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Take a look at my 6" L091. She (i guess) turns so fat recently I didnt know if she's sick or ate too much. During feeding, she didnt really dash out like what the other plecos did, but she's still active on the whole. Noticed that there's a white tube coming out from the anus, is she pregnant?!

Is she ok?



More pics http://eheim-uk.com/planetcatfish/galle ... ry/album38

The distended belly of your fish is not like that of a gravid female. From what I can see and what you describe, it appears that your fish has some sort of infection, resulting in dropsy.

Thats exactly what heppened to my L264 before he popped his clogs.Is its belly slightly reddend?I'm not sure what you can do, my L264 went quick....

Hope he gets better.

Thats the last thing i want to hear that he has dropsy. Will get the medicine and see if he survives?

By the time they are that bloated, there isn't much you can do besides put it down

Rusty

Just realise that there's 2 other fat plecos in my tank (though not as fat as the first one). Are both of them infected with dropsy too? Pls Help!

Yup, 'fraid so.
You have to start treating your tank. And don't add any new fish in there.

I've removed them and clean the tank. Cant help wondering but I've lost 3 Leporacanthicus to dropsy. Are they so vulnerable?

Dropsy in fish can be caused by several factors. Usually poor water quality is to blame, but in some cases bacteraial infection is the cause. If the fish is not to far gone a salt bath will reduce the swelling down by causing excess fluids to be expelled into the water, antibiotics will then need administering if the fish is to stand a chance . Do you do frequent gravel or sand cleans as this is unfortunately sometimes overlooked.

so sorry... much sympathy, polkadot... hang in there...

Pokadot

What you feeding?

Dropsy as I believe is not a contagious disease but a condition usually caused by what amounts to indigestion. The condition usually goes hand in hand with pop-eye. basicly the gut is blocked, this is why I asked about what you are feeding.

I have seen many good Ancistrus type catfish die because they have been fed on foods that are eaten quickly and then swell up in the fishes gut. These fishes do not naturally eat big meals so their gut is not mdesigned for volume, more for a continuous steady supply. I would lay of the food by 75% and put a piece of soft bog wood into their tank. They will graze on this and are capable digesting it and getting nourishment from it.

Ian

I hope your Leporacanthicus Triactis gets better. They other two plecos don't look so bad. I hope they don't get any worse.

Coryman wrote: What you feeding?

Hi Coryman, I'm feeding them hikari and sera wafers, catfish pellets, hikari frozen bloodworm, beefheart and some veges. I'm wondering too if its the water because I do small water changes every 1-2 days, nitrate level <12.5mg/l, pH 6.5 and temp 29 degree celcius. Could it be the beef?

only thing there I see that might be causing problems is the beefheart, I'd move away from feeding that, and move to a more fishy type of food.

Yea stop feeding the beef.

Ian

I've thrown them down the bin!

sorry to hear that,
i'm suspecting my sunshine has the same problem.

Is the general opinion that beef heart is not good for plecos? I am curious because I bought some for my zebras (the frozen kind from an LFS).

Okay, there you go. I don't think it was the beef that did. I never feed beef heart. I don't even know what they look like, processed or otherwise. It maybe something else. My Leporacanthicus Joselimai ( L264) just kicked the bucket just this morning, as well. I only saw that tummy that big only today. And I inspect my fish everyday.

Maybe Coryman's suggestion about feeding frequency maybe the culprit. I normally feed off-the-counter fish pellets, flakes and veggies but I also feed bloodworms, clams, mussels sometimes daphnia (and small fish try that I puree with a lot of spinach) on occassion. All these are, I would think, natural. Dang!

Why is it that all the fish photos that I have seen that have dropsy are all from the specie Leporacanthicus? Are they really susceptible to that? It really looks like the case. Has anyone done some research on that?

The thing with beef heart, is that it's not natural for the fish. It's not too often that I've seen a swarm of Loricariidae stuck on to the side of a cow. Feed thing that they would either find in their natural habitat, or things that are close in nutrients. Beef contains a very high iron content (along with other unatureal vitamines I'm sure) that I'm pretty sure you would not find in the the natural foods eaten by Loricariidae. If they are carnivorous (suck as zebras) feed them natual meat, such as brine shrimp, blood worms, or (from what I've been told) earth worms. The digestion of Loricariidae would, I would immagine, have a lot of difficulty breaking down the beef heart, and could clog up in thier systems.

It really slims down a lot.


Still a little fat when view from top.


Has he been cured??? Its been more than a month since he first starts to have that balloon stomach, and he's living until now...

ive found that leporacanthicus LOVE krill...i usually bury one or two in front of my guys nose and he knows when theyre coming...i agree though food choice is generally the problem when it comes to dropsy...esp in goldfish

ben

ALSO...if you want to feed loricariidae worms a great trick is to put a layer of substrate about 1-2 cm in a clay flower pot bottom...how big depends on the tank of course...then you can use a baster...but ive found esp with smaller worms like blackworms a pipette is perfect for sucking up worms and then shooting them into the clay trap...they cant get away and eventually your cats will scour this area any time you put your hand in the tank

ben

it may also be caused by internal worm from the sign that white thing ejected from its anus. in this case, you may treat them by Octozin from Waterlife.

Thanks scarlet for the medicating tip and CATWITHOUTHAT for the feeding tip!!

no prob...also if you are using live worms make sure you know where they are from...it can be sorta sketchy as far as aquatic worms and harmful bacteria/parasites go...frozen is always a safe bet...i wonder ifg anyone knows if it is ok to actually treat worms...or quarantine them in a mini tank b4 feeding like a goldfish to make sure you dont introduce disease into your tank...i think though if you wash and strain live blackworms/bloodworms in your tank water and store them in it rather than the sewage that stores send them home in you should be ok...anyone else have a take on the live aquatic worms scenario??

ben