Bloated Nwon rainbow

hi all, the other night after feeding my fish some tropical fish flakes, I noticed that one of them was quite fat, which isn't really unusual. Now 2 days on he is still the same size and doesn't seem to be getting any better, I've seen that fish can get constipated and is fairly easy to cure, but I had tried doing that on the first day... any suggestions

regards, Brad

 

Any picture?

 

Fat in which way? Deeper bodied, or wider?

Are you sure it's a he, and not a "she" getting ready to spawn?

Has the behaviour changed at all? Especially at feeding time, such as an increased or decreased appetite?

Are there any other changes in the tankmates?

 

unfortunately I cant provide a picture at this time I'm sure with neon rainbows the males have red fins with deeper bodies where as the females have yellow fins with more petite bodies, if that is correct then it is one of my males. He has a wider body, and definitely a decrease in appetite and not as active as the others, I did recently add 2 more little females, one thing you can definitely see is that its breathing more frantically... that's all there is to it at this moment, I'll try get a picture asap

 

Another question I left out - are the scales raised off the body, particularly around the bloating?

It could be one of many things, but constipation is something to consider. Peas are a classic solution to this. You can deshell peas and make them into a mush for better feeding success with this smaller species. In general, for fish like this that are a little omnivorous, adding a little bit of pea to the diet (even as little as once a week) can be beneficial, as well as adding variety to the diet.

 

Yes, I've given them all a bit of shelled pea, and no the scales aren't raised off the body thank goodness, I'll keep a close eye on it and keep you up to date on its condition and what works to cure this. Thanks very much for the help

 

Have you tried epsom salts?

 

I have tried a aquarium salt, put some in earlier today, waiting to see how the fish react to it over night

 

No not aquarium salt but epsome salt.

 

oh.. no I haven't, I'll give it a try in the morning

 

It acts like a laxative.

 

oh yes, that was something that I was meaning to ask but must've forgot, thank you

 

Do you think mashing the peas together with some epsom salt would work?
Or would the epsom salts just dilute/disolve into the water?

For bigger fish, have read that a dip works.... what would you do with a little rainbow?

 

Good luck!

 

MariaS I do not know, never tried it like that before with the peas.

 

Ok....

Im sure I have read somewhere that soaking the food works.. the peas being mashed.. i was wondering if it would

 

Bradley, it could be internal parasites as well. How does the feaces of the relevant fish look?

 

this is pretty interesting I'll look into this kind of treatment and give some feedback on what I find

 

that all looks fine, I little more solid than what I would think, but this is my first tank and it hasn't changed over the time I've had it

 

How is he doing today?