Emmy

it's been a rough long-weekend for my neons. in my previous post i mentioned really aggressive behaviour with my neons. this has slowed down somewhat, there is still some aggression in there but i was thinking of getting 2 more neons today to bring their school back up to 6 and hopefully stop this fighting behaviour.

i'm noticing big bellys on a couple of the neons. i'm hoping it's because they are such pigs and eat way more than their share. i'm going to starve the tank for a couple days to see if they get their slim-lined shape again. hopefully it's not dropsy, i had a beautiful male betta who got dropsy and it was terribly sad to see him like that.

is there a way i can tell if it is dropsy or if they're just fat? if it is dropsy, can their tankmates catch it. since it's bacteria i would imagine it is catchy and maybe i should separate them? i don't have another filtered tank but i do have several bowls. should i go ahead and add 2 more neons to at least control the fighting a bit? my priority here is not to infect the rest of tank. i've had the neons 2 weeks now, and from what i understand this is the end of the 'danger' period of new neons. they are still very active and colourful. i've been feeding them flaked food but maybe i should give them a little less. and a couple times a week i drop in a shrimp pellet for the corys, which the neons like to snack on too once the corys have broken it down a bit. of all the fish in the tank the neons really are the most piggish.

Lucy

Pineconing is a symptom of dropsy. Are their scales sticking out?
It would be helpful if you updated your aquarium info. There's no mention of neons, tank size or water parameters.

Emmy

their scales aren't sticking out, they look perfect other than their fat bellies.

i just added neons to my tank info, but paramaters were already there, 0 amm, 0 nitrite, 10ish nitrate.

thanks for your help.

Nate McFin

I have a few Cardinals that over eat as well. They get very big looking after eating. I am afraid the others may not be getting enough food because "Albert" (named after Fat Albert) just is so fast and agressive he gets more than his share.
The next day his waistline is smaller and while still big looks less explosive. Then we start over with another feeding. I wouldnt be too concerned about the belly at this point and I am not sure I would skip feeding for a few days. I try to keep the food under the water line so that it drops to all in the tank. When I was feeding on top he was one of the few who would actually go up there to feed. When I put it under the others managed to get more and he got less.

agabr123

i'd maybe skip feeding for just a day and see if their bellies go down at all, if they do then maybe just cut back on the feeding a bit or try to spread the food out more over the rest of the tank

Emmy

oh thanks, out of curiosity, how do i put the food under the water line?

and i'm not sure this would help in my situation, it would just mean even MORE food for the neons since the guppies would get less if it wasn't floating on the surface for a bit before sinking.

it's great, the guppies take from the surface, the corys from the bottom and those greedy little neons get everything in between... grrrr. they are the smallest but are the greediest. feeding time is so deceiving, everytime i feed them it's like it's their first time eating, they act like they'll die if they don't eat as much as possible. i know that the stomach of a fish is about the size of one of it's eye. but my neons don't realize this. they are such pigs that they will tear a huge piece of a flake, eat as much as they can then leave the rest to go for an even bigger piece. i hope they do just have fat bellies and nothing more serious. i hope they poop it out soon so their wee waistlines go down. waistlines HAHAHAHAHAHAH, good one mr mcfin

Lucy

I agree with Alex, I would fast them. If they're fat from over eating, you'll find out with in a day or so.
If constipation is an issue, fast for a day then feed tiny bits of thawed frozen shelled pea to get things moving then fast another day.

Emmy

ok thanks guys, i will fast for today, give frozen shelled pea tomorrow, then fast again. it should be interesting to see how they react to the peas...

i'm going out later to get more neons to bring their school count up, i'm also going to get my ghostie today, can't wait!

my brother was over yesterday and commented how stupid my fish looked. he thinks i should get big fish. i explained to him about overstocking the tank but i'm not sure he truly appreciates this. he just moved and i just saw his place yesterday, the first thing i thought of when i saw his long empty walls in the basement was "oh my but wouldn't a huge aquarium look great here, and another one there..." he agreed and wants to get a tank. i stressed to him over and over the importance of cycling the tank "you can't just add water to it and throw any fish in..." it's surprising how many new fish keepers are unaware of this.

there really should be a rule that fish can't be sold without the sales associate giving a quick 101 on the nitrogen cycle... but anyway, that subject has been exhausted again and again on this site.

Lucy

It might be a good idea to hold off on new fish until you're sure the ones you have are ok.

Emmy

so... you think it would be better to keep my neon count at 4 and have aggressive behaviour be a secondary concern? i'm not sure which way to go here.

Lucy

Well, no, what I mean is to hold off buying any more fish until you're sure the fish you have aren't sick.

Emmy

ok i'm just going to fast them for today and try the pea thing if they still look bloated tomorrow. i've been keeping my eye on the tank. the aggression isn't constant now, although they have their moments. also, i thought 2 of the 4 were really bloated but now only 1 looks uncomfortably so.

on a sidenote, my corys sure are enjoying the sand! they love burrowing in it and flipping it up a bit. they get all their shrimp pellet now too, it doesn't get lost down in the gravel.

i'll keep you posted about the neons. thanks.