What's up with this fish?

[Frozenspokes]

I have had my two Harliquin Rasboras for just over a week. The one was always bigger than the other, but it has really ballooned out in the past few days. I feed them about a dime sized peice of flake food each day, and skip feedings on Monday each week. It acts normal in every other way, but it's girth is becoming a bit of a concern to me.


Here is a picture to help you all make a diagnosis.

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

yikes... maybe a blockage. i would skip feedings for a few days. and i know this sounds gross... but have you seen it poop?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You could also try feeding it a little piece of boiled (or microwaved in water) pea, it acts like a laxative to get rid of a blockage and/or relieve bloating. And, it won't hurt anything if another fish eats some or if that's not what it is.

 

[FroggyFox]

or feed the tank algae tablets/spirulina flake food if you have any...would do them all some good to eat some veggies. Sorry, I'd agree he doesn't look good at all, I'd keep a close eye on him.

 

[MissFishy]

Definately looking constipated...I would try the pea. To do the pea thing, take a frozen pea and cook it normally. Take the shell of the pea off and then crumble up the inside. Feed to fish as usual. Hopefully this will help with the constipation. Have you seen it poop?

 

[Frozenspokes]

NO, I have not seen it poop. But then again, I haven't seen the other one poop either. The snail, yes. The betta, yes. The Rasboras, no.

I will try giving them the veggies instead of the regular flake food tomorrow.

 

[tropicalfish]

Is it Dropsy?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

naw... doesnt look like dropsey to me. scales arent "pine-coning"

 

[TLH]

Is it Dropsy?

I don't think it's a good enough picture to tell.Frozenspokes needs to look in from the top of the tank and get an arial view.

 

[Frozenspokes]

No, it isn't dropsy. The scales are not pineconing. I am stopping by the store and picking up some peas this afternoon. I will feed the pea before any other food and hope that he will eat some. I am wondering if he didn't snag one of the betta pellets. Could that cause him to get blocked up like that? I have seen both of them snag one before, but they usually just chomp on it for a bit before they figure out that it is really too big for them to swallow.

Since adding them to the tank, I have made it a point to feed them the flake food first. As soon as they are happily involved in attacking that, I will start feeding the betta. I only put one betta pellet in at a time, and try to place them close enough to the betta that he can get to them before the rasboras, but sometimes, they finish up and go after a pellet.

 

[Frozenspokes]

I fed them the pea yesterday afternoon. No change as of yet. I will try feeding him some more pea today. How long can it take for the pea to take effect?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Should be pretty quick, if he actually eats it and the problem is constipation/bloating.