Fat belly discus

[robby ram]

Should I be concerned? Every feeding time, my discus will get bloated especially the young kids, would this give harm effects?

[Darren's Discus]

Does this dissapear after a few hours ?
Sounds like they have fat little bellies after a good feed.



cheers

[Eddie]

Fat bellies are the best! Just make sure they go down after a few hours like Darren said. If they don't go down, DO NOT FEED THEM. Wait til their bellies go back to normal size.

Eddie

[robby ram]

The belly goes down after hours. I just fear if they get so bloated, then they would get sick.

I have this one juvie that always acts like a puppy. The only one would come up to me when I feed them especially before I throw the food in. Though, even if I am sitting on the couch, I can see him watching me ( that sounds a bit delusional, but yeah ). Its cute. Unfortunately, he always getting bullied by others and he hides most of the time. I am afraid he will get stressed out and sick because of getting bullied. What should I do?

[Eddie]

The belly goes down after hours. I just fear if they get so bloated, then they would get sick.

I have this one juvie that always acts like a puppy. The only one would come up to me when I feed them especially before I throw the food in. Though, even if I am sitting on the couch, I can see him watching me ( that sounds a bit delusional, but yeah ). Its cute. Unfortunately, he always getting bullied by others and he hides most of the time. I am afraid he will get stressed out and sick because of getting bullied. What should I do?

Its normal, let him fight the fight. Either he will remain low on the pecking order or begin to fight back. He'll be fine

Eddie

[trebor69]

What are you feeding?

If a dry granule like Tetra Bits.... be careful

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=68031

[Eddie]

Dried granules or pellets can be deadly to a fish that overeats. BDs are notorious for being pigs.

Eddie

[Yassmeena]

The belly goes down after hours. I just fear if they get so bloated, then they would get sick.

I have this one juvie that always acts like a puppy. The only one would come up to me when I feed them especially before I throw the food in. Though, even if I am sitting on the couch, I can see him watching me ( that sounds a bit delusional, but yeah ). Its cute. Unfortunately, he always getting bullied by others and he hides most of the time. I am afraid he will get stressed out and sick because of getting bullied. What should I do?

Ok - so I am trying to understand the relationship here. You are saying that the bloated guy is the one who gets picked on - or are they separate issues?

I think that you should consider them separately. If you are worried about him getting picked on, I understand how upsetting that can be, especially because it seems like you are quite fond of him. It if gets really bad, you can put a divider in the tank to isolate him or the agressor(s). But if it is within reason, perhaps basshead is right and you should let the natural social order occur.

As for the bloat, try feeding smaller portions so your fish won't suffer. If his bloat gets very bad it can be deadly. If you encounter really bad bloat, quickly do a good water change and treat the tank with epsom salt (2 tbsp for every 10 gallons). But prevention by reduced portions is better than trying to fix the bloat.

[Eddie]

As for the bloat, try feeding smaller portions so your fish won't suffer. If his bloat gets very bad it can be deadly. If you encounter really bad bloat, quickly do a good water change and treat the tank with epsom salt (2 tbsp for every 10 gallons). But prevention by reduced portions is better than trying to fix the bloat.

That is correct Yas. I just wanted to add that I like to remove the fish to his own tank and treat with epsom salt if it is serious. I don't think epsom salt should be added the community tank if none of the other fish are bloated.

Eddie

[mikel]

I have a nice fish that is very tame, and also quite low on the discus hiararchy. He would often get picked on, especially during feeding time. So I tried to help him by spreading the food very evenly across the whole of the tank, and this combined with the critical mass of the # of fish...and he gets adequate food for growth. You want to make sure that this fish also gets that little fat tummy look, just like the others so that his growth can keep pace with the rest. Give him this help and he can, if heaven willing, fight his way up the latter. Your next option is to get a tank mesh divider, and place him on the other side with one or two more docile tankmakes...this allows him to become dominant in his little domain, get him eating and growing well...then once he reaches a size that you deem adequate, allow him back by removing the divider and see what happens (kinda like watching a boxing match, and you root for your favorite). I know this sounds kind of silly trying to lend a hand to a fish...but if you are partial to one, you can help him/her...and no one is hurt in the process.

Clearly, if you have many tanks and fish, this sort of micro-management would not be possible. I have 8 discus, so I can do this "balance of power" to make sure everyone is growing. Of course, once a pair is formed, you cannot blame them for being aggressive. Then, it's time for another tank! Until then, your primary responsibility to young discus is to make sure everyone gets lots of good food, one way or another. Hope this helps.

mike

[Yassmeena]

Yep - I almost forgot about that.

Mike brings up a simple and effective method!

Keep us posted and good luck with your little guy - he sounds really cute!

~ Yasmin

[MostlyDiscus]

smaller portions more often will give you optimal growth with a good WC routine. Ed

[Eddie]

smaller portions more often will give you optimal growth with a good WC routine. Ed

Really Ed, where is the evidence in that? I mean I am a firm believer in that statement but many others on here believe only 3-4 good feedings provide optimal growth.

I do close to 10 feedings a day with 90% WC a day. You can literally see the growth in my fish, at least an inch a month.

Eddie

[mikel]

I agree with you about small portions and good wc regimens. No sense in having food wasted all over the tank bottom. In fact, fish in nature eat as they forage...so they continue to eat, but in small portions. Come to think of it, we humans should eat like that too for our health...mike

[Eddie]

I agree with you about small portions and good wc regimens. No sense in having food wasted all over the tank bottom. In fact, fish in nature eat as they forage...so they continue to eat, but in small portions. Come to think of it, we humans should eat like that too for our health...mike

Thats right Mike, in another discussion the topic came up. " do fish digest just as humans". There are quite a few articles relating to a fishes digestive system being much like humans.

As humans can only process so much essential protein at one time, the object is to space out the amounts throughout the day to fully benefit and absorb everything. I took this approach with my fish.

Eddie