Dwarf Chain Loach Swollen Belly

[FaintingGoats]

Hi all,

I purchased 2 Dwarf Chain Loaches and 5 Panda Corydoras from Aquarium Coop on Saturday.  Everything was going good and I have them set up in their quarantine tank with the Med Trio since Saturday and have been feeding them half a cube of frozen bloodworms each day.

Today, I tried to give them a whole cube just to see if they would eat it all (they didn't).

However, this evening I noticed that one of the Dwarf Loaches has a swollen belly.  Could this be because he ate too much?  Could it be something else?

He seems to be acting pretty normal except he could be swimming around at the side of the tank a bit more then normal maybe?  All the other fish look fine and I didn't notice this on him this afternoon.

There is no ammonia, nitrites or nitrates in the tank and all the pH, buffer and hardness look great.

Thank you in advance for your help!

P.S. these are the first fish I have ever had so definitely thank you.

[Colu]

Blood worms are very high in protein if feeding every day can cause constipation have you noticed him pass anything

[FaintingGoats]

I don’t believe I have seen him pass anything. I also have the Xtreme Algae Wafers that sink to the bottom. Should I feed that for a couple days? Would that help?

 

I heard that frozen food was good when QT’ing because it doesn’t release as much ammonia if it sits in the tank. 

[Colu]

If it constipation I would fast for  3 days and monitor to see if he passes anything if the bloating goes then start  feeding him a variety of foods such as hikari bottom feeder wafers hikari algae wafers extreme pellets or hikari micro pellets pellets and frozen brine shrimp or daphnia they are more easily digested less likely to cause constipation if you are going to feed frozen blood worms feed no more than twice a week

Edited January 13, 2022 by Colu

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

I second @Colu, I have even gone from the 3 up to 7 days occasionally. Not adding any food for a 7 days fast has worked out for me in the past (so long as the fish are past their fry stage). I generally use frozen cyclops or frozen daphnia and less often the frozen bloodworms when doing frozen. Baby brine shrimp, at least anecdotally, has likely helped solve and avoid bloat issues for me. I also occasionally thaw and crush some frozen peas. My dwarf chain loaches will eat pretty much everything I give them ruffage or not. 

[FaintingGoats]

Ok!  Thank you both so much!  I will fast him and then less bloodworm!! 
 

thank you again! These are my first fish so definitely a learning experience and this forum is awesome!

Edited January 13, 2022 by FaintingGoats

[AndEEss]

I have 6 yoyo loaches of various ages. All of them, when young, would gorge until they looked like they were about to burst. They grow out of that behavior with age, but it's something to keep an eye on.

[FaintingGoats]

UPDATE: the loach looks way better today.  He is nearly  back down to his skinny self.  I must have definitely fed him to much.  Definitely learned a lesson there.

Thank you again to everyone.  You all rock!