Fat Fish

I'll kick-start this section with a fat Dwarf Chain Loach.

Ashamed to admit Ive not had time lately to sit and watch my fish of an evening like I would normally do, so Im not quite sure when my Loach started to get fat. I noticed about 10 days ago that I suddenly had a rather fat fish. Is "she" full of eggs, or is there something wrong?



(erm...... I tried to insert a couple of photos, but cant figure out how to! Anyone?)

EDIT: Its okay, Ive sussed it! Photos below.........

Thanks.

Thanks Sue. Not what I wanted to hear though!

I will treat her in the QT. I dont agree with subjecting healthy fish to unnecessary treatment and besides, it would take a lot more medication to treat the main tank rather than the 28 litre hospital!

I notice that Sterazin treats internal parasites. Ive just looked in my cupboard at the Esha 2000 that treats "parasitic infections".

Whenever possible, I like to coincide setting up the QT when doing a water change. Im doing this tank tomorrow (Saturday). If the Esha 2000 is suitable, I can put her in the QT tomorrow. It will probably be a few days before I can get my hands on Sterazin. Im pretty sure the two shops near me dont sell Waterlife - I have to go to MA for that. It will be quicker to get some off ebay - it would be here Monday or Tuesday.

Should I try Esha 2000 or wait and get Sterazin?

Thanks 



EDIT:  By the way, I meant to say that yes she is otherwise healthy. Feeding OK, swimming around, etc. The only thing Ive noticed is that she does tend to spend a bit more time sat on the sand under the "cave-thing" than the others do. Shes not under there all the time, just a bit more than the rest. Of course, when she's sat on the sand she's kinda bobbing on her belly! Her fins dont reach the sand so she leans to one side for a while then shuffles a bit, leans the other way.

Righto, will get her in the QT later and try the Esha. Will update in the week how things are going.

As always, thanks Sue 

Set up the QT yesterday and finally managed to catch Porky! Obviously she wasnt too impressed to begin with, sulking in the corner, but she soon settled down and started to swim around wondering what shes done wrong to be in Solitary Confinement. She's fine this morning and has had a wee bit of breakfast.

Peter - Im intrigued that you've seen "quite a few loaches" like this. Have you seen it with other fish or just loaches? Any species in particular more than others? Tell me more! (please!)

I will certainly keep you posted in how treatments go. I started the Esha 2000 yesterday, so we shall see if theres any improvement during the week. If not, my backup plan is to get the Sterazin that Sue mentioned. If anybody out there has knowledge about this problem, I would be very grateful for their input..... In the meantime, Im off to research it.

Thanks.




EDIT:  Half-hour researching has reminded me why I dont like researching! I end up confused with all the contradicting opinions. All Ive managed to find so far is that "she" could be full of eggs and needs a males attention to lay them - in which case putting her in the QT is the worse thing I could have done. Another explanation is that shes just greedy & fat. I found a couple of videos where people are questioning spawning activity or fighting. Ive often seen two of my sids behaving the same way, ie. going round & round each other in circles, rubbing against each other and losing colour. Because of the colour loss, I thought they were fighting - never occured to me they may be spawning? Anybody know?

I also found photos of gravid female sids (one of which is on the International Loach Association site). Yes they have a green/gold hue to their abdomens but no I wouldnt say they look streamlined.

Have I just put a gravid female into quarantine? I think it was Natalia that once said never to treat a fish when you dont know for sure whats wrong with it. Those words are ringing in my ears right now 

Im not looking to argue or contradict anybody - I just want to do right by my fish 

By the way, Marge was quite a magnificent specimen wasnt she?

Yes they have spawned in home aquariums - though as you say, it is rare. Most of the threads I found were old, no posts for a few years, but I have found a thread from this month where someone has Sidthimunki eggs in their tank and has been replied to from another member who also has eggs. Twice in one month suggests that either its becoming more common in our home tanks or the keepers are mistaken as to who laid the eggs! Im open-minded about it - given that it is rare to witness Otocinclus breeding behaviour in home aquariums, even rarer for them to spawn and almost unheard of for any of the eggs to hatch. Ive had the lot happen in my molly tank! (granted I cheated a bit by popping two plant leaves into a floating fry trap so the eggs couldnt get eaten!)

I guess I should have been a bit clearer regarding a female needing a males attention in order for her to lay the eggs. Sorry! That statement was made regarding "most fish" and was questioning if Dwarf Chain Loaches were the same.

