What is this?

[innocuous_name]

I posted on another forum and got a reply that I need to quarantine or euthanize this fish. would like a 2nd opinion.

 

[UnknownFishies]

Is it having trouble swimming or eating?

 

[innocuous_name]

nope, seems fine otherwise

 

[Barry Tetra]

What does his poops look like? If it white and stringy you should treat him with parasite medication such as Metronidazole, Levamisole and praziquantel.

 

[innocuous_name]

haven't seen a poop yet, just got her to quarantine.

 

[Colin_T]

what are you worried about, the black thing or the fat belly?

 

[innocuous_name]

what are you worried about, the black thing or the fat belly?

Mostly the black thing. The fat belly I figured would work itself out, but the combination of the two has me worried.

 

[Colin_T]

more pictures showing the fish from different angles, and video too, that might help?

how long has the fish had the black thing for?
does the black thing stick out from the fish?

how long has the fish been fat for?
did it get fat over a period of time or overnight?

is it eating properly?
monitor the fish's poop

 

[innocuous_name]

Black thing I noticed for the first time yesterday, but honestly don't check in with every tetra every day - mostly just take a head count. It appears to be internal only.
Fish has always been a little chunky compared to the others. Assume she's a large female.
Here she is from the other side. You can see she's not the only chunky one. She's the only one with the black thing.

Here is a rear view (center of the sword) you can see what a wide load she is.

 

[Colin_T]

How long have you had the fish for?

If it appeared overnight that could be an issue. My concern is the first picture in post #1, the black bit looks like it is coming out of the spine. If that is the case, then that is a concern.

If it has been growing in the muscle tissue for a few weeks or longer, then it's probably a parasitic worm that got lost in the fish and ended up in the muscle in the fish's back. If this is the case, there's not much to worry about and the worm will live there until the fish dies. You can sometimes kill these worms with Praziquantel, Levamisole, or Flubendazole, but most of the time the worms are unaffected by medications.

I would monitor it and see how it goes.

As for the fat belly, it is probably eggs.

If you haven't dewormed your fish, you could do that and see what happens, but you don't need to euthanise the fish or quarantine it at this stage. As long as the fish is eating and swimming around normally, just let it be.

 

[innocuous_name]

Thanks, she's a little less swollen this morning. Looking sad in quarantine. I don't see any poo, but that seems normal, right? I mean, no worms... Debating should I treat for parasites or just put her back in the tank.

 

[Colin_T]

put her back with the others and monitor her in the main tank. It's not contagious and even if it was, the other fish would have picked it up already

 

[innocuous_name]

Just put her back in. She hid for like a minute and is now following around one of the red phantoms like it's her big brother for protection. Seems to be behaving fine. I'll update if there's anything to update.

 

[innocuous_name]

Minor update.
I should've said before, when I pulled her out of quarantine, I had wondered how all this sand got in the bottom of the bucket, was pretty sure I didn't grab any sand when I scooped up the fish. I realized after that she must've been pooping sand (or appeared to be sand. It was black, as is the substrate, hard and very sand-like in size/shape). So maybe she is full if sand?
I decided to dose the tank with Paracleanse as I read it is fairly safe and I hadn't done it proactively when acquired (back in December)
i haven't given the tank any food since Thursday before the first dose(as was advised, as their stomachs may be delicate) She is still fat, and I've noticed her mouth is sometimes working fast like she's gasping, but she's in with the shoal and keeping up with them all. I wonder if the excess weight from being laden with sand is making her exhausted?
Any advice is welcome.. I'm, just trying to do right by these little critters.

 

[Colin_T]

The fish could be breathing heavily because you add chemicals to the tank and chemicals reduce the oxygen level in the water and stress the fish. Breathing heavily can also mean an infection in the mouth or gills, or the fish is feeling sick or stressed.

If the fish is eating well then it doesn't have a mouth infection.

Make sure you increase aeration/ surface turbulence when using medications in aquariums.