Glowlight Tetra swollen stomach query...

[mobydick]

One of my Glowlight Tetras has developed a huge swollen stomach - any ideas what this could be?

 

[The-Wolf]

"she" could be eggladen.

 

[Lateral Line]

Is the swelling symetric, i.e. the same on both sides? How old is it/how long have you had it? Are the others normal? Is it eating normally? Is it excreting normally?

 

[mobydick]

yes, the swelling is symetrical and all the fish seem happy enough eating and dumping.

Not sure how old the fish is, I think it's the one that was in the tank when my friend gave it to me (probably a couple of years old?)

Is it normal for these fish to store up all their eggs then let them go all at once?

 

[Nidge]

Could it be dropsy? link

 

[Lateral Line]

Female fish do tend to build up a load then spawn, but with small characins like that, they tend to build up a little then shed, the swelling is not gross. One reason you seperate the sexes when breeding is to get the females to fill so you get a good sized spawning.

The fish is getting on a bit however, you don't know how old it was when i t arrived after all. As long as it is swimming feeding and "dumping" normally, I wouldn't worry about it, in any event, there is probably not a lot you could do. No reason to automatically suspect disease.

 

[mobydick]

ok, thanks for the replies - maybe there's nothing to worry about, the fish seems happy enough. if the behaviour changes, I'll report back.

 

[millym]

hi there,
havent had that experience with a glowlight but about 3 of our female neons developed exactly the same symptom - their bellies were huge for tiny fish but they swam,bickered, ate etc & always looked quite happy. we had them for about 14 months like this before 2 developed popeye & looked more like dropsy & 1 got neon tetra disease ( we had to euthanase sadly ) we did initially, when they developed huge bellies stick them in a hosp tank & treated them for dropsy but nothing changed & they still looked quite happy so after about 2 weeks returned them to the main tank. i posted on the problem here somewhere as i was in a bit of a dilemma as to what to do - didnt want to leave them in quarantine forever & they didnt seem to be in any distress. so like i said i bit the bullet & put them back in the main tank where they seemed to live quite happily until showing definite signs of problems/distress well over a year later.
sorry i dont want to alarm you but it sounds so much like our fat neons. but ours did have well over a year back in the main tank seemingly quite happy until we did decide to euthanase & they didnt all get very sick together it was over the space of about 3 months.
in a long & winding way im trying to say id leave your glowlight where she is & just keep an eye on her & hey who knows it could be eggs or just a bit of bloating /constipation (peas v good for this & daphinia - worth a try)
good luck