Big-bellied white clouds?

[scavenger]

I've had my six white cloud minnows for about almost 2 months now and i notice that out of these six, two of them have noticeably bigger, rounder bellies than the rest of them. As far as I have noticed, these minnows have had their plumb white bellies for as long as I can remember. At first when I noticed the bellies, I thought "Pregnancy?" but since I never saw any mating display or any minnow showing interest towards another; as well as the fact that a couple of months is too long for them to stay pregnant led me to doubt this idea. Then I thought "Overeating?" so I didn't feed as much. Nonetheless, they still had chubby bellies. Plus, only the two minnows were fat, the others were skinny. Next, I thought "Sickness?" and got worried. I read that dropsy or some other illness might be the reason but after finding out that none of the symptoms match, and the fact that the fat minnows act and look perfectly normal and healthy like the rest (aside from being fat), led me to think otherwise.

So, can I safely conclude that it is perfectly natural that some white clouds minnows are chubby-bellied and that nothing is out of the ordinary? Nonetheless I find it quite weird that the two are so much more round-bellied than the rest of the white clouds. :confused:

[zazz]

It has been a Long time since I had white clouds. What I am about to say might be very wrong, but i seem to remember that there may be that kind of difference between male and female white clouds, normally.
Look up some fish profiles of white clouds and see if you see it mentioned.
In any case i think you are right not to worry.
What I found interesting about your post, also, is that you say you saw no mating display. I Do remember that among my white clouds someone was nearly always displaying. It's subtle, maybe, but cool. They extend their fins and as I recall they brighten up. It is the males that do this. They don't pair off particularly, just display at whomever inspires them, I guess.
I had more than six, and I kept them in cool water (room temp) Maybe that makes a difference. But keep watching em, you might seeit.
Mine also had fry seemingly all the time. I had a 'cloud' of java moss floating in there that allowed some of thefry to survive uneaten. also had no other fish in there besides the white clouds.

[MargieMay06]

Yup, the ones that look like they've overeaten are females. :)

[spollymot]

I too have 6 clouds and 2 are fat. ive seen plenty of displaying and have 2 other fish. 1 is a blind goldfish and the other is a sucker just not sure of its name. If pregnant what should i do if anything.
:help:

[doreenjoy]

I don't think they're pregnant. Males are just naturally slimmer.

If they are pregnant, just put some fine-leaved plants in the aquarium. White clouds breed easily and some of the fry almost always make it to maturity, even in a community tank. If you really want to raise the fry, you'll have to ask someone for breeding advice. I just let nature take its course.