Bloated cory

[WolfPup522]

I came home tonight to find that my largest peppered cory, Oregano (whom I believe to be female), had gotten huge. She appears bloated, mainly in her "abdomen". Ever since I noticed this, I've been online researching possibilities. My first fear was dropsy, however, she has no other dropsy symptoms. Nor does she have symptoms of any other diseases or infections that I have read about.

After much research, the best possibility I have found is that she is carrying eggs. I've looked at some previous threads here about breeding cories and the characteristic bloating before spawning, however I wanted to know how quickly that bloating usually happens.

BTW, water conditions are good (ammonia=0, trace nitrates, did a water change yesterday), temp is 74F, pH is neutral.

Ok, so I guess what I'm looking for (other than the bloating question) is to make sure I haven't overlooked something and a little reassurance that she's probably ok. I've had a bad couple of days and the last thing I need right now is to lose one of my "babies".

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Tetratastic]

My cories used to get poochy bellies now and again, one in particular, I cut down the amount of food they were getting and haven't had a problem since. Do you have any pics of the affected fish?

 

[WolfPup522]

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics. I'll try to get some.

She's still bloated, but her habits haven't changed much. She's still eating well, although I haven't fed them much since I noticed how bloated she was. I was thinking about feeding them some more bloodworms tonight and then do a cooler water change in the morning to see if she might spawn. If she does, then at least I'd know what caused the bloating.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas. Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it.