NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/rec/aquaria/9793

Text File | 1993-01-01 | 1.7 KB | 36 lines

Newsgroups: rec.aquaria
Path: sparky!uunet!uunet.ca!geac!zooid!gaea
From: Lynda Fincham <[e-mail]>
Subject: Bloated tetra
Organization: ZOOiD BBS
Date: Fri, 1 Jan 1993 18:59:34 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Lines: 26

I have a 35gal community tank, fairly heavily planted with species varying
from amazon swords, jungle val, watersprite, hygrophilia and several other
species I'm not sure of. The tank is kept between 75-80 degrees (it fluctuates
because it's near a radiator). I have four small angels (1-2" long), 2 pim
catfish (2" and 4"), 5 x-ray tetras, and 5 neon tetras. I don't precisely know
what the pH, ammonia, etc are, but when they were last tested, everything was
well within normal range, with the exception of having very hard water (300+).

Last night one of my neon's seem to get "bloated" - ie, his stomach got very
large, and he couldn't sink to the bottom. He spent about half his time trying
to swim downwards at a rather steep angle, and the rest of the time lying on
his side on the surface, resting I assume. I went out about 9pm, and didn't
get in until 1am or so. I couldn't find him floating on the surface, so I
figured that he'd either died, or gotten better. This morning he was fine, no
further problems swimming, and he ate the flake food that I usually feed them.

What I want to know is what causes this, and I can I prevent it happening
again? Is it the flake food I'm feeding them (Cichlid flake and Tetramin
generic flake food)?

---
Gaea (Lynda Fincham aka Mother Nature)   [e-mail]
ZOOiD Online, Toronto, Canada            [phone]
Free and Paid Public Access Usenet       [phone]
"It's easy to spot the optics."