# big belly...



## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

i have a umm... i think its called a bumble bee mbuna, something like that... well i just noticed that she has a really big belly, shes with two oscars so she cant be pregnant, but i think i read that this could be a disease?... well heres a picture, tell me what you think
thanks!!!


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

well.. lemme find the picture AGH! i LOST IT!


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

ok... heres a pic... see her big belly?


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

she gets watever the two oscars leave behind i feed them about 10 pieces of cichlid gold (the medium sized red balls) and then a couple pinches of flakes (to make sure the little yellow fish gets somethin to eat)


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

i dunno... i just remember someone saying something about sometype of disease that involves the fish getting fat


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## Huugs (Apr 25, 2005)

Dropsy is one that makes the fish look fat, but i think in most, if not all, of the cases the scales stick out like pinecones. Think theres a few othe symptoms aswell but I cant remeber them. Maybe baby baby can look it up for you she seems to be able to get lots of great info on diseases. As far as I know if it is then the only thing you can do is quarentine and medicate.
From the picture though I dont think it is that, but worth reading up on anyway so you know it, it is highly contagious and if not caught early its usually fatal.

It could be just constipation or bloat. Try a diet of peas for a few days to clear out its inside (also handy food for fish with swimbladder disease just worth a mention).


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2005)

like huugs said, the only disease i know that involves a fish getting fat is dropsy, but it doesnt look like that from the pic.


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

alrighty... thanks yall


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Look up Malawi Bloat and see it it jibes with your situation.


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

well im guessing she ate to much... i just saw how fat she was and kinda freaked.... looks like she is getting back to her normal size now :-D


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

Baby_Baby said:


> Here's some info and pics hope it helps. :grin:
> ****************************************************************


those pics actually looked liek what she kinda looks like *freaks out again*

:::edit:::
ok my fish doesnt have this im pretty sure, she still eating like a pig, and is acting normal except for shes sooo fat!


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## Huugs (Apr 25, 2005)

Bloat for fish is quite normal and is harmless compared to diseases. It is usually a sign of overfeeding or feeding too much dry foods. 
For prevention fish need a variety in their diet, ie not just flake or woteva. Try doing flake 3 or 4 times a week and then peas one day, bloodworm another and one day fasting. Or woteva it is your fish eat. Thats just a suggestion. If possible it would be better to give them different food every day.

For treatment of bloat peas are good. You probably see inprovement quickly but doing a few days of peas just helps clear out its insides.

I have also noticed a couple of times that my goldfish sit on the bottom in the corner and dont move after they have "over done" it on food. I think that is a sign of indigestion and I think one was fatter than normal then aswell, so it could just be that.


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

Baby_Baby said:


> well did u read anything?lol


i dont get it... read what??? what you posted... lol.. yeah i read that, after i looked at the pics  heh


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

Huugs said:


> Bloat for fish is quite normal and is harmless compared to diseases. It is usually a sign of overfeeding or feeding too much dry foods.
> For prevention fish need a variety in their diet, ie not just flake or woteva. Try doing flake 3 or 4 times a week and then peas one day, bloodworm another and one day fasting. Or woteva it is your fish eat. Thats just a suggestion. If possible it would be better to give them different food every day.
> 
> For treatment of bloat peas are good. You probably see inprovement quickly but doing a few days of peas just helps clear out its insides.
> ...


thanks... just normal frozen peas?... ive never fed a fish peas before, ive been meaning to give some to my oscar cuz i heard they like them.... but i just wanna make sure im thinking the right kinda peas


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Well, there you have it, a definite we-don't-know.
I'm going to first commend baby_baby for her usual excellence in finding such detailed information, and then i'm going to suggest that if your mbuna is eating the same stuff the Oscar is, then it's no wonder it's fat. Offer it something like algae wafers or spirulina pellets and the peas Huugs suggested.

By the way, you couldn't have picked two different fish with more dissimilar water requirements if you tried. These two are just simply not meant to live together. Since there is no way to make things suitable for both, one or the other has to suffer.


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## Huugs (Apr 25, 2005)

Yes just normal frozen peas. you need to prepare them though not just dump them in. You have cook them slightly so they aint frozen then take them out of the shells. For my fish I have to chop each half in half again and hand feed themas they dont eat them if they drop to the bottom.

It might take a while for them to realise its food the first few times but give it time and they will thank you for it, by looking nice and happy.


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

Huugs said:


> Yes just normal frozen peas. you need to prepare them though not just dump them in. You have cook them slightly so they aint frozen then take them out of the shells. For my fish I have to chop each half in half again and hand feed themas they dont eat them if they drop to the bottom.
> 
> It might take a while for them to realise its food the first few times but give it time and they will thank you for it, by looking nice and happy.


thank you so much!


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## baby~doll (Jun 17, 2005)

TheOldSalt said:


> Well, there you have it, a definite we-don't-know.
> I'm going to first commend baby_baby for her usual excellence in finding such detailed information, and then i'm going to suggest that if your mbuna is eating the same stuff the Oscar is, then it's no wonder it's fat. Offer it something like algae wafers or spirulina pellets and the peas Huugs suggested.
> 
> By the way, you couldn't have picked two different fish with more dissimilar water requirements if you tried. These two are just simply not meant to live together. Since there is no way to make things suitable for both, one or the other has to suffer.


thanks for telling me that.... but i already knew, the thing is it was either she go in with them... or get killed by my sisters other fish

i thought i was doing a good thing by saving her... she will just have to put up with the conditions shes in with the oscars until i get money for a new aquarium, she seems to be perfectly happy to me, and so do my oscars


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## Orbital (Jun 11, 2005)

mbuna are aggressive eaters, I would cut down on how much she is eating. Were you feeding her Hakari brand food pellets? If so I would soak them in water for 2-3 mins before feeding them in the future. Mbuna will gobble them up and they expand in their stomaches. Could be bloat, but I hope not because it is pretty hard to treat in time. I keep some Metro-flake (metrondizole, a internal parasite medication) which is flake food treated with Metrondizole and is a effective way of treating internal parasites. Given that the fish is not too far gone and has stopped eating.

Good luck

BTW mbuna don't get extremely fat before releasing eggs like livebearers with young. I don't think its possible for the Crabro and the Oscars to crossbreed, but that would be a oddity!


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