And yes I did wonder if the circular behaviour was a dominance thing. The colour loss suggested fighting rather than breeding! Thanks for clearing that one up.

I will keep an eye out for the chap you mention. Thanks for giving his name(s) - I didnt like to ask in case you werent allowed to say! I shall try to retrace my steps this morning to see if I can find anything from him regarding fat loaches. Will report back with any findings.

Meanwhile, I have just found an interesting article he wrote in 2008. He had 36 sids and was lucky enough to have them spawn. Even luckier to have 6 juveniles survive! So in answer to our question, yes it has happened in a home aquarium!



EDIT: I always remember something after Ive posted! I meant to say that I did find a few photos of fat sids on google this morning. Quite a few of them looked like Porky and none of the owners were worried. I got the impression that its just one of those things with sids - big bodied females can get quite chunky. One guy was getting many replies of "wow thats some chunky monkey" and such comments. Like I said though, they were all old threads so there was no point in signing up to ask questions. Though I will admit to registering with the forum of the thread from this month regarding eggs.

The ones i've seen get fat have been mainly in retail tanks, where there is more than ample food, so it was usually just attributed to greedy fish. When you have lots of fish in one tank which are fed several times a day (shop tanks), it is easy for the quicker, greedier specimens to consume more than their fair share!
Years ago I used to work at a shop where we had loads of loach species, and odd individuals used to get quite 'chunky'. It didn't seem to happen with other fish though.
I don't mind admitting that health issues are not my strong point though so it could certainly be a health issue as well.

Hi Chucklett :-)

I've developed quite an interest in loaches recently but not got any Sids but do have some black lined, golden zebra and just zebra now.

Tbh if you feel the fish is getting stressed in the qt tank then i would place her back with the others and not do any further treatment unless you know what  for definite what it is you are treating.  As you know, loaches are very social and i feel she would be better off with the group rather than waiting to see if anything further develops with her whilst she is in the qt.

Jmo.....:-)

Hello and it's nice to be back...hadn't appreciated how much I had missed this forum until it disappeared!! 

I think, as fishkeepers, we can all be guilty of being a little over zealous sometimes  with worrying about ur fish and always think the potential worst possible scenario.  Glad you moved Pork back and that you saw a pretty instant result

There is another forum where you may get more of a definitive answer possibly and it's very specific to your particular species.....
 
 

Thanks for your thoughts Don. I watched her for a while when I put her back into the main tank and couldnt notice anything different about her other than her size!

Ive recently tried to see if she's looking any bigger than before, but its difficult to tell since I see her every day!

A typical day for her is to swim around with the others, but likes to take time-out under the logs (that Ive placed to make caves). Occasionally another fish, not necessarily a loach, will come and poke her. She'll shuffle a few inches then settle again. When she's had enough "me-time", she's off swimming with the others again. Feeding time, she's straight in with everyone else. Ive tried to see if she eats more than the others, but she doesnt seem to be any greedier than the next fish.

I will make a point of watching her for a while again to see if anythings changed. To be honest, Ive been more pre-occupied with my other tank for the last couple of weeks. The water here is a nightmare (starts clear and turns brown when running the tap  with a pH of 8+). Even though I leave the water stand to let the pH drop, Ive twice lost two mollies on a Monday after water-change at the weekend.......
So this weekend, I drew the water from the tap one bucket at a time (leaving 1/2 hour between buckets so as to avoid the brown water), left the water stand 36 hours, then added it to the tank one bucket at a time (1/2 hour between buckets). Now sitting with all-things-crossed......

I fell off my perch when I first tested the tap water here! The test tube went straight to deep purple with the first drop of solution  We thought the water might get better over time as the property had been empty a few months before we moved in. Although the pH is now coming out at around 8.2, we still dont understand why the water should get browner the more the tap is running. Ive never heard of it that way round! We're going to get onto the water company this week to question it.

Yes it makes tank maintenance a mission, but I refuse to let it take the pleasure out of fishkeeping! I will always do my best by my fish and if that means having a hefty regime to stick to, then thats how it is I guess! Hopefully, its only a temporary measure and we manage to get the water sorted out in due course eh?

Thanks Don, I will indeed keep you posted and yes I would be interested to see a picture of your alpha if you manage to dig one out