Cherry Barb help

[raye]

I need some help please, I have 3, three year old cherry barbs. One male and two female. One of them has become very bloated around the middle and I can't find any picture to tell me if this is due to "eggs" or due to dropsy. I also have 3 lemon tetras, 3 lamplite tetras, 5 neons and a cuckoo catfish. No one else is doing this, I treated the tank for dropsy with maracyn-2 and she has not changed. Please help with info or links to pictures on the net to help guide me to my next step. Thank you.

 

[shmoe]

I would suspect that if the fish has no changes in color, feeding, or behaviour, it could be that it is just pregnant. Are there any other symptoms, or is the fish swimming around and feeding normally?

 

[raye]

No, there are no color changes. She can't swim very well, she is trying to eat I notice some fins sticking out at the bottom, but I think that is due to the bloat. She is also missing a bit of her tail fin, but that is due to other fish picking on her I think.

 

[shmoe]

Have you noticed feces trailing from the body at all? Or do the scales look puffed out as well as the body being bloated? Is the fish swimming with the other barbs or is it isolated?

 

[raye]

She tries to swim with the others but too big to swim for long. The fins aren't really sticking out anymore than I would expect for her size right now. No feces or anything trailing from her. I do see some small "worm shaped" maybe feces or?? sitting on the big shale rocks. It's frustrating because I have not found any pictures of dropsy or pictures of cherry barbs or anything freshwater with eggs.

 

[shmoe]

Yeah...I've been looking to.

One cause might be constipation...as silly as that sounds. That's why I asked about the feces. If the fish is acting pretty normal, but just bloated...it could be that it's constipated and you should try and vary the diet from what you are feeding it right now. How often do you feed them? I have a gold barb myself that's getting pretty fat. The females are bigger and tend to get bigger too.

If it is dropsy...usually the scales stick out from the body and the fish becomes less interested in food and doesn't even try to swim with the others. It just kind of wastes away.

The last and and best reason is that it is pregnant.

Keep me up to date with its behaviour. Could be that you'll just have a fat fish from now on.

 

[raye]

Thanks anyways, I am going to get adivider for the tank. The male is the reddest I have ever seen him and she keeps trying to go for the plants, but the other fish seem to be waiting in the plants for her. I will separate them and wait and see. Might you know how long the "gestation" is for them?

 

[shmoe]

Not too sure the gestation period. I believe it is a few weeks time. However, they lay eggs and the males fertilize the eggs once they've been laid. So, if you separate, a male should be put in with the female.

I found a picture of a fish with dropsy. Though it's not the same fish, the body would look similar, scales sticking out. Again, just watch her behaviour closely.
Dropsy

 

[raye]

Well I am sad to report that she went downhill enough that we just had a fishie funeral. My guess was dropsy. Over 24 hours she developed the protruding scales and finally today hemmoraging in her belly. I guess three + years is a good fish life, but wow what a awful way to go.