# Cory has bloated belly. Need some help.



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

Hello,
One of my albino cories has a weirdly shaped and somewhat distended belly, and I was wondering if someone could tell me the cause. There are 2 pronounced "lumps" in the white area of the belly. On each side of the fish, between the front and back fins, there is a dark patch that resembles a bruise.

I don't know if it is male or female, but here are some of the things I have read that could be possible causes:
*Cory is a female and is laden with eggs
*Is constipated
*Has air in it's belly
*Has an infection

Other info:
*Fish is very active, and swims fine, except it has that "pregnant woman waddle" so to speak (I realize these fish don't get "pregnant")
*Fish is eating with gusto, which is normal

Tank specs:
75 gallon heavily planted
Temp is 77 degrees
**Do not currently have water specs, but will get them tomorrow
4 albino cories
4 otos
4 cardinals
3 German Blues
1 Siamensis
Lots of snails

Food:
**I alternate what I feed, so all of this does not go in at once
Frozen bloodworms
Hikari algae wafers
Hikari sinking carnivore pellets
Xtreme community pellets
Tetra tropical flakes (very rarely use these)

I feed once every other day.

I am attaching a couple of (pretty bad) pics. They are blurry, but hopefully you can kind of see what I am talking about.

Thanks so much for your time,
Cat


----------



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

One other thing I noticed - My German Blues (which I have only had for about a month and a half) seem to be acting weird. I am seeing more "interaction" between them than I did when I first got them. The interaction doesn't really seem to be aggression, but it doesn't really seem to be "play" either. I see alot of nips going on, but it is in no way damaging. The Ram being nipped doesn't run away in terror, but just kind of keeps going like nothing happened. They also seem to take turns chasing each other, so it's not like there's a dominate one being a bully. They have also been facing off with each other, and when they do that, they raise their fins, back up a little, then run head on in to each other, nose to nose (again, no injuries). Today, for the first time, I saw two of them side by side (touching), in a yin/yang sort of position (each fish's head was against the other's tail). They spun in place in circles for a few seconds and then that was that. As far as I know, these rams are all females (pink belly, blue spots on the big black spot, black lines on the front of the fins). I am guessing this may be terrotorial disputes, or simply a normal pattern of interaction but am concerned that maybe something is amiss in the tank since there appears to be something wrong with my cory.

Like I said, I will get water specs tomorrow. If there is anything else I can tell you, or if you would like me to try to get better pics, please let me know.

Thanks,
Cat


----------



## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

Nvm


----------



## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

The behavior of the Rams is typical of a pair that are thinking of mating, and are testing each other to see if they are compatible. This is completely normal, and to be expected. 

I do not know what is going on with the Cory, however, acting normally active, hungry and so on suggests this is not a problem like a disease, but more like a normal thing like developing eggs. 

Cories are easy to breed in an aquarium. The trigger is a drop in temperature. This is what happens in their wild home when the rains begin. A couple of degrees to as much as 5 degrees F drop in temperature will trigger breeding if there is a male and a female ready to go in the tank. Are any of the other Cories acting interested in this one?


----------



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

Well, it looks like the lumps have gone away. It seems maybe it was just air in the belly or constipation. I guess I freaked out a bit too soon.

Thanks for all of the help!
Cat


----------

