Extremely fat cardinal tetra

[ella777]

One of my cardinal tetras is extremely fat. I dont know if its pregnant or just very fat. I fed them today (bloodworms, granules and flakes)
He looks like he might explode.
3 of them look fat but none as big as him.
The fatter ones seem to be breathing quite quickly as well.

I attached a picture of the largest one

 

[Colin_T]

Is it eating
What does its poop look like

If the fish got fat overnight and isn't eating, it probably has dropsy or an internal infection and is dying. Euthanising it is the normal course of action.

If the fish got fat over a few weeks or months and is still eating and has normal coloured poop, then it's just fat.

Breathing heavily in conjunction with sudden weight gain or bloating is an internal infection and the fish is normally dying.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

One of my cardinal tetras is extremely fat. I dont know if its pregnant or just very fat. I fed them today (bloodworms, granules and flakes)

Not sure on the lumps, I'm sorry, but this is a huge amount of food to have fed them by midday, you're overfeeding. I know feeding is fun, and a variety is good, but you don't need to feed three different types of food in each meal, and overfeeding can cause a lot of other knock on effects.

Have you checked ammonia/nitrite etc?

 

[GaryE]

Hmm, there is a second 'pot belly' on that female cardinal. Normally, when they get fat over a few weeks, it's eggs. But she looks wrong. I have never seen that gut shape before, and I have had cardinals on and off for 40 years, sometimes in large numbers.

Unless I'm prepping them for breeding, they get fed once a day, sparingly. Some days, I might pop in a second tiny feeding, and one day a week, their tank gets fasted.

Don't show her this post, as that would get her mad. But you have to beware with fish. Fat doesn't accumulate under the skin as it does with us, but inside the body cavity where the organs are. As such, obesity is a fatal condition for fish. We tend to look at overfeeding as a cycle issue, and relax if the test kit says all's good. But fat fish are doomed fish.

 

[ella777]

Not sure on the lumps, I'm sorry, but this is a huge amount of food to have fed them by midday, you're overfeeding. I know feeding is fun, and a variety is good, but you don't need to feed three different types of food in each meal, and overfeeding can cause a lot of other knock on effects.

Have you checked ammonia/nitrite etc?

I only feed them once a day, not multiple times. It's only a small amount of each as I have quite a lot of fish in one tank.
I'll check the nitrates but it's only one fish out of 37

 

[ella777]

Is it eating
What does its poop look like

If the fish got fat overnight and isn't eating, it probably has dropsy or an internal infection and is dying. Euthanising it is the normal course of action.

If the fish got fat over a few weeks or months and is still eating and has normal coloured poop, then it's just fat.

Breathing heavily in conjunction with sudden weight gain or bloating is an internal infection and the fish is normally dying.

Yes hes eating, he got fat after eating. I havent noticed any poop so far.
He still moves very quickly and is quite hard to catch if I was to euthenise him.
Should I leave it a few days to see if it goes down?

 

[GaryE]

There's no cool way to say this, but keep an eye on the anal vent of that fish. What for threadlike things hanging out. Sometimes, nematode worm infestations cause lumps like that.

 

[ella777]

Hmm, there is a second 'pot belly' on that female cardinal. Normally, when they get fat over a few weeks, it's eggs. But she looks wrong. I have never seen that gut shape before, and I have had cardinals on and off for 40 years, sometimes in large numbers.

Unless I'm prepping them for breeding, they get fed once a day, sparingly. Some days, I might pop in a second tiny feeding, and one day a week, their tank gets fasted.

Don't show her this post, as that would get her mad. But you have to beware with fish. Fat doesn't accumulate under the skin as it does with us, but inside the body cavity where the organs are. As such, obesity is a fatal condition for fish. We tend to look at overfeeding as a cycle issue, and relax if the test kit says all's good. But fat fish are doomed fish.

Shes got this fat overnight, all of them looked completely normal yesterday.
I feed them bloodworms as I have a false eel (he goes a bit mad without food) and I give them a small amount of flakes and granules as well.
I havent actually checked on the tank since I posted this, I'll see if she looks normal again.

 

[Colin_T]

It might have eaten a few too many bloodworms and they could be causing a blockage that is either not moving through the intestine, or is taking a lot longer to move through.

Just monitor the fish for a few days. If it stops eating then it's over.

Bloodworms (Chironomid midge larvae) have very hard heads that don't get digested. These can cause blockages in a fish's intestine and kill the fish. If you are feeding frozen bloodworms to small fish, use a pr of scissors to cut the bloodworms into smaller pieces so this is less likely to happen.

 

[ella777]

It might have eaten a few too many bloodworms and they could be causing a blockage that is either not moving through the intestine, or is taking a lot longer to move through.

Just monitor the fish for a few days. If it stops eating then it's over.

Bloodworms (Chironomid midge larvae) have very hard heads that don't get digested. These can cause blockages in a fish's intestine and kill the fish. If you are feeding frozen bloodworms to small fish, use a pr of scissors to cut the bloodworms into smaller pieces so this is less likely to happen.

Thank you, the fish has gone back to normal now. I feed the bloodworms in a block as my false eel doesnt notice small pieces.
I also have frozen brine shrimp, is that better for smaller fish?

 

[Colin_T]

Brineshrimp is easier to digest because it doesn't have any hard parts. But the more variety of food you offer, the better it is for the fish.

If you do bloodworms once or twice a week it's fine and you can offer brineshrimp a couple of times a week and maybe get some marine mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up) to feed a couple of times a week.

You feed dry food first and then frozen food after that.

 

[ella777]

Brineshrimp is easier to digest because it doesn't have any hard parts. But the more variety of food you offer, the better it is for the fish.

If you do bloodworms once or twice a week it's fine and you can offer brineshrimp a couple of times a week and maybe get some marine mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up) to feed a couple of times a week.

You feed dry food first and then frozen food after that.

Thank you, is it better to only feed bloodworms, brine shrimp and marine mix instead of granules and flakes?
The frozen food is mainly meant for the false eel, the other fish get his leftovers.

 

[Colin_T]

I like to feed dry food first and then some frozen or live food after. This gives the fish a more varied diet and they theoretically get more nutrition. If you only feed frozen food, fish can refuse other food if the frozen food is no longer available, then they go on a hunger strike. A varied diet prevents this from happening.