all.

The scales don't seem to look like that yet.

Barbrella

I"ve had 7 neon tetras for nearly a year. Water is perfect and the tetras have grown quite large.

Several weeks ago I noticed one had a hugely distended belly, but otherwise looked and acted normally, except for spending some time under a piece of driftwood.

No new fish had been added, and all the other fish are perfectly fine, so I left things alone and didn't remove the tetra.

Now the belly is less distended and no other symptoms appeared.

I have no idea what caused this, but I suggest you NOT feed the bloated one for a few days and see what happens.

Good luck!

schweeb

Thanks Barbrella, that sounds like a pretty similar situation. I'll QT him so I can continue feeding the others normally.

Barbrella

Here's my fat neon today. The bloating is very slow to go down, but believe it or not, she/he was twice this size!

Attached Images

fatneonjul31.jpg (40.9 KB, 35 views)

jdhef

Maybe it's constipation. That seems to be tied in with swim bladder, though it's a little vauge in the Fish Disease section of this site.

schweeb

That does look pretty similar.

Steve113

hehe Balloon tetra -

New species maybe!

schweeb

Maybe I'm crazy, but his bloatedness seems to have decreased since I looked this morning.

Steve113

aww maybe not a new species then... I thought for a moment there that I was going to be famous after my discovery!

hehe - glad to hear he's getting better