petercaine

hi all can anyone help we brought a golden bristlenose catfish yesterday and over night it has developed quite a large belly we dont know if it is male or female and is only 3inch or so long all our levels are fine we are baffeled by this sight can anyone shed any light on this please

Buzz

is it just the belly that is swollen or is the entire fish looking 'bloated'? (that might be dropsy)
Buzz

petercaine

hi buzz no its just the belly nothing else

Attached Images

S4010026.JPG (85.4 KB, 33 views)

petercaine

i have a picture i will try and upload it later

Attached Images

	S4010020.JPG (76.0 KB, 33 views)
	S4010026.JPG (85.4 KB, 31 views)

boff

That looks bad ,i would take it back to the shop where you got it .

Stitsbabe

Good grief!

From the pictures it looks like it's eaten gravel or something(they wouldn't do that would they?).

Sorry, that's not a very useful comment, I know. I'm just suprised!

petercaine

thanks guys do u think it could be gravel i have never heard of a fish 2 eat it??

Stitsbabe

I wasn't suggesting gravel eating as a cause, it's just what poped into my head when I saw the pics. Sorry if I mislead you in anyway!

I'm no expert, but I doubt a fish would eat gravel....they wouldn't, would they

petercaine

its funny u should say that i have just been talking to my mate in notts and he said it could be gravel?? i posted this to c what anyone else suggested im a bit like urself aint too sure

Peter243243

My goldfish peck at gravel to find leftover food. One time a piece of gravel got caught in my goldfish's mouth for 10 minutes!

Stradius011

Sometimes I heard that fish get gravel stuck in their mouth and then their stomach swells up. I don't think the pleco's problem isn't from getting gravel in their mouth though.

0morrokh

How is the catfish behaving? Is he swimming normally or just lying there? Is his back arched at all?

petercaine

he isnt swimming around much just seems to belying there looking at him i dont think he can suck on anything because of the lump its we had him in a net last night and gently pressed his belly and the lump was fairly soft so that kinda indicates that it might not be gravel? im just baffeled

petercaine

well guys and gals got home today and found the catfish had gone to pet heaven gutted never mind dont think i will be going to that shop again thanks for the advice. Still dont know what the illness was guess i will never know

Stitsbabe

Oh Peter, I'm so sorry to hear that!

Isabella

Man ... this poor fish looks terrible I have never heard of bottom feeders eating gravel, but who knows? When did you get this fish? Have you acclimatized it to your tank? What are your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH readings?

If it hasn't eaten gravel, then it could be dropsy. Are you medicating the fish?

0morrokh

I'm sorry about your fish.

petercaine

hi all before the fish passed away i checked all the levels and they were spot on wegot him on sunday at about lunch time and he was left to acclimatise for 20mins we then went out for a bite to eat came home watched a bit of tv then about 10 at night i was on my way to bed when i was just about to switch off the light and noticed him lying upside down not sucking on anything just under a rock i was a bit worried then but thought i will see how he is in the morning morning came and no change we checked every level again and they were spot on again would dropsy come out on a fish that fast we caught him in a net and touched his belly and it was quite soft so that baffeled me even more but thanks again for your reply everyone