pregnant pictus?

[stingray4540]

Is my pictus cat pregnant? Or is there something wrong with it like bloat or overfeeding? I have 2 pictus cats and the otherone is not this fat, but I don't know if it's a male.
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f327/stingray4540/05_16_06_1132.jpg

[gatotsu77]

Pictus catfish are particularly greedy when it comes to feeding time, and their bellies tend to resemble a marble once they've gotten their fill, and they typically will live off of this swolen sack of food for several days before needing to eat again. (though they may elect to eat a bit here and there inbetween) The one in your picture does seem to have a slightly larger protrusion than normal, but based on how my pictus looks after gorging itself on some shrimp pellets, I'd say that its within normal bounds. If anyone feels that this is an inaccurate analysis, by all means, please let me know. I've had my pictus cat (and an eclipse cat) for approx. 4-5 months now, and when they eat, boy do they EAT!

[stingray4540]

You are right, they eat like pigs! But I don't target feed them, they eat whatever cichlid pellets make it to the bottom. The pellets sink pretty fast so they do get quite abit. The only thing is, is that this one has been that fat for quite awhile, like atleast a week, and the other one is normal with a small marble sized lump in it's belly.

[gatotsu77]

I did think that it looked like its belly protruded a bit more than my catfish's usually does... perhaps an intestinal impaction of some sorts? I don't happen to know anything about their breeding habits in captivity so I have no idea if your fish could potentially be pregnant. Approximately how long is it? By the looks of the picture I'd guess 3-3.5", which with a maximum size of 14-16 inches, I believe that its still a juvenile. (assuming that it is only 3-3.5" in length) The one I have is approximately 5 inches and appears to be quite a bit thicker than that all around, so that is another factor in my guessing that its still a juvenile, so I don't believe that it'd be mature enough to reproduce yet.

[stingray4540]

Yeah, it's about 3.5"-4". Maybe it could be just eating too much? I don't know, Its belly just seems too large to be from eating too much. So, I was thinking ether pregnant or somethings wrong.

[gatotsu77]

Perhaps you do just have a very hungry little catfish. :-P There are a few at work (I work for Petsmart) that are just absolute gluttons. When I wander by the tank with the jar of shrimp pellets, there are a couple in particular that gobble them all up until they can't seem to hold any more in them, and then the others finally get a chance to get some food. Perhaps this little guy is just used to having to fight the others for some food, so he quickly scarfs everything he can until he's bloated like a blimp.

[stingray4540]

I guess I just have a little pig in my tank. Thanks for the help.

[Barnett8]

swim blatter dissorter, or internal parisites

[stingray4540]

You think so? How would I know for sure which?

[monkey_toes]

I agree with the previous line of thought — just a greedy fish. Some other pimelodids will do that too. Shovelnose cats especially will eat until you'd swear they're going to burst. As long as he's eating, pooping normally and not acting distressed, I'd be inclined to rule out any medical issues. And no, it's not pregnant. A female ready to lay eggs would be a bit chubby, but not like that.

[stingray4540]

Yes, he was just eating too much. the other day i put the food in slower so that none of it would get to the catfish, and later that day I noticed it's belly was back to normal.

[gatotsu77]

I'm glad to hear that he's doing better. :-) Also on a good note, I finally got my 55 and have got it all set up and whatnot... it will be ready for my fish soon. Then I'll finally see my pictus get big and fat. :-P

[kaicatalan]

my pictus is greedy too and juevenile so i agree with the original thesis

[all_or_nothin]

are you missing any fish? when there belly looks like that they have usally eaten a fish.. that doesnt look like just regular food