think my orange tiger barb is gonna pop

Hey hI all, I have two orange tiger barbs, one is much less colorful than the other, it means she's a femaile right??? only over the past few weeks shes got fatter and fatter now she looks like shes gonna pop, she shots to the surface when I feed them and eats no problem, but tonight she has started to look stressed, shivering and swimming really fast then slow then sideways and so on, is she gonna start laying eggs or does this sound more sinister

 

Does it seem like she has difficulty swimming normally? Like does she float to the top, or struggle to stay righted?
Or does she have scales along her sides sticking out? From above, her body would look like a pinecone.

When she shivers, does she look like its a twitchy movement? Does she rub up against things in the tank?

Also, if you could give us the numbers for your nitrite, ammonia and nitrate, that would be helpful as well.

 

hey thanks for quick reply, panicking I did the levels earlier and they were fine, 0 ammonia 7 ph trace nitite and very low nitrate ( down to a bad plant which was removd earlier ) 20% water change which should rectify this, no surface floating at all very deep in the tank, bulbus belly though, swimming randomly but no trouble doing so still very hungry

 

just a quick update come down this morning shes still really fat but is a lot calmer swimming around normally put in a small amount of food and she as they all did shot up to the surface to feed --- I'm not sure they don't look sick at all they look really happy, she's gotta be pregnant I hope

 

She sounds like she's pregnant. That or either she is constipated and bloated.

How much do you usually feed?>

 

Pictures might help!

 

a small pinch in the morning and a slightly bigger pinch in the evening,shes still really big but quite happy now

 

She sounds like she's pregnant. That or either she is constipated and bloated.

Barbs do not get pregnant - only livebearers.

 

Two things: you want your nitrite to be ZERO. Also, she could be stressed because tiger barbs need to be in schools of 5 or more. I would feed her a boiled shelled pea to alleviate possible constipation. She could also be gravid (full of eggs ready to be scattered). Let us know how things are going.

 

Barbs do not get pregnant - only livebearers.

Full of eggs, my bad.

 

hI all thanks for replys so far, got told my temp was to low told to go up to 28 - did that wow their colors have really popped out - dya know shes still fat but seems ok - all levels great - regular water changes did - most of the times shes fine every niow and then she seems to spaz out, fins working really fast while shes pointing down sometimes swims with a sideways tilt then staigtens out,tomorrow she will be fine , what's happening pleaseeeeeee

 

hI all - well she seems to be calm most of the time, all levels great temp great cut down on their food a little - very small pinch in morning an a slightly bigger one in the evening, is this ok I have two ruby sharks who get on fine ( they used to always chase each other but a few weeks ago during a large water change I put them all in a large bucket of aquarium water then found one missing - he had jumped out and worked his way under the tank stand and was dead, he was out for some 15 mins- it took a while to find him, I was devastated to say the least when I found him, but rubbed him and put him in some water the worked him back and forth for ages when all of a sudden he swam out of my hand --- total shock for me but in a good way - now the two sharks don't ever fight --they just swin around together --- I dunno nature - its cool)
anyway 2 ruby sharks,
2 odessa barbs,
4 green tiger barbs,
2 orange tiger barbs,
6 tiger barbs,
6 gold barbs,,
1 pleco ( to clean up which he is doing rather well ) when I can see hime of course
am I feeding them enough, all the food is gone in a couple of mins -
also my heater is pointing straight down it always has been but I was told over the holidays that this is a no no - it should be at an angle is this right only they said it would blow up ???? help