# Stomach Buldge on my RHOM



## gillespie.101 (Mar 14, 2008)

Long time reader new registration.

I have raised a rhom for over as year and a half now. I have routinley kept him in prestine water conditions and fed him onl shrimp, tilapia, pellets, and hoe raised feeders twice. When he was young and ate he would always get a buldge where his food had not yet digested. I believe most owners know what im talking about. Recently this buldge has been getting bigger and not going away. He recently was moved from one home to another but was kept in the same tank and the only change was i took out a large piece of wood. He is now close to 6 inches in length. Is it possible he is getting fat because of dormant behavior? I am saving up for a powerhead to hopefully incourage him to move more. I also turned up the heat and added salt just in case.

Has anyone else seen this in their growing rhoms? Do they normally grow wider?

Ill add pics later whn the camera is charged


----------



## blackmaskelong (Aug 18, 2007)

What type of subtrate you got in the tank? he could have some of it stuck in him and if you have sand it's a build up of sand but pics would be great....


----------



## gillespie.101 (Mar 14, 2008)

black aqua gravel, i have noticed him biting off some of the fake plants could that be the problem? I was under the impression they digested those or spit them out?\\

pics shortly


----------



## cueball (May 24, 2005)

that could just be it....the fake plants


----------



## rolly_169 (Jul 23, 2007)

yeah not much you can do if its gravel or plants.


----------



## gillespie.101 (Mar 14, 2008)

here

Any ideas? Or possible ways to help my guy?


----------



## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Sorry-
That does not look good-IMO

I have no clue on a suggested treatment.....


----------



## cueball (May 24, 2005)

and how many days has he been swelled up like this?


----------



## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Man that does NOT look good. 
I wish I could give you a suggestion.

I googled it This is about the only thing I could find.

Often, a fish reeled up from depths deeper than 60 feet will have their air bladder or stomach bulge from their mouth due to gas expansion.

Sorry man.
Good luck

Coould it be Dropsy? That causes bloating...how is the water params?


----------



## blackmaskelong (Aug 18, 2007)

that fish has eather worms or is just bleeding internaly but id just get some oil out....sorry man! that is not just a little budge... but give it time im sure the body is fighing it so could end up being ok...


----------



## cueball (May 24, 2005)

no way man worms would never make a animal fatter no mater what,,
i would look up Dropsy it could be that,,( did you just give new plants to this fish)>?


----------



## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

OSUrhombeus said:


> black aqua gravel, i have noticed him biting off some of the fake plants could that be the problem? I was under the impression they digested those or spit them out?\\
> 
> pics shortly


I think the first step would be getting rid of the fake plants.
Put live plants in there. maybe some moss or another low light plant unless you have good lighting.
Hope it works out for ya.


----------



## gillespie.101 (Mar 14, 2008)

My guess is he has been like this for maybe 5 days.

I took out all the plants and did a big water change and cleanup.

Thanks for all the posts. Any general suggestions?


----------



## cueball (May 24, 2005)

sorry i guess its more of a time well tell thing is he has plastic in him,,but i cant see it there isnt no way he ate that much,,,after a few bites he would have figgered out its not good food to eat,, it has no taste,,


----------



## gillespie.101 (Mar 14, 2008)

I bought some pimafix, salt and miracyn two and treated him for dropsy. I couldnt just sit around and do nothing


----------



## cueball (May 24, 2005)

iam glade your doing what you got to ,, trying to keep him alive,, iam suprized there hasn't been more responses ,,,,


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

I would try stuffing a pea or 2 in a chunk of catfish. The peas would act as a laxative if it is constipation. I wouild also add like 1 teaspoon per every gallon of water to relieve pressure on the kidneys. It certainly can be blockage caused by him eating plastic plants. Worst case scenario is dropsy...


----------



## gillespie.101 (Mar 14, 2008)

Dr. Giggles said:


> I would try stuffing a pea or 2 in a chunk of catfish. The peas would act as a laxative if it is constipation. I wouild also add like 1 teaspoon per every gallon of water to relieve pressure on the kidneys. It certainly can be blockage caused by him eating plastic plants. Worst case scenario is dropsy...


teaspoon of salt?


----------



## sick fish man (Mar 21, 2006)

Pop it!! lol, don't do that, but yea it looks pretty bloated, mabe you should put him to sleep and do some fish surgery if gets close to death.


----------



## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

OSUrhombeus said:


> I would try stuffing a pea or 2 in a chunk of catfish. The peas would act as a laxative if it is constipation. I wouild also add like 1 teaspoon per every gallon of water to relieve pressure on the kidneys. It certainly can be blockage caused by him eating plastic plants. Worst case scenario is dropsy...


teaspoon of salt?
[/quote]

A teaspoon of salt, one for every gallon. 
Be sure you completely dissolve it in water before adding to the tank slowly preferably in an area near outlet of filter so it disperses evenly in tank.


----------



## gillespie.101 (Mar 14, 2008)

After three days of meds there seems to be decreased swelling. Has anyone ever treated dropsy before? Im hoping its the fake plants being digested. However he wont eat and i knwo thats could be from dropsy...

I guess it would be good to hear from someone who ahs treated dropsy...


----------



## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

If you have done what Winkyee and Dr.Giggles has suggested....And it's not getting better-

Maybe wait for Jerry (dr. Giggles) to see this topic again---He would probably have some good info

Or seach the Name DonH in the search engine and pm him a link to this topic....

Only suggestions I can make....


----------



## cueball (May 24, 2005)

might i add good luck on the recovery


----------



## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

AKSkirmish said:


> If you have done what Winkyee and Dr.Giggles has suggested....And it's not getting better-
> 
> Maybe wait for Jerry (dr. Giggles) to see this topic again---He would probably have some good info
> 
> ...


Is DONH around at all?


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

You can consider Dropsy as "untreatable" despite meds that claim that treat it. Hopefully its just a blockage caused by something he ate in the tank and eating a pea will clear his system out. I would not feed unless that swelling disappears. Also if you do not see scales raised in the area of swelling it may not be Dropsy. Not to sure on that though. I always associated Dropsy with not only swelling, but raised scales also.


----------

