# Black Skirt Enlarged Stomach



## Jasey (Dec 5, 2007)

One of my long fin black skirt tetras seems to have a very enlarged stomach. I don't know if he is just bloated, or if it is a tumor, or what. It has been like this for about a week now, and today I also noticed this enlarged stomach on another one of the tetras.

Images:
















This is a straight on view, he is the one on the right, not the left:


























1. Size of aquarium (# of gallons)
- 10g
2. Is your aquarium setup freshwater or brackish water?
- freshwater
3. How long the aquarium has been set up?
- 1 month
4. What fish and how many are in the aquarium (species are important to know)
- 3 long fin black skirt tetras, 2 fancy guppies, 3 ghost shrimp
5. Are there live plants in the aquarium?
- yes, 1 floating hornwort
6. What temperature is the tank water currently?
- 82 degrees F, currently undergoing the end of a 2 week ich quarantine
7. What make/model filter are you using?
- TopFin10
8. Are you using a CO2 unit?
- No
9. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day?
- No
10. When did you perform your last water exchange, and how much water was changed?
- 4 days ago, 3 gallons
11. How often do you perform water changes?
- once a week
12. How often and what foods do you feed your fish?
- 1-2 times a day: flakes, crisps, freeze dried blood worms
13. What type of lighting are you using and how long is it kept on?
- 2 10Watt fluorescent; about 6-8 hours a day
14. What specific concerns bring you here at this time?
- bloating of my fish belly
15. What are your water parameters? Test your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
- ammonia=0, nitrite=0.1, nitrate=25, ph=7.5
16. What test kit are you using and is it liquid or test strips?
- API liquid test kit
17. When was the last time you bought a fish and how did they behave while in the pet store tank?
- 1 month ago; healthy


----------



## herefishy (Dec 14, 2006)

I cann't tell from the pics very well. But. I'll take a stab at it. A couple of things could be wrong here. We'll try to break it down even further. What do the scales on the fish look like. Do they look like they are standing up? This may be a kittle hard to see. The scales on a tetra are pretty small. You may want to check from above the fish.

Have you been feeding bloodworms often? If so constipation may have set in. Feed fresh peas(frozen will do, just thaw them first and enjoy the childhood custom of smashing them between your fiingers) or veggie flakes. This will help the fish loosen up.

Thirdly, they may have an internal parasite or infection. Treat accordingly. Refer to this link for reference of what to use. http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=252

Lastly, they may be females egging up. I would not hold this to be true until I checked out the first three suggestions thoroughly, it is a long shot.


----------



## Jasey (Dec 5, 2007)

herefishy said:


> I cann't tell from the pics very well. But. I'll take a stab at it. A couple of things could be wrong here. We'll try to break it down even further. What do the scales on the fish look like. Do they look like they are standing up? This may be a kittle hard to see. The scales on a tetra are pretty small. You may want to check from above the fish.
> 
> Have you been feeding bloodworms often? If so constipation may have set in. Feed fresh peas(frozen will do, just thaw them first and enjoy the childhood custom of smashing them between your fiingers) or veggie flakes. This will help the fish loosen up.
> 
> ...


Thanks herefishy. The scales don't appear to be standing up from the fish. However, they do look as though they are being stressed and elongated. When you look at the fish straight on, as in the third photo (sorry for the quality), it looks like he has a really fat chin. Like an oval, with a wider bottom than the top. The other 3 tetras look like an evenly shaped, narrower oval.

I only feed the blood worms once every few days, and when I do so, it is only a pinch after I feed them flakes or crisps. I will pick up some peas today and try that.

As far as being females, I could be wrong but based on the sexing descriptions I've read, female black skirts have their second vertical stripe parallel to the anal fin, and that is not the case with either of these fish.


----------



## herefishy (Dec 14, 2006)

Keep me advised.


----------



## Jasey (Dec 5, 2007)

I mushed up a few thawed peas and put them in the tank. They sank and the tetras nipped them as they were falling, but that was the extent of their eating. The guppies were all over the peas when they were at the bottom but not the tetras. Their unusual shape doesn't seem to be posing a problem right now.. but it just odd that it has slowly appeared, first in one and now another. Maybe they are eggs. I suppose I'll just hope for the best and keep monitoring them.

Edit: Also wanted to note that I looked through the freshwater diseases forum and the fish don't seem to be having symptoms of any disease, other than the enlarged stomach. The symptoms are most similar to constipation, however I have seen these fish poop while having their stomach like this. I'll also note that this tank has been having salt because it is undergoing the end of an ich treatment.


----------



## Gage (Feb 18, 2008)

they could very well be eggs, or any of the problems mentioned already, you just never know.


----------

