- Swim Blatter Disease
- Constipation
- Dropsy
Swim bladder problems are rare in most fish. This issue is diagnosed by fish having trouble staying buoyant in the water. They either struggle to swim up and float back down as soon as they stop swimming, or they float to the surface and struggle to swim down.
Fish that eat dry food and food from the surface can take in air while eating and this can cause them to float around and have trouble swimming downwards. This is commonly seen in barbs and goldfish that gulp food at the surface. If you stop feeding dry food (use frozen but defrosted or live food) for a couple of days, the fish usually start swimming normally again.
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Constipation is not an issue in fish that get fed a varied diet. Monitor the fish and see if they poop. If they do, they aren't constipated.
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Dropsy causes the fish to bloat up overnight (within a 24hour period), they stop eating, do a stringy white poop, don't swim about normally, don't hang out with their friends, the scales around the belly can stick out from the body (but not always), and the fish usually die within a couple of days of developing these symptoms.
Poor water quality, a dirty tank and filter, the wrong type of food for the fish, and old rotten food or unclean food (like Tubifex worms) are the most common causes of dropsy. It can also be caused by Tuberculosis (TB) or other internal bacterial infections. However 99% of internal bacterial infections in fish are caused by poor water quality, a dirty tank/ filter, and bad food.
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Male tiger barbs develop a red nose when they are in good condition, females don't. Female tiger barbs get fat from eggs when in good condition. The two fish in the picture look like females.
If your fish became fat over a couple of weeks, they are probably full of eggs. If you feed them well, then the food and eggs will make them look fatter.
If fish become fat overnight and stop feeding, then it's a concern. But if they are females and get fat over a few weeks, and they are eating and behaving normally, it's not normally anything to worry about.
