# Female Leopard Danio very badly swollen



## satu55555 (Apr 6, 2011)

Hi,

My female Leopard Danio is heavily swollen. Here are the details:


1. Tank size: 140 L

2. Water parameters and brand of test kit used:
These are the parameters for the main tank.
Ammonium 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
pH 7.2
We use the API Master Testkit.

3. Is your aquarium set up freshwater or brackish water?
Freshwater

4. How long the aquarium has been set up?
The aquarium has been set up for almost 3 years

5. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?
4 Danios (one male about 10 months, about 3cm (= 1.2 inches) + tail; and 3 females about 10 months, about 3cm (= 1.2") + tail; 4 corydoras (two males almost 3 years and about 3.5 cm (= 1.4") + tail and 2 females about 9 months one about 3.5 cm (= 1.4") + tail) and the other one 6 cm ( 2,4 ") + tail, and two Oto Cincluses (male and female about 17 months, male is about 2.5 cm (= 1") and female 3.5 cm (= 1.4")) - Those times are how long we've had them. No new additions since these ones.

6. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)?
No. We put new fish straight in the main tank, but we've already decided that any new fish in the future will be put in quarantine first.

7. What temperature is the tank water currently?
24 Celsius (= 73.4 F)

8. Are there live plants in the aquarium?
There are 5 live plants that have been there over 1.5 years, and one of them was put there about a 4 months ago.

9. What filter are you using? State brand, maintenance routine and power capacity.
We have an Eheim Aquaball 2210 filter. We clean the pads in tank water during water change once a week. 550 L per hour (=145 US Gallons per hour).

10. Any other equipment used (aside from heater and filter which are two very important components of the tank)?
No other equipment

11. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? What is your lighting schedule (assuming you do not rely on sunlight for our viewing pleasure)?
The tank rarely gets natural sunlight, but if we get some sunlight, it's in the morning. Usually we keep the curtain so that the tank doesn't get too much sunlight. Automated lighting in the tank is on from 11.30am to 9.30pm. We live in Finland and at the moment there is no dark night at all. It's the lightest time of the year and it's light outside 24 hours a day so the house doesn't get dark either.

12. When did you perform your last water change and how much water was changed? How often do you change your water? Do you vacuum the substrate?
Last 30% water change was 7 days ago and the next one will be today.
Our normal water change is about 30% once a week with a gravel hoover at the same time. The filter is cleaned in the tank water every time.

13. What foods do you provide your fish? What is the feeding schedule?
Our fish get meals at 9am and 9pm. They get flakes, granule foods and dried worm, and we have three different types of pellets for the bottom feeders. Twice a week they get frozen lobster eggs instead of dry food in the morning. We also put a slice of zucchini or cucumber for the otos once a day. 

14. What unusual signs have you observed in your fish?

The female Leopard Danio has been very plump for 3 or 4 months now, but the plumpness has been around the bottom vent area. This has happened before a couple of times and then one morning she's half the size as she's released eggs. She also loves food and eats more than the other Danios. She also goes for the bottom feeder food after finishing her own one. Yesterday evening she had no appetite and when I had a look at my fish with a magnifying glass as I often do, she wasn't around. I just thought that she's resting inside a castle ornament as she often likes rest there during the quiet time of the day. Later on I saw her outside and he body was totally grossly distended, swollen and round, this time the back part of the stomach was quite a big bigger than before and also the chest under the head is way big. I decided not to feed her in the evening as she looks uncomfortable being so big. It also turned out that she didn't have any appetite. She swims around the tank and I think her head droops a little down when she takes swimming moves because of the weight being unevenly distributed. When she stops the fin moves, she straightens up, but still the belly looks to weigh down a little. She is still in the main tank as I don't believe she has anything contagious and also she is left alone quite well by the other fish. There are not other symptoms apart from possibly a little bit of something hanging out of the body around the butt area, but I think it's just the body distended so badly that the scales might have suffered. Her scales are not sticking out otherwise at all. I have not seen any poop coming out, but it's still possible.

15. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? If so, what treatments did you use? State your reasons for planning ahead of proper diagnosis.
I have not given any medication as such, but last night I put her in an Epsom salt bath for 15 mins. The strength was 1 ts Epsom salt per a gallon of water. She repeated the bath this morning while the other has their breakfast. So she is fasting at the moment. I suspect that this could be a combination of possibly a big lump of bottomfeeder food that she may have swallowed as a whole yesterday morning and over-eating longterm and also eggs that haven't come out. I've said to her many times to drop the eggs out. Other Danios are normal size and healthy. No other treatment has been given.

Could you please advise if this could be something else than what I'm suspecting.

Any advise would be much appreciated. Thank you!


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## satu55555 (Apr 6, 2011)

Here is a video of Millie, the swollen fish I wrote about.

Millie June 2012.avi - YouTube


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## satu55555 (Apr 6, 2011)

*and pictures*


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

Satu, I suspect she is egg bound based on the photos and description you've given. The only thing I can suggest you try is to move her to quarantine and treat the water with epsom salts rather than just the short term baths, and be sure the temp in the quarantine tank is at 78 - 80 degrees. Unfortunately, as big as she is, I can't offer much hope on her recovery. Most fish when they get to this stage are beyond help. 
I wish you luck.


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## satu55555 (Apr 6, 2011)

Hi Dawn,

Thank you for all your advice.

I gave her another Epsom salt bath yesterday and she kept fasting, but the body did not get any smaller. I actually think it may have even swollen more. This morning as I went to look at her for the first thing, unfortunately I found her dead. It's very sad. Millie was a much loved, beautiful and happy fish.

I did the above before I received your advice. I checked the threat last night before going to bed, but as I didn't have replies yet, I decided to wait until the morning and as you read above, I didn't have a chance to try.

Thank you again!


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