eel has a big belly (pictures)

[BadRoma1]

i have an eel that has big belly. is it dropsy? what do they look like when they pregnant or have worms? how do i figure what it is? and if it's dropsy, does anybody know if maracyn-two is safe with plants?

 

[James40]

well, it doesnt seem like dropsy... could it be that its just fat?

 

[BadRoma1]

i don't know. his belly rolles around when he moves. another eel is fat, but the belly is not that big

 

[Toirtis]

Looks like he is simply getting more than his share by a fair bit....not dropsy at all.

 

[HylaChristine]

I had this problem about a week ago with a tire track eel. It went down within 48 hours. Not sure what the problem was maybe she got too much to eat. I feed earthworms/nightcrawlers/. What are you feeding yours?

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79282

 

[Emg]

could it be a she and she's full of eggs ?? Just a thought...

 

[kody1192]

not a problem...when i first got my fire eel his stomach was real flat after a couple days of blackworms his stomach got nice and fat and is always fat...unless it looks like its gonna explode it just a full stomach...btw what kinda eel is that?

 

[BadRoma1]

these two eels get alone really good. the one that has strangly bloated belly is still the same as of now. the belly has a whitish tint to it. i dont know what kind of eels they are. they were sold as spiny eels. i had them for about a year, but they never realy got that big at all, so i was thinking that maye she is too young to have babies. i don't know what to think or do. i used to feed them black worms utill some sort of parasite broke out in my tank, now i feed them frozen blood worms.

 

[HylaChristine]

If they havent gotten big, I would think they are zigzag eels. Do you have better pictures?

 

[Hurley]

If your eel is acting normally I would say it had just had too much to eat. From your pictures it looks like you have a zig-zag spiney eel. I have one and it is definantly the fatty of the tank. The belly is bigger and lighter then the top. I happen to think becuase mine it so fat that it is a female because they say females will be rounder then males. It is just possible that yours is a female and is going to always be fatter then the other one.


Here is a link to a post with a video of my Zig-Zag Eel eating . Take a look at it and see if it looks like yours. Mine is darker then the one in your pictures because I have darker substrate. The color of the eel with change depending on the substrate. You can also see how the belly is lighter.(it shows up much better in person!)