11 replies to this topic

[NotCousteau]

A few days ago I noticed that one of my southern redbelly dace had a bulging stomach on an otherwise scrawny, wasted body.

Does it have parasites? I haven't added any new fish, creatures or plants since summer 2014. I feed frozen foods, and have not introduced live foods since November 2014.

All other fish (several) look great. Is it possible that this fish is just getting old, too?

I've attached two pictures. I'm sorry for the poor quality. They move too much/fast.

One picture is a close-up. Another is the fish (in the very back) with two normal-looking dace.

Thanks.

 

 dace1.jpg   98.62KB   1 downloads  dace2.jpg   86.98KB   1 downloads

[Matt DeLaVega]

Do horse hair worms infect fish?

[gerald]

I have seen mountain redbelly dace get like that too, usually after a year or so in captivity.   There's some kind of organ damage going on, maybe parasites but not necessarily.  Only dissection will tell for sure (or finding worms in fresh feces).  Problem might be diet-related, and/or age as you suggested.  I would try adding more veggies to the diet (peas, sweet potato, squash ...) and less meaty foods for awhile.

[Beeker]

I usually add garlic to the food.  Garlic seems to boost their immune systems and also kills/prevents parasites.

[NotCousteau]

Great input and advice, everyone! I'll try these tips out. Many thanks.

[Evan P]

I have had that same thing happen to SRBD before. After switching to spirulina based flakes I saw the lump reduce in size, but it never totally went away. That SRBD ended up living a long time, still. I had that fish for 2 or 3 years, and it developed the bump in the first year.

[NotCousteau]

Good to know. Thanks!

[Kanus]

I currently have this same problem with my SRBD, though it seems to some extent to come and go. Sometimes it looks every bit as severe as your photos show, while sometimes it is barely (or not) noticeable. I have very occasionally had MRBD get lumps like this and with those, I have actually had them die because of it, it almost seemed like it burst their body cavity, though I never witnessed the actual death. I have not had SRBD die from this and it has happened off and on for over a year. It almost looks like gaseous buildup but they seem to still swim just fine. Perhaps it is some kind of localized edema?

[NotCousteau]

That's good to know, Kanus. Thanks for the information. These are the first dace of any kind I've ever kept, and I've had them just under a year, so I have no prior history to rely on.

[littlen]

I like Derek's localized edema theory, and also a partial intestinal blockage?  But you expect that they wouldn't eat if they were backed-up like that.  I haven't personally experienced this with either MRB or SRB dace.  How long does it persist?

When my dace have gotten super old, I usually just see the entire body attrition rather than the swollen abdomen as seen above. 

My thoughts on it being parasitic in nature are that unless resolved, (with drugs) the condition would persist and not appear, disappear, reappear on its own and so-on.  I'm not a doctor, but I did stay at a Holid....(that joke has run its course).

[gerald]

I'm thinkin' maybe some kind of swelling in the liver, spleen, or kidney -- maybe diet-related, maybe infection, ...???

Sure wish we had a trained fish veterinarian on the forum.

[littlen]

^ touche.  Sadly, the numerous specimens I submitted to vets never came up with anything spectacular......"gram positive bacteria/mycobacterium......organs too autolysed.....fractured spine [window strike]....."