CONCERNED - I need a RTC expert !!!

[REDTAILredtailcat]

Hello...I have a juvenile RTC, he is approximately 4" at this point. My wife fed him some shrimp this morning, stating 1 small frozen shrimp, cut into smaller pieces. She was attempting to feed both of our Oscars, and the cat. The larger O did eat a piece of the shrimp, the smaller O was disinterested. The cat was thrilled, and ate most of the shrimp. He is now exhibiting an EXTREMELY bloated belly. My question is this....is this normal, or should we be worried that something else is wrong with him. He has eaten quite abit in the past, but has never had this "belly bloat" He is swimming normally, however, he looks like he is sitting on a ball. Please help.....we dont want him to be sick. As for my wife, she feels terrible, and is concerned also! I will kill her if he dies......

 

[Cyclop3000]

Hello...I have a juvenile RTC, he is approximately 4" at this point. My wife fed him some shrimp this morning, stating 1 small frozen shrimp, cut into smaller pieces. She was attempting to feed both of our Oscars, and the cat. The larger O did eat a piece of the shrimp, the smaller O was disinterested. The cat was thrilled, and ate most of the shrimp. He is now exhibiting an EXTREMELY bloated belly. My question is this....is this normal, or should we be worried that something else is wrong with him. He has eaten quite abit in the past, but has never had this "belly bloat" He is swimming normally, however, he looks like he is sitting on a ball. Please help.....we dont want him to be sick. As for my wife, she feels terrible, and is concerned also! I will kill her if he dies......

Lol please don't hurt your wife. I have a shovelnose catfish and everytime I feed him chopped shrimps he gets the "I'm ready to burst" belly... It's kind of normal that he had a big belly after eating that much, and I would not worry too much about it. Give it a day without feeding and the belly will get back to normal.

It's tricky to feed other fish with sinking food when you have a catfish with a big apetite...I usually hand-feed live food to my oscars and other fish to make sure the shovelnose does not eat everything

Hope all goes back to normal soon!

 

[posteo]

never had a RTC but i sometimes feed my gar shrimp he blows up alittle looks normal in about 1 day

 

[Cyclop3000]

Found a pic of my shovelnose with his belly full...to make you feel better and to ensure your wife won't get hurt That was taken one morning after finding out he had eaten one of my 4" Bala Sharks...hehe

 

[REDTAILredtailcat]

Hey Thankx, I have only had him a month and are still learning about the species. I took this pic right after he made a pig of himself. I guess he won't be hungry for awhile now. Maybe the O's can have their meal now.

 

[Oddball]

This cat is an opportunistic feeder and will eat itself to death if allowed to. Watch your tank's chemistry. These cats will pass partially digested food to aid in continuing to feed. This means sudden and severe drops in water quality. Monitor its food intake, keep up on regular water changes, and add salt (tablespoon per gallon) to help prevent 'brown blood' (methemoglobin) syndrome.

 

[FlammingWoodChuck]

Hey Thankx, I have only had him a month and are still learning about the species. I took this pic right after he made a pig of himself. I guess he won't be hungry for awhile now. Maybe the O's can have their meal now.

Mine gets like that right after i feed him but he digests it all by the next day and back down to his(or her) normal size and lookin for food again. Mine will stop eating after it gets full but i don't think other will do the same. They will do what oddball said

 

[LongQ]

It's quite alright but you've to be careful with the shrimp though. They're require a tad more effort to digest.