PlanetCatfish.com

please i need help, i bought a spotted picto plec for my partners tank last sunday,

and today we have just noticed a large belly on him/her, this wasnt there atall at 2 ish this afternoon but is huge now. we got him 7 days ago today so we cant take him back, what could it be? we are quite experianced fish owners with several set ups tropical and coldwater, at first we thought swim bladder, but his swimming is just as normal? what could it be?

just sounds like its eaten to much too me

do u really think so? is it the norm for such a huge belly then? none of the other plecs, corys or anything ever even show a belly? and the tank only got fed cat fish pellets and flakes? would it really grow so big in a few hours? its easilythe normal size twice, but rounded and definately only belly area and hes still as lively as ever lol, hes the maddest catfish we have ever had, all the other just goes nosieying around or stuck to the side hes morelike a proper fish lol. do u think he will die? and when if it is through over feeding would it go down by and if not it could be worse if u know what i mean?

Hello Kathryn,
A picture would speak louder than words in this case.
Any chance of adding one or two?

ill try gotta empty camera first back in 5

ok iv done the pics but now my comp wont upload them grrrr

ok excuse the size and blurriness never tried to take pics of fish before how hard was that so apolagies if there too big etc.

Your fish is a Pimelodus pictus and seems that he has just eaten way too much.Dont feed him again until its belly is back to normal(flat) and feed less.

I moved this, as P. pictus is not a pleco (it doesn't have a suckermouth most obviously, but also doesn't have "armour", which is bony scutes on the side of the body).

I agree with Kostas diagnosis.

Of course "Not feeding" a pictus cat can be difficult, but cut back on the feeding of them, and if it's been eating pellets or some such, perhaps stop feeding those alltogether, as they can swell after they have been swallowed. (Mine tries to eat whole Hikari Algae wafers sometimes, which is a bit too big for them, really!).

--
Mats

ok thankyou all for hour help and advice, as u say its gonna be very hard to not let him feed as he seem to eat whatever the others eat? i dont wanna have to seperate them at food times, so im just doing small amounts often so he doesnt get the chance? none of my other fish have ever been like this? could it be cos he was new and posibly not fed at the ifs? and does this mean he'll always be like it?.

they had him advertised as a spotted picto thats all i knew about him.

Spotted picto is probably not a bad name, as they are indeed spotted, and the proper name is (you can follow that link to get more info and compare those pictures with your fish to see it you agree that it's the same species).

They are definitely "binge-eaters", and will eat just about anything. It's very unlikely this will change, but feeding small amounts more often is generally a good idea for all fish.

--
Mats

Wow that is some belly! Well my old man says, it's all paid for (whilst rubbing his gut)
He'll be fine but keep a eye on water quality he'll pass most of that undigested.

thankyou thats definately it, i was so paranoid the lfs didnt tell me anything like that just about no neons which i dont have anyway. gonna have to keep an eye on my angels though, as there fully grown!

cool, i was the same when it first happened to me. Ive got raphael catfish stiped and spotted. They just dont know when to stop eating. Oh well at least he enjoyed his tea.

When they go on a binge their guts look like little marbles. Mine hide so much I use to worry if they ate what I tossed in at lights out. In the morning a round tummy lets me know they ate.