fat fish gene?

[JUDO_BADGER]

A little joke with the title since there has been so much news over the supposed fat gene lately. My question is why would one of my fish ( a particulary outgoing tiger barb) become obese while the rest of my fish are at decent weights? It doesn't have bloat as it has been this way since reaching adult size 6-8 months ago. Does anyone have experience with certain fish just having a tendancy to overeat? He is quite the pig often taking food from right in front of larger fish like my aul. eureka when they where in the same tank. :p

[betaboi]

Females are more plump and round than males. It could possibly just be that she's maturing or that she's filling up with eggs. In which case, she'll spawn in a week or so (if this is the case). They are egg scatterers and do not build nests or guard the fry and very well may eat them themselves. Does this tiger barbs have red edging on her tail fin (caudal fin) or a red nose? If not then it is most definetly a matring female. If it does have these markings it is just a male that's gaining a few pounds (or milligrams in his case). :p

[JUDO_BADGER]

It is a female, but the size seems larger than what you have described. If you drew a line from the bottom of the head to where the bottom of the tail starts you would have more fish below the line than above. here are some photos...please excuse the poor quality it is a very nice camera with a very inexperienced operator :p
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/judobadger/100_0495.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/judobadger/100_0496.jpg

[betaboi]

Inexperienced? Those photos are awsome! Way better than what i can do with mine that's for sure.

She does look a little large, how long has she been like this for? I'd give it a few days or so and if nothing changes or it gets worse, you can treat for infectious parasites (use internal parasite guard, made by Jungle) and to treat for fungus, just in case this is the problem, you can use Pimafix. You should be okay treating with both meds at the same time, just don't overdose. So you can treat with both at the same time (Pimafix and Internal Parasite Guard) if you don't think it can wait. I'm betting she's full of eggs though. It's your green narbs right? From the looks of your signature you don't have any others so she'll be stuck with the eggs in her. To try and get rid of this you can put her on a fast. Maybe, 2-3 days or so. This will force her body to absorb the eggs (nutrients in them) so she'll "deflate". If it is eggs, the reason for them is optimal water conditions and very good nutrition. So sounds like you're taking very good care of your fish.

To fast her you can relocate her to a quaratine tank.

If it is internal parasites, chances are your other fish have it too. It spreads by fish eating.nibbling on each other's infected feces.

So you can treat her with the meds first or fast her first, it's your choice. Those are the two number one thing's i'd try before anything else. What would I do first? Well, if she's not eating well, I would treat for internal parasites, then treat for fungus.

However, if she does eat well right now, I'd just fast her and see where it goes from there. HTH :D

BTW, very nice tiger and albino tiger barbs! :cool:

[andy1_52]

I've got a good idea...

Get another tank that's a descent size 20 gallons or so. Plant it with micro sword and get good lighting. Get a few males for your barb to mate with. Then as soon as she lays her eggs remove all the fish and let the eggs hatch and the fry can hide in the micro sword! then you can raise them to a descent size... sellem for some cash and do it all over again!