Urgent! Very Large Neon

[SarahJayne]

Morning all,

I have a problem with one of my Neon's. Basically I brought 5 a few weeks back, 4 of them died and I am left with 1. I also have 3 sword tails in the tank with it.

Over the past two weeks I have noticed my Neon is becoming VERY large.
Basically I was wondering if it could possibly be pregnant? Could a neon become pregnant by one of the sword tails? or could something be seriously wrong with the fish?

Can someone please help me out!!

Thanks

 

[kewskills]

No your neon could not be preggars by the sword tail, It is very hard to breed Neon's so i doubt it is preggars anyway. I take it you mean its belly is swelling, there could be a couple of reasons none of them good, Can you post a photo and all you tank details water stats, tank contents etc.

 

[nosoup4you]

Can you get us a pic? Neons and Swordtails cannot interbreed (neons are egglayers, swords are livebearers) but your Neon could be egg bound...or it could be dropsy. Are the scales sticking out (pineconing)?

 

[SarahJayne]

Will get a pic when I am at home, i'm at work at the moment you see

In the tank there are two plastic plants and a little 'house' sort of thing, they have been in the tank from the start.
There is a tetra heater which is set at 26-27 degrees.
I also have a filter in there that came with the tank.
There is one neon tetra and three sword tails.

The ill one looks a bit like the size of the bottom fish in this pick, but a little bigger....

No the scales are not pointing out, it has faded slightly in colour though poor fishy

 

[Spishkey]

as is my understanding neons are extremely hard to breed in captivity and around 99% of neons are wild caught so i do not think it will be pregnant also it would be impossible for the swordtail and neon to breed. perhaps it is constipated?

 

[WILDER]

What do you feed your fish?
How many gallons is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

When a fish bloats up epson salts help draw the fluids out.
What were the symtoms of the other fish that died.
Any neons died where there red stripe was bleached out white, or a milky white substance on the red stripe area.

 

[SarahJayne]

I feed them once a day every day with normal tetra flakes.
The tank is a 30ltr tank
4 fish in total , one neon tetra and three sword fish
I dont know about the stats with regard to ammonia etc, all i know is that i use tap-safe on the water that I put in there
When the other tetra's died, their colour remained but it was faint. They had no symptons, they just died.

 

[WILDER]

The tanks to small for all the fish you keep.
Neons are shoaling fish so need no less than 10 gallons.
Livebearers are action fish so they need no less that 10 gallons.
How long has the tank been set up.
I would take a sample of your water to the lfs and tell them to write the readings down for you.
I would suggest you invest in some liquid test kits of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Neons really need mature tanks of six months.
You need a more varied diet of frozen foods and veg.
Frozen daphnia good as it helps the fish digest its food.
Peas are good for constipation.

Cooklpeas for a few minutes, let cool down and pop out of shell, mush beteen fingers into small peices and add to the tank.
Only feed the peas today.

 

[SarahJayne]

Can you get us a pic? Neons and Swordtails cannot interbreed (neons are egglayers, swords are livebearers) but your Neon could be egg bound...or it could be dropsy. Are the scales sticking out (pineconing)?

Hiya,
yeah the scaled are doing that...... what is it and how can i stop it??
Thanks

 

[WILDER]

If the scales are sticking out its the last stage of dropsy organ failure.
Fish rarely make it once scales stick out.
All you can do is epson salt baths.
Issolate and try a bacterial med.

 

[SarahJayne]

will it infect the 3 sword tals i have?

 

[Truck]

i have this with mine once . over feeding. i find with neons that there stomachs buldge when fed large amounts. could also be dropsy

 

[SarahJayne]

Ohhhh so maybe I should hold off feeding them? he doesnt eat when i put food in there though.

 

[WILDER]

Dropsy it contagious if other fish peck at the dead body of the fish.
I would issolate him.

 

[SarahJayne]

Ok thanks, will get an isolation net.