Bloated stomach ornate bichir

mrmusky1987

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Mar 20, 2019
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Hi guys im new to the forum. If this is not the right place to post this im sorry. I have an ornate bichir approximately a year old. It is about 4 inches long so still very small. Everytime it eats, its stomach will blow up like a balloon to the point where i am afraid it is going to pop. It is currently being housed in a 20 gal. This tank is obviously a grow out tank for the bichir and the only other thing in it is 5 baby sailfin mollies. I have been in the hobby for about 5 years now and have multiple large tanks. I have had bichirs for the whole time as well and have never seen this. The water quality to the best of my knowledge is superb. I do 30-50% water changes 1-2 times a week on all my tanks. I have had this bichir in a 40g breeder for most of its life, i moved it to the 20g after a couple months of it having the stomach issues. It may be important to note that it did not always have this problem. It started maybe 7 months old and is still having the issue 5 months later. The swelling will go down after about a week of not feeding it. It still has all the energy in the world and comes out for food at night. It does not show any signs of illness other than its massive stomach. I have also tried feeding it many different types of food, tried about 8 different pellet foods, tilapia fillets, shrimp, blood worms, brine shrimp all with the same results. I have tried to research this and cannot come up with anything other than other people having the same problem. Or someone claiming that it is a water quality issue which i can assure you is not the case. I have about 60 fish or so total and all are very healthly other than this dang bichir. Has anyone had this issue or maybe know what it could be. I do not have pictures of my own but it looks identical to this one someone posted 10 years ago

134da551.jpg
 

kno4te

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It’s a defect seen occasionally. Mainly due to overbreeding. Won’t be cured. Just gotta make sure the food portion size is small and controlled. Make sure the ornate doesn’t over eat. This u can control.
 

mrmusky1987

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Mar 20, 2019
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It’s a defect seen occasionally. Mainly due to overbreeding. Won’t be cured. Just gotta make sure the food portion size is small and controlled. Make sure the ornate doesn’t over eat. This u can control.
that was fast. thank you. that is unfortunate to hear but at least i know there is nothing i can do to correct it. Have you had experience yourself with this issue? Can the bichir live a healthy life if i take care in feeding or is this a lost cause?
 

kno4te

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that was fast. thank you. that is unfortunate to hear but at least i know there is nothing i can do to correct it. Have you had experience yourself with this issue? Can the bichir live a healthy life if i take care in feeding or is this a lost cause?
Not myself. But other members have and as long as you control the food and don’t let it overeat then it’ll live out it’s life normally.
 

jaws7777

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that was fast. thank you. that is unfortunate to hear but at least i know there is nothing i can do to correct it. Have you had experience yourself with this issue? Can the bichir live a healthy life if i take care in feeding or is this a lost cause?
Ive gone through this with a del. It eventually died. It was very hard to control the food portions as it was in a bichir comm. How much do you feed it and how often ?
I would either reduce feedings to a couple times a week.
 
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jaws7777

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Some cb polys dont have an off switch and literally gorge themselves every feeding. I dont recall seeing this in lower jaws btw.
 
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Polyaddict86

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Epson salt will help but if its keep happening everytime it eat the its a diffect like kno4te kno4te mentioned.
 
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kno4te

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Long term use of epsom salt I’m not sure of as i read it can cause anemia. Not verified.

However small amounts of food with days in between feeding should help. Looks bad but the fish do well.
 
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