Egg-laden Fish

[Sonny 0]

My calico lionhead hasn't been feeling too well this Spring. She is often listless and I believe it is because she is egg-laden. The three other fish in the aquarium with her don't seem inclined to chase or otherwise help her get rid of her eggs (and I'm pretty sure at least one of them is a male). Is there a way to help her? I have noticed that a good "start" will result in a few eggs being released but this has been going on for several weeks now and the eggs are barely dribbling out.

[daryl 11]

There are a few things that might help her release the eggs.

The simplest is simply to reach into the tank with a clean hand and hold her. Lift her gently up - so that she is not in control of swimming. This is usually enough to encourage a gravid female to dump a whole lotta eggs really fast. (do not squeeze her - you could accidentally rupture something inside if you are not sure what you are doing - and a really "full" fish is rather delicate)

Second, if you have a male that has NOT been in the tank with her, you can try putting them together in a separate container. There is something to be said for the "illicite" affair - meeting up with a sweet fishy that is new!

Try doing large water changes - about 50% - every day for 3-4 days. If you can do this leading up to a storm (air pressure dropping) it will often encourage her to drop her eggs.

I have found that sometimes - particularly in combination with the water changes - if you slightly warm the water - only about 1-3 degrees is necesssary - and then add in a cup/quart of cold water to the tank, she will drop. This water should be cold enough or enough volume to drop the tank's temp by about 1 degree. Do not pour it over the fish or in the filter - just in the back where it will instantly circulate. The temp drop can sometimes cause drop.

Good luck. There is nothing so frustrating as a fish that will not release her eggs......

[Sonny 0]

Thanks Daryl. I'll try holding her first to see if that helps. She can get pretty feisty so that may be a messy proposition. Also I'm a bit worried about the prospect of her releasing them into the aquarium though as it might be a big mess to clean. Maybe I'll move her to a tub and then try.

(This egg thing can sure complicate things. I think I will talk to my vet about having her spayed. )

[Sonny 0]

I just got done with a water change in the aquarium and I decided to try and hold her while the water level was down. I reached in and slowly brought her to the surface. She struggled a lot, released quite a few eggs and broke a piece of her tail off. She's still acting kind of puny and skittish. Hopefully I didn't traumatize her too much. Her belly is still pretty swollen too. We'll see how it goes.

It is funny though, sometimes she does a sudden dart, releases a few eggs and knowingly turns around and snacks on them. The other three tankmates love snacking on them too.

Edit: forgot to mention that I also brought the temp down by a degree during the water change to see if that helps.

Edited March 28, 2007 by Sonny

[Maceo 13]

I had the best luck with large water changes like Daryl suggested but if you loose her don't feel too horrible, sometimes you just can't do anything about it, I lost my pearscale to egg impaction last week and I did all I could for her but she just wouldn't/couldn't lay her eggs. Good luck with her my fingers are crossed for you

[Sonny 0]

I had the best luck with large water changes like Daryl suggested but if you loose her don't feel too horrible, sometimes you just can't do anything about it, I lost my pearscale to egg impaction last week and I did all I could for her but she just wouldn't/couldn't lay her eggs. Good luck with her my fingers are crossed for you

My maintenance routine is to change 40 - 50% of the water three times a week. And I occassionally do much larger changes (75 - 80%). So far she seems unimpressed.

[Ranchugirl 17]

Too much used to the waterchanges maybe. How about pouring in a gallon of slighly cooler water at the end of the waterchange? That might work too.

[devinzbaby 0]

if you have the room, you could always go out and buy a nice big male that might chase her around a bit, and you could save some eggs and keep raise the fry, But even if you do not wish to have fry, a new male just might do the trick, But i would only suggest that if you have the room for one more fish.

My rule is its always ok to add one to prevent losing one. lol.

Edited March 31, 2007 by ~^~Jenny~^~

[Ranchugirl 17]

Jenny, you always come up with the perfect excuse for another fish!!

"Sorry, honey, but I had to buy another fish! Its for the health of this female, you know... " Brilliant!

[daryl 11]

OH MY !!!!!!!!!!!! THat is a PERFECT excuse. I think I have a gravid female around here somewhere.....

***she runs off to check out the female fish***

[Ranchugirl 17]

What, Daryl - you need more eggs?? The only thing you need is more hours in a day!

[devinzbaby 0]

lol, I'm good with excuses. lol. I almost got a 50 gallon rubbermaid at wal*mart today, but my dad yelled at me and toldme no more tanks until i move out. I tried to explain that i have 3 fish in a 10 gallon, and i need 1 fish per 10 gallon so i need to get a bigger one. He tried to tell me they have plenty of room, but i then told him that they will get probably more than 8 inches big, and they will have no room. He told me to wait until that happens. He actually would not listen when i tried to tell him that i have to do mondo water changes daily to prevent the ammonia from building up, and he accused me of LYING TO HIM!

But i have a $25 wal mart gift card, so i will go back and get it, i just need to get my paycheck that will give me enough money for a filter that does 500 gph. I would never put my goldfish in a non filtered tank (rubbermaid). lol

But SONNY, where are you dude? How's the fishy doin?

Edited April 1, 2007 by ~^~Jenny~^~