Catfish ate rock?

[NicksFishTanks]

I'm not sure what kind of catfish this is. It looks like a pictus catfish however it is brown with lighter and darker spots. It's not an upside catfish or a Cory. I think it may be a Jelly Bumblebee. Anyway, this catfish has been extremely fat for the last few months. At first I thought maybe she ate a few of my smaller fish, as they did disappear occasionally but like I said this has been going on for a few months now. She stays hidden most of the time and hardly swims around, like my other catfish of the same breed. Her stomach is extremely round, almost like she ate a rock, however I don't have any rocks in the tank like that. I haven't tried to catch her and feel is there is something hard in her stomach but it's just really strange. I also considered the possibility of her being egg bearing because I thought her and the other one were breeding about a month ago, but she has never laid any eggs or anything like that. She obviously still eats and is alive. Any thoughts?

 

[Back in the fold]

Can you stir it up and get a better picture ?

 

[NicksFishTanks]

Can you stir it up and get a better picture ?

Now that i finally got ahold of the fish. It appears the mass is more on the fishes left side than right side. Perhaps a tumor or something? I was thinking Dropsy but no other fish are affected whatsoever.

 

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Yeah , something looks amiss there . Is it a hard lump ?

 

[NicksFishTanks]

Yeah , something looks amiss there . Is it a hard lump ?

Not at all. I tried to feel it to see if maybe it was a rock or even bone parts from the little fish that have gone missing but it seems soft. The fish started to grunt or make some sound when I put pressure on it, which I thought at first was gas buildup escaping. I edited my previous reply. If it was something like Dropsy I would think that other fish, 10+ would be affected in some sort of way as well. It's a Discus tank so if it was water quality i'd assume they'd be affected first. No other fish so signs of any illness or stress.

 

[NicksFishTanks]

Yeah , something looks amiss there . Is it a hard lump ?

Water changes are frequent but not as frequent as recommended since it is a planted tank (once a month+filter cleaning). When I clean I don't suck much out of the substrate or filter and rarely I'll get excess algae growth/build up. My tank has been setup for 5 years now and is very consistent on everything.

 

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Wow . . . . this is certainly interesting and very perplexing . It actually made a sound huh ? I’ve heard of that with some species of catfish and apparently it’s common .
How about it Forumites ? Anybody know anything ?

 

[NicksFishTanks]

Wow . . . . this is certainly interesting and very perplexing . It actually made a sound huh ? I’ve heard of that with some species of catfish and apparently it’s common .
How about it Forumites ? Anybody know anything ?

LOL. Yes, the fish actually made a grunting sound or something of that sort. Any idea what species of catfish this even is?

 

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LOL. Yes, the fish actually made a grunting sound or something of that sort. Any idea what species of catfish this even is?

No idea at all . I’m not up on catfish . @WhistlingBadger ?

 

[TNG]

Look up South American Bumblebee Catfish and see if it's similar to your fish. It's a nocturnal fish, that swollen belly is a concern though.

 

[NicksFishTanks]

Look up South American Bumblebee Catfish and see if it's similar to your fish. It's a nocturnal fish, that swollen belly is a concern though.

It's similar... but it doesn't have stripes like the typical bumble bee catfish. mine is darker with spots rather than stripes.

 

[TNG]

It's similar... but it doesn't have stripes like the typical bumble bee catfish. mine is darker with spots rather than stripes.

If you had a good look at it and think it's a Jelly Bumblebee then it's probably is. One thing it has in common with the South American or Asian Bumblebee Catfish is that they are all nocturnal, so need to be fed at night especially if you have other fish in your tank. Sinking pellets are good, but not floating flake as the flakes will be quickly eaten by other fish, even in the dark. The Bumblebee also eat smaller fish which explains why some of your small fish disappeared.
While a cave is good to hide during the day, they prefer driftwood, the larger the wood the better.

Photo of the tank of my Asian Bumblebee Catfish (Pseudomystus siamensis). It hides under the driftwood on the left during the day and only comes out when it's completely dark.

 

[WhistlingBadger22 4]

No idea! It isn't a species I've kept before. I've never have a fish get a growth like that. A tumor? Some sort of intestinal blockage?