My pictus catfish has been swelling up over these past few days. His belly looked like it was housing a marble last night, and this morning it like like a walnut! He is swimming in place against the glass, which is normal, but his belly is so distended that im getting really worried. I don't think its a disease like dropsy, as I recently added 4 panda barbs to the tank and they're not sick, neither are any of my other fish. He still seems to eat, but his belly is so huge! any suggestions on what i should do? thanks.
bloated pictus catfish belly
- Thread starter SkeptikalScabies
- Start date
I have a woodcat that i feed shrimp pellets after lights out, the pictus usually eats those as well. The pictus also eats whatever tetracolor tropical granules hit the floor when I feed my barbs.
this catfish has an eye that has always been popped out a little. i assumed it was just a deformity, because it was like that when i bought him and has never changed for as long as ive owned him, but now his other eye is popping out too! both eyes look healthy (aside from bulging out, but it isnt cloudy and the color is good) his skin color is also healthy and he is still swimming up against the glass like always
I just caught him and felt his belly, it wasn't taught like i was expecting, it was very soft. And the swelling seems to have gone down a little.
A pic would be helpful. Also, properly measured water parameters a must.
At the face value, it sounds like it is experiencing osmotic problems, retention of fluids. Dropsy is not a disease but a manifestation, a symptom of this condition. The causes can be many. Shooting in the dark at this point unless much more info is provided and good pics of the fish and the tank.
At the face value, it sounds like it is experiencing osmotic problems, retention of fluids. Dropsy is not a disease but a manifestation, a symptom of this condition. The causes can be many. Shooting in the dark at this point unless much more info is provided and good pics of the fish and the tank.
sorry that they arent the finest pictures, but they get the message across. the water is healthy, its a little hard (its always like that due to the water here, no nitrites or ammonia the ph is 8.0 (again, no mater how much ph reducer I add, it wont go down), and to top it off, my nitrates are a little under 40 ppm. so everything except the catfish is good.I decided to give him an ice bath, at least he isnt hurting anymore. Everyone else seems healthy though, but I treated the whole tank with kanaplex just to be safe.
Yeah, that's almost as bad as it can get. IMHO, NO3 should be below 20 ppm, better yet below 10 ppm, given that in the Amazon and other major rivers, NO3 reads 0 ppm by the API liquid test kit.
High nitrates + short term scenario may not equal moderate nitrates + long term scenario, but in the former case it's been shown that digestive issues ensue, e.g., in goldfish.
Or the osmotic deregulation can be caused by a bacterial, viral, or parasitic disease.
Can be pretty hard to get at the root. Need separation and stepwise treatment in a hospital tank to eliminate one by one the possibilities.
High nitrates + short term scenario may not equal moderate nitrates + long term scenario, but in the former case it's been shown that digestive issues ensue, e.g., in goldfish.
Or the osmotic deregulation can be caused by a bacterial, viral, or parasitic disease.
Can be pretty hard to get at the root. Need separation and stepwise treatment in a hospital tank to eliminate one by one the possibilities.
If theres no nitrate, the ammonia isnt getting turned into nitrit, and then to nitrate, so how low can you go on the nitrate, without damageting the nitrogen cycling? I'm confused here, i've always heard if nitrate is under 40, its ok.
