pregnant blue tetra

[k1bean]

I though my fist thread was sent, but i didn't see it on the forum list. I've never chat before and i hope this isn't a duplicate.

I have a 65 gal tank and from what i have been reading, i have too many fish. Anyhow, i have a very fat blue tetra that i moved to my smaller 15-20 gal tank that had an aggressive fish that was returned to LFS. i have only had my tanks since Jan. The small tank has gravel, one fake plant and a rock decoration. Fish is fed flake and bloodworms. Noticed fish two days ago hiding near the bottom of tank and moved to smaller tank the next day. Any help would be great.

[wetmanNY]

Sometimes I've thought that a fish was filling with eggs, but as the weeks went by I realized she was filling with fluid, the condition Victorian doctors and aquarists call "dropsy." Dropsy is a sign that basic osmotic equilibrium is breaking down: liver, spleen or kidney systems aren't functioning. It's usually terminal.

Egglaying females may fill with eggs and be "pregnant" in that sense, but to release them and fertilize them, they need a male present.

Fish that hide or are abnormally shy and listless are unwell. It's impossible to judge from a distance.

[ChilDawg]

It's not a repeat, as your post count would be two if such were the case. I agree with Wetman...it sounds like dropsy. If she were that gravid, she'd probably drop the eggs at some point, or so I'd think. I know anabantoids do that, as do cichlids, but I'm not sure if tetras become egg-bound...as piranhas (closely-related) would...