Swollen Belly Glofish

[Damarys]

Hello everyone! I was hoping to get some help with my sons glofish. They were given to him for Christmas 2018 and everything has been okay until now. They appear to have very swollen bellies. A petco employee recommended Microbe Lift Artemiss- 1ml/ day for ten days. I have reached day ten and they are still big. I haven’t noticed them act too different, they swim around the same way they used to. But after the ten days of this liquid they haven’t loss the belly swelling. Can any one recommend any other treatment?

I keep trying to upload a picture but it says my files are too large

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If the fish are eating properly but just fat, they are either overweight or full of eggs. When you post pictures we will have more idea.

Try not to add medications unless you know what is wrong with the fish. I have no idea what is in the Microbe Lift Artemiss and it could have anything in it.

The following link has information on what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/#post-3804819

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Set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take more pictures. The lower resolution will make the pictures smaller and they should fit on here. Make sure you turn the resolution back up afterwards otherwise all your pictures will be small.

 

[Damarys]

Thank you! I will definitely get to reading that! This is one of the fish. It seems like he got fat almost overnight. I only have three, this one and two striped ones. This is the one that looks the most bloated and only one of the striped glofish look bloated

 

[Colin_T]

It just looks like a fat female zebra danio but if it got fat over night then it's a concern.
Zebra danios need to be kept in cool water (16-24C). If they don't get a cool period or there aren't any males present, the females get huge and can become egg bound and look like the fish in the pic. However, if the fish ballooned up overnight and has stopped eating, then it has a bacterial infection.

As long as the fish is eating well and swimming normally, I wouldn't worry too much.

Did the fish always have the blue on its head?

 

[Damarys]

Oh a female! I always thought it was male! She eats well, she actually seems so eager to eat we named her chomper and she continues to eat even with the bloating.
I’ve never really noticed the blue on the head until now, so I’m not sure if that’s always been there or not. Could it be from the blue led in the tank?
I would turn it off to take a picture without it but this particular fish freaks out really bad when the lights go off and bangs into the glass.

Thank you for all of the help and information!

 

[Colin_T]

Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

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The blue might be from the light or the camera flash but could be normal colouration. Monitor the blue part over a few weeks. if it doesn't change I wouldn't worry about it.

Danios need to be kept in groups of at least 6 (preferably 10 or more). If you can get some more, especially males, they will feel happier and the males might help the females shed some eggs.

 

[Damarys]

I’ve been thinking about buying a dimmer, would that work as well? I’ve done the turning the lights on at night and then turning off the tank, and the yellow fish still stresses out.
My tank is 5 gallons, so I can’t add anymore right now but I’ll upgrade as soon as I get the hang of everything

 

[Colin_T]

Dimmer switches can work on some lights (LED and incandescent globes) but don't work on fluorescent globes. But it would help if you can get one for the light. Reduce the light slowly over an hour or so before turning the light off.

 

[Damarys]

Thank you so much for all of your help!

 

[Damarys]

He seems to be getting bigger. And scales like a bit rough. I feel a bit concerned about him but not sure what I should do

 

[Colin_T]

Is it still eating normally?

Don't feed them for a couple of days and see if it keeps getting bigger.

Do you have any males in the tank?
Males are usually a bit smaller and a lot slimmer than females.

What's with the colour of the fish, it's weird?

 

[Damarys]

i think the color might look paler because I removed the background to clean the tank. I’ll attach a picture with the background, it’s a bit more vibrant yellow. He’s still eating regular and swimming about normally. I only have one of these and two striped, I’m not sure if they are males or not. (and a little crab)

 

[Colin_T]

You have a zebra danio and a tiger barb (pink fish with black stripes). Both of these species need to be kept in groups of 6 (preferably 10) or more. However, the tank needs to be big enough to keep large groups of these fish.

Male zebra danios are usually a bit shorter than females and much slimmer.
Male tiger barbs get red lips when in breeding condition.

As long as the fish is eating normally and swimming about, I would say it is just a fat female full of eggs.

 

[Damarys]

That explains a lot! The green one has red around his lips currently! And it’s been chasing the red striped one around the tank lately, it normally doesn’t do that.

The person who gifted the fish to my son originally brought us 6 fish! They Walmart associate who sold it to them said they could have up to 9 in the five gallon tank. NINE!!!!

I pulled out the ones that I found “aggressive” which were chasing the remaining fish around and gave them to my brother.

I’m in the process of getting a new larger tank. But I don’t really feel comfortable getting more fish if can’t keep the three I have healthy