Frequent Aquarium Questions

• I bought 3 pictus catfish I noticed one had a fat belly. I thought it was a she and she was pregnant. It's been about two weeks and now they all have big bellies. Are they pregnant? Are they sick? Please help.
  
  
• My Betta fish has one swollen eye and he is having trouble finding the food. What can I do?
  
  
• I have a fantail gold fish. Just recently it started swimming upside down. Is my fish sick or is this normal?
  
  
• I am trying to raise crappie minnows, but i'm losing alot of fish. I've noticed alot of my fish are suffering from major scale loss and cloudy eyes. I am sure this is not due to fighting. What could be causing this and what can I do to stop it?
  
  
• One of my red eye tetras has been getting nipped by another. There is now a white spot near the black line on its tail fin. It doesn't look cottony, but more "spikey" instead. Could this be a scrape?
  
  
• Will Fungus Clear treat popeye in bettas?
  
  
• My female dwarf gourami is swollen on her right side, listless, and also has an enlarged vent. Could she be egg bound?
  
  
• The fish in one of my aquariums are being treated for cloudy eyes. They are improving, but they are in a new tank that is undergoing its first nitrogen cycle. Should I move them into my established tank while I'm treating them, or will the infect the healthy fish I have in there?
  
  
• My 10 gal fresh water tank was clear and healthy. I had 6 small fish. The water became a little cloudy and within 2 weeks some fish died. They turned white. The white started at the edge of the tail fin and now is covering the body. I have noticed that there is something growing on the fake rocks, plants and gravel. It looks like puffs of fungus. Almost like tiny jellyfish. They are about 1 cm and domeshaped. What should I treat with?
  
  
• I have 3 calico goldfish. One of the goldfish has gotten a pebble stuck in his mouth twice. Is this normal? Both times I've been here to help get the rock out. Can they do it on their own? Would this eventually kill the fish? Thank you.
  
  

• I bought 3 pictus catfish I noticed one had a fat belly. I thought it was a she and she was pregnant. It's been about two weeks and now they all have big bellies. Are they pregnant? Are they sick? Please help.
  
  Pictus cats are voracious eaters, and regularly gorge themselves, such that they get swollen bellies. Chances are you may be putting too much food in the aquarium, so I'd cut back on the food.
  
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• My Betta fish has one swollen eye and he is having trouble finding the food. What can I do?
  
  
  
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• I have a fantail gold fish. Just recently it started swimming upside down. Is my fish sick or is this normal?
  
  Although goldfish can often amaze us with their aquatic acrobatics, frequent or constant upside down swimming is a bad sign. There are a variety of ailments that can cause this symptom, ,so it is difficult to diagnose more specifically.
  
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• I am trying to raise crappie minnows, but i'm losing alot of fish. I've noticed alot of my fish are suffering from major scale loss and cloudy eyes. I am sure this is not due to fighting. What could be causing this and what can I do to stop it?
  
  This sounds like a combination of serious bacterial infections. In a situation like this, where there are possibly several diseases infecting the tank at once, it is best to treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic medication. It may also be possible that there are too many fish in your tank, leading to the stress that is causing this outbreak.
  
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• One of my red eye tetras has been getting nipped by another. There is now a white spot near the black line on its tail fin. It doesn't look cottony, but more "spikey" instead. Could this be a scrape?
  
  This very well could be a scrape or bite mark. This should heal on its own if you can stop the other fish from harassing it.
  
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• Will Fungus Clear treat popeye in bettas?
  
  No. Fungus Clear treats fungus. Popeye is a bacterial infection, and needs to be treated with an anti-bacterial medication.
  
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• My female dwarf gourami is swollen on her right side, listless, and also has an enlarged vent. Could she be egg bound?
  
  This sounds like the fish could be eggbound, but it is impossible to say for certain from this description. It could also be an internal infection or injury, an intestinal blockage, or even a cyst or tumor. In most cases, a fish in this condition is very unlikely to recover.
  
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• The fish in one of my aquariums are being treated for cloudy eyes. They are improving, but they are in a new tank that is undergoing its first nitrogen cycle. Should I move them into my established tank while I'm treating them, or will the infect the healthy fish I have in there?
  
  Leave your fish where they are. There most certainly is a risk of infecting the healthy fish in your second tank if you place the sick ones there. Furthermore, moving the infected fish will place more stress on them, increasing the possibility of a relapse or even contracting secondary infections.
  
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• My 10 gal fresh water tank was clear and healthy. I had 6 small fish. The water became a little cloudy and within 2 weeks some fish died. They turned white. The white started at the edge of the tail fin and now is covering the body. I have noticed that there is something growing on the fake rocks, plants and gravel. It looks like puffs of fungus. Almost like tiny jellyfish. They are about 1 cm and domeshaped. What should I treat with?
  
  It sounds like you have a newly established tank. What you are experiencing is a bacterial bloom and an ammonia spike. Your fish are stressed and probably succumbed to a fungal infection. The white tuft-like growth is fungus growing on uneaten food. Do not overfeed and keep up with your routine maintenance.
  
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• I have 3 calico goldfish. One of the goldfish has gotten a pebble stuck in his mouth twice. Is this normal? Both times I've been here to help get the rock out. Can they do it on their own? Would this eventually kill the fish? Thank you.
  
  Sounds like you have some smaller grain rough gravel. You might want to get some smooth gravel so that doesn't happen. Goldfish root in gravel for food, so rough tiny shards can get caught in the folds of their mouths. They can usually get rid of a caught particle on their own, but the gravel can cut the mouth leading to bacterail infections such as Columnaris.
  
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