What's in that belly?

[tanyaj77]

Does my girl look pregnant to anyone, or is it just me? I'm a noob but she looks bigger to me.

[Psuedofire]

Maybe. My females kenyis are the biggest pigs in my tank and always look like balloons swimming around because they eat so much

[fish_chic]

shes not prego she looks like she just ate alot. kenyis are mouthbrooders so she wouldn't have eggs in her stomach, her mouth would be full of them, which is called holding. looks like you just have a piggy there. actually just took a lot at you siggy all of the fish you have are mouthbrooders.

[tanyaj77]

Thanks for the replies! I thought that they laid eggs and then carried them around :) You learn something new everyday. Thanks!

[Rbishop]

Now there's a name...Miss Piggy!

[BlueJax]

LOL!!!

During breeding, mouth-brooding fish they DO lay the eggs first, THEN pick them up with the male's sperm and carry them around in their mouth.

Sorry fish_chic, but it's basic fish biology.

There's no reason why the bulge wouldn't be eggs. In your pic I think I can make out her spawning tube just in front of the anal fin, which makes the eggs story even more likely. That's not so say she's not a greedy guts also! :)

[angelfishlover]

maybe u condition her already.what food you feed her???

[tanyaj77]

LOL!!!

During breeding, mouth-brooding fish they DO lay the eggs first, THEN pick them up with the male's sperm and carry them around in their mouth.

Sorry fish_chic, but it's basic fish biology.

There's no reason why the bulge wouldn't be eggs. In your pic I think I can make out her spawning tube just in front of the anal fin, which makes the eggs story even more likely. That's not so say she's not a greedy guts also! :)

Thanks for the reply. I was so confused as to how the eggs got in her mouth (LOL I'm a nurse and think I know anatomy pretty well.... human anyway) :)
So how long are they in the belly, and how long are they in her mouth before they're released? She's been coming up to eat and I haven't noticed any eggs in her mouth.
I feed her occasional cichlid pellets, veggie flakes, and the occasional bloodworm (they don't seem to care for them).

[Aislinn]

I have one female kenyi, and she always looks like that. Kenyis are gluttons. Mine would probably eat a paperclip or a rubber band if I accidentally dropped them in the tank.

[BlueJax]

How long is a piece of string? :)

The eggs are inside the female's body until they're laid, then they're in the mother's mouth until the fry are free swimming (and for some time after).

Female mouthbrooders that have a mouth full of eggs tend not to eat until the embryos turn into free-swimming fry, so when your female looks thinner, stops eating so much and has a bulging mouth you should expect to see fully formed babies in the near future!

You'd have to ask someone more knowledgeable about kenyis how long the eggs take to turn into fry, I've never kept them.

[magakitty]

We have a red zebra, which we think is a male, who is bloated, but is otherwise acting normal. I was thinking that maybe he just ate too much, but hubby was worried that he had malawi bloat or dropsy (they are listed in the same article in our fish health book). He does not exhibit "pine cone" scales, or any other symtoms listed in any article we have found.

So we have decided to withhold food from the whole tank (because we can't catch him to isolate him, since hubby did such a good job with the rocks and caves) for a couple of days.

I'm glad to see that sometimes these guys are just piggies and get bloated just like I do at Thanksgiving.

Or maybe he is a she?

Thanks for the post

[angelfishlover]

how abou this.You try go find a male kenyi and wait for a few months until the male will be conditioned.If nothing happens then probably u gave her too much food.For males i think they got eggspots on their anal fin.

[tanyaj77]

how abou this.You try go find a male kenyi and wait for a few months until the male will be conditioned.If nothing happens then probably u gave her too much food.For males i think they got eggspots on their anal fin.

I have 2 other kenyi's in the tank. I thing at least one of them is a male, but of course I'm not sure. His stripes are very faded and his coloring is almost a light pinkish color. Nothing like my other 2. He runs the tank, chasing every other fish who comes anywhere near his end. Sometimes he goes out just to terrorize the rest of them. he is a troublemaker. :)