Fat tetras?

[Divinityinlove]

I've got these two fat glowlight tetras who are consistently fat and I'm starting to wonder maybe it's not just bloating. I've never had tetras get pregnant, and I'm really hoping it's not parasites because they're vigorous eaters and dont show any sign of ill health, none of my fish do. If it might be dropsie? I will quarantine them and treat it best I can.

I've added photos with the other tetras so you can see the slim, normal looking ones vs the two very big bellies. Sorry for blurry photos.

Just want to know if it is normal or there could be any other reason?

I feed the whole tank with a frozen cube of bloodworm, OR brine shrimp, OR daphnia once a day which is shared with my other two tanks and the goldfish get half cube, betta gets a few bites, and these lot get the main second half. So roughly half a cube which is about 2cm x 1.5cm x 1cm in size.

Recently I have had lots of guppy fry and so I also spread around a cube of red rotifiers so it is very spread out and the fry can catch them as they're dispersed otherwise the adults, especially the tetras are very fast and eat everything. But the adults do eat theirs and then start trying to gulp as much red rotifiers as possible as well.

Before when I used to feed flaked foods, there was always bloating and illness and deaths but since switching to frozen, I threw away the flakes. Other than over eating which the only solution in my books would be to move the tetras to a separate tank and put tiny amounts of food in... I'm not sure what else to do since they eat so fast and go for other's food (the guppies are slower).

If you have experience with glowlight tetras, please share your insights. Thank you!

 

[GaryE]

Glowlights... I love them, but they are not as easy as people think for exactly what you are seeing.

Females tend to become egg bound. Spawning them takes extra tanks and a little planning, but they are an easy tetra. Some will use epsom salt baths, as the muscle relaxant side of the salts can make them unload their eggs. I don't have a recipe as I haven't done this for many years.

They can also easily become obese, which is fatal for them. It's Christmas Eve as I write, and I fear looking like a female glowlight by tomorrow night.

In picture 2, the larger fish is female, the other a male.

 

[Divinityinlove]

Glowlights... I love them, but they are not as easy as people think for exactly what you are seeing.

Females tend to become egg bound. Spawning them takes extra tanks and a little planning, but they are an easy tetra. Some will use epsom salt baths, as the muscle relaxant side of the salts can make them unload their eggs. I don't have a recipe as I haven't done this for many years.

They can also easily become obese, which is fatal for them. It's Christmas Eve as I write, and I fear looking like a female glowlight by tomorrow night.

In picture 2, the larger fish is female, the other a male.

So perhaps they are egg bound and I can have a look at how to help them release those eggs.

What's your advice about avoiding them becoming obese? Should consider separating them so I can control feeding better?

 

[GaryE]

Like neons, they love to eat, and they are very efficient scavengers along the bottom. Any extras - they get. So controlling their diet isn't easy. A lot of small tetras have that problem - pretty well all the foraging types. You can only reduce food going into the tank. Pristellas, black neons - but no one gets round like glowlights.

I would assume egg binding for now because your males look good.

 

[Divinityinlove]

Like neons, they love to eat, and they are very efficient scavengers along the bottom. Any extras - they get. So controlling their diet isn't easy. A lot of small tetras have that problem - pretty well all the foraging types. You can only reduce food going into the tank. Pristellas, black neons - but no one gets round like glowlights.

I would assume egg binding for now because your males look good.

Is it still likely spawning if they're leaning to one side when swimming?

 

[DoubleDutch]

I'd say they are both qelfed (a bit overfed) females carrying eggs.

I get the flakes issue as well. These fish are midwaterfeeders amd take in too much air when feeding on the surface.

 

[emeraldking]

They're carrying eggs...

 

[Divinityinlove]

I'd say they are both qelfed (a bit overfed) females carrying eggs.

I get the flakes issue as well. These fish are midwaterfeeders amd take in too much air when feeding on the surface.

They race to the surface though, there's no stopping them. My only methods of sharing the food fairly so they don't get too much is to spread around the food so they can't swim to it as quick.

 

[Ichthys]

If you’re feeding flakes, put them in the water before you let go of them, so they don’t float on the surface.

 

[Divinityinlove]

Is it worth trying to breed them at all? Is it very difficult? and what is the likelyhood they will breed low numbers like my guppies who only breed 5-6 at a time ? I would not breed if they will have 100 fry but upon reading an article it says they will, yet articles also say the same about guppies and mine have never had more than 6 at once.