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Swelled-up congo tetra.

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 14:41 pm
by Si4geckos
One of my adult congo tetras was 'stuck' upside down under the filter input (fx6) in the main tank. The only thing holding his there was a small plant that a cardinal tetra could move if they wanted so nothing really pinning him in. I gently prised him out and flipped him the right way up. He didn't move much or self-right easily. Thought it was a swim bladder issue at first, but once the right way up, buoyancy seems fine. He is swimming around slowly, not really interacting with the other 9 that are schooling together. He just looks massive! He seems larger in every direction and just seems to have swollen up about 20% bigger than any of the others.

His scales aren't raised/ pineconed like gouramis I've had before who seemed to end up with dropsy, but dropsy seems to be the most likely thing I've found on google.

Symptoms:
Heavily swollen body
Bit lethargic
Moving his mouth/ breathing faster than the others
Not very responsive (congos are usually quite panicky fish)

Any suggestions other than close monitoring at this time? Antibiotics seem to be recommended on google for dropsy, but I don't think they're easy to get in the UK any more.

Last water change was 48hrs ago and not had any ammonia/ nitrite issues as far as I'm aware.

Any thoughts welcome.

Re: Swelled-up congo tetra.

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 15:56 pm
by plankton
Can you post a pic Si?
Could it be a very gravid she?

Re: Swelled-up congo tetra.

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 23:38 pm
by Si4geckos
plankton wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 15:56 pm Can you post a pic Si?
Could it be a very gravid she?
No definite male. Deffo on his way out. Can't seem to keep any control over swimming and he looks like he'll be dead by morning sadly. It's not just the stomach that's bloated. It's the whole fish. Head, body, tail, everything. Weirdly colours are a lot nicer and brighter and it's just gone massive. I'll get a photo tomorrow if still with us.

Re: Swelled-up congo tetra.

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 0:00 am
by Si4geckos
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Sadly he didn't make it til morning.

Sad times. Still very odd. Can't see any issues.

Re: Swelled-up congo tetra.

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 4:39 am
by Gingerlove05
Sorry for your loss Si :(

Re: Swelled-up congo tetra.

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 7:42 am
by plankton
Sorry for your loss. :(
The stomach looks quite square, so I would suggest digestive problems.....

Re: Swelled-up congo tetra.

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 9:37 am
by Si4geckos
plankton wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 7:42 am Sorry for your loss. :(
The stomach looks quite square, so I would suggest digestive problems.....
Anything I can do about this to prevent it happening to the others?

Re: Swelled-up congo tetra.

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 9:55 am
by plankton
What are you feeding?
Crushed pea once a week would help.
I've also dropped flake food for granules as flake seems to cause more problems for some reason.
Also regular live and/or frozen.

Re: Swelled-up congo tetra.

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 11:53 am
by Si4geckos
plankton wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 9:55 am What are you feeding?
Crushed pea once a week would help.
I've also dropped flake food for granules as flake seems to cause more problems for some reason.
Also regular live and/or frozen.
As the tank is so mixed they get such a variety.

Super crushed up flake (various forms), mainly for the fry and the cardinals, tiny protein pellets, medium protein pellets, cucumber, brocolli, algea wafers, frozen bloodworm, brineshrimp, occasioinal beefheart and some red micro plankton I think it is. Pretty varied. Oh and some microworms when the cultures go mad. Obviously not all at once, just over the week.

Re: Swelled-up congo tetra.

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 16:20 pm
by plankton
Digestive problems should be avoided with a mix like that, maybe there was something wrong with his body make-up. :(