Swollen abdomen in goldfish points out severe health issues in goldfish that require immediate action. So, why does your goldfish have a swollen abdomen? Let us find out in the below article.
Constipation and dropsy are two common factors responsible for the swollen abdomen in goldfish. The swollen abdomen also indicates that your female goldfish is about to lay eggs. Provide high-grade food, avoid overfeeding and provide adequate water conditions to prevent constipation and dropsy.
Let us dive into the article to learn more about the reasons behind the swollen abdomen of your goldfish.
Contents
My goldfish is swollen
There can be several reasons behind the swollen abdomen of your goldfish.
- Your goldfish is about to lay eggs.
- Your goldfish is suffering from constipation.
- Dropsy
Your female goldfish usually appears slightly bigger than males.
However, their belly gets broader when they are about to lay eggs.
There are many other reasons like constipation and dropsy that can lead to the swollen belly of your goldfish.
Overfeeding can make your goldfish constipated, further leading to a swollen abdomen of your fish.
Dropsy is a condition in which your fish cannot eliminate the excess fluid from its body tissues.
Poor water conditions and inadequate water parameters are the roots of dropsy in your goldfish.
In the below article, we will learn about the precise reason behind the swollen abdomen of your goldfish.
Your goldfish is about to lay eggs
Female goldfish don’t get pregnant as they are egg bearers.
Your female goldfish will appear slightly bigger when they are about to lay eggs.
Female goldfish usually have a thicker and a rounder body shape and a swollen vent.
Your female goldfish lay eggs when the water starts getting warmer during the spring season.
However, you can encourage your female goldfish to spawn by gradually increasing the temperature from 50 °F to 64 °F.
In warmer climates, pond goldfish can lay eggs three to four times a season, whereas goldfish in captivity can spawn all year long if kept in good water conditions.
Female goldfish can lay thousands of eggs in each spawning. However, only a few of them gets fertilized by the male goldfish.
Male goldfish fertilize the eggs by releasing their milt upon them.
The spawning process usually lasts for a week, as a spawning process that lasts more than a week can lead to stress in your female goldfish.
It takes about 72 hours for your goldfish eggs to hatch.
Therefore you should always provide adequate water parameters for your female goldfish to lay eggs.
Also read: Can Goldfish Get Pregnant?
How to know if your goldfish is about to lay eggs?
If you discover your goldfish getting more broad than usual, it indicates that your goldfish is about to lay eggs.
In addition, your female goldfish getting chased by the males also indicates that your goldfish is about to lay eggs.
You can also detect the behavior of the male goldfish to know whether the female is about to lay eggs or not.
The female goldfish sends a signal to the male by releasing special pheromones in the water, after which the male starts to prepare their role in fertilizing the eggs.
Your male goldfish is chasing the females, and rubbing himself against the female goldfish indicates that he encourages her to lay eggs.
The male goldfish plays a vital role in fertilizing the eggs by releasing their milt upon the eggs.
Constipation
Constipation is also a common reason behind the swollen abdomen of your goldfish.
Constipation is a condition in which your goldfish finds it challenging to digest their foods, further leading to the swollen abdomen of your fish.
There are many reasons like overfeeding and poor water conditions that can lead to constipation in your goldfish.
Lethargic behavior, clamped fins, and swollen belly are some of the common symptoms of constipation in your goldfish.
Therefore you can prevent constipation by avoiding overfeeding and providing high-grade food and good water conditions to your goldfish.
How to cure constipation?
Treat constipation by making your goldfish fast for two to three days. In addition to this, blanched peas also play a vital role in treating constipation.
Peas are high in fiber, which helps treat several health issues in your goldfish.
You should always ensure not to overcook or undercook your peas, as in both cases, the veggie will lose all its nutrients.
Always ensure to remove the skin of the pea as it is hard for your fish to digest.
It will be advisable to provide half a pea to your goldfish and make them fast for the next 24 hours.
You should do this process 2-3 times to aid constipation in your goldfish.
However, if serving peas does not help treat constipation, you can use Epsom salt to treat your goldfish.
Epsom salt is an ideal way to treat constipation in your goldfish. You can apply Epsom salt in the following ways:
- Place your sick goldfish in a hospital tank to avoid the risk of affecting the other tankmates.
- Place some tank water in a container, apply Epson salt to the water, and mix it thoroughly.
- Apply one tablespoon of Epsom salt per 5 gallons of water. Excessive salt can lead to severe health issues.
- Finally, after putting the Epsom salt in the water, you have to make your goldfish fast for the day.
It will be best if you don’t dose the same water twice with the Epsom salt.
It will be advisable to read all the instructions provided by the manufacturers before adding Epsom to your goldfish tank.
Dropsy
Dropsy is not a disease but a condition in which your goldfish cannot eliminate the excess fluid from their body tissues.
Some symptoms of dropsy are lack of appetite, bulging eyes, and redness in the fins of your goldfish.
The most common cause of dropsy in goldfish is stress, ammonia spike, and aggressive tankmates are causes of dropsy in goldfish.
In addition to this, bacterial infection or the tank’s poor water quality is some cause of dropsy in goldfish.
Dropsy detected in the early stage can be cured with proper medications.
Also read: Dropsy In Goldfish
How to cure dropsy?
Dropsy caused by bacterial infection can’t be treated, making euthanizing the only option left for your goldfish.
The two best methods of euthanizing your goldfish are as follows:
- Clove Oil Method: It is a peaceful method of euthanizing your goldfish.
- Stun and Stab Method: It is an aggressive method of euthanizing your goldfish. The stun and stab method can be performed with the help of a sharp knife and a rolling pin.
However, if dropsy is caused by some other reasons like aggressive tankmates and contaminated water, have a slight hope of recovery.
You can treat dropsy in your goldfish in the following ways:
- First, place your sick goldfish in a hospital tank to avoid getting other tankmates affected.
- Apply one teaspoon of Epsom salt per gallon of water as it helps to treat. Excessive salt can lead to significant health issues in your goldfish.
- Provide high-quality food to your goldfish.
- It would be best to always maintain adequate water parameters in your hospital tank.
- You should perform regular water changes in your hospital tank.
- Lastly, it would be best if you kept an eye on the goldfish for several weeks after the symptoms disappeared.
Also read: How To Humanely Euthanize Goldfish?
How can you prevent swollen belly in goldfish?
Female goldfish have a swollen belly when they are about to lay eggs.
However, if there are some other factors like constipation and dropsy responsible for the swollen abdomen of your goldfish, then you can follow the below ways to prevent it.
- Avoid overfeeding your goldfish to prevent swollen abdomen in your fish.
- Provide adequate water parameters to avoid the swollen abdomen in your goldfish.
- Provide good water conditions to your goldfish to prevent the swollen abdomen in your fish.
- Always provide high-grade food to your fish.
- Ensure regular water changes in your goldfish aquarium.
The above are some preventions you can take to prevent the swollen abdomen of your goldfish.
Conclusion:
- There can be several reasons, like your goldfish is about to lay eggs, constipation, or dropsy behind the swollen abdomen of your goldfish.
- Poor water conditions and low-grade food can make your goldfish constipated.
- Constipation can be treated by serving blanched peas or providing treatment with Epsom salt.
- Dropsy can also be the reason behind the swollen abdomen of your goldfish.
- Contaminated tank water plays a significant role behind dropsy in your goldfish.
- If detected early, you can treat dropsy by using Epsom salt.
Reference: NCBI