Is It Possible That My Neon Tetra Is Pregnant?

[Foxx_in_socks]

i have 2 neon tetras out of 8, that are incredibly fat, i dont think it is dropsy as they have been like that for ages and ive treated them all with various meds, what could it be?, they look to be at exploding point. as far as i'm aware neons have very rarely bred in captivity, has this happened to anyone else???

 

[dwarfgourami]

Neon tetras are egglayers so it wouldn't get pregnant as such; it can't be inseminated by a male and then carry young. Instead they are egg scatterers: when the female and male are both in the mood, they go through the spawning ritual and she scatters her eggs while he ejects sperm over them. It is possible that your female is eggbound.
Neons can be bred in captivity providing certain conditions are met: the fish need to be put in the mood by conditioning- feeding certain foods, the water stats need to be right (soft and acid) for the eggs to develop, the eggs need to be rescued before the parents can eat them, kept in a darkened rearing tank until hatched, and then the babies need to be fed baby food.

 

[Foxx_in_socks]

if it isn't eggs or even baby related, what else could it be - it really does look fit to burst!