Sick Zebra Danio - Bloated Or Fat?

Hi

My zebra danio has suddenly become very swollen and looks either fat or really bloated. I noticed it yesterday morning and have since starved the tank in case it was related to over feeding.
He appears really fat and i have noticed today that his scales look as though they are proturding as well, as does his bottom with looks very red.


I have just tried him with some bolied peas, but he wasnt interested in them. Apart from looking extremely swollen, he is swimming normally. What should i do?

My tank has:

5 mollies
1 danio (sick)
3 rainbow
3 bettas
2 tetras
1 catfish

conditions in the tank are:

70 litres
ammonia 0
Nitrite <0.3
pH 6.5 - 7

I have done a 25% water change recently as well.

Hope you can help!

Some images of the zebra danio..

Firstly..Hi
Secondly i dont really know about the problem, But have seen pics in the past that bloated and "pineconing" can be signs of dropsy..which is nasty.

Thirdly...You are very over stocked. Danio's are scooling fish that prefer to be in groups of 6 or more.
The 3 Betta you have are they male or female?
what kind of tetra and what catfish is it?

Hi

Dropsy? Is that treatable? Will it affect the other fish?

We did have more danios (5), but they didnt last cycle - sadly an inexperienced mistake.

We have dwarf neon rainbows and female bettas. The catfish is a synodontis petricola so only reaches about 12cm in total. The tetra are phantom tetra. Again, started with 6, but now only 2 left. The tank has been running for about 4 months now, and the danio is the 'longest serving'! We have had him for more than 2 years in total.

Shall i continue to starve the tank? What else could i try?

Dropsey is more of a symptom, not a disease. Fish with dropsey rarely recover. The swelling is caused by the internal organs shutting down and a buildup of fluids in the fish. I haven't delt with this in a very long time, but epsome salt baths are supposed to help.