Female Mandarin huge .

[Cooper 2020]

Hi all
We have a pair of Mandarins for over a year but the female is recently getting bigger and bigger, I am concerned she is egg bound. How long should I leave her like this before I should intervene ? Not sure if I could manipulate her as she is so small , I wonder if a bath in Epsom salts would help.
Any thoughts :)
Thanks in advance

 

[Qasimja]

wow never seen a mandarin with a belly like that before must be twins lol

 

[Big G]

Check out Paul B's mandarins with "huge" bellies:

Very pregnant mandarin

Every few weeks my pair of mandarins spawn and every time they do, I say to myself, Self, I don't think a fish could get any more pregnant than her. But every month, just when I think she is going to explode, she spawns. I used to think she was egg bound but she always pulls through and has...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Cooper 2020]

Thanks , so you think no need to worry?

 

[Cooper 2020]

I just wanted to bring this back up as yesterday she died. She just got bigger this is her 3 weeks ago I removed her from the display as she couldn’t swim.

I tried to open her up to see what the problem could have been ( no expert was hoping for something very obvious) but not easy she was thick with slime.
These lumps could be separated, different sizes and salmon in colour on first cut clear blood stained liquid came out which you can see on the white towel . Quite a lot of lumps clustered and more than on that slide.
What do you think?

 

[javisaman]

Wait from December to 3 weeks ago she still looked inflated? She was definitely filled with eggs, but I'm unsure why she wasn't able to release it. I wonder if there was some behavioral queue from the male that would force it.

 

[Cooper 2020]

Wait from December to 3 weeks ago she still looked inflated? She was definitely filled with eggs, but I'm unsure why she wasn't able to release it. I wonder if there was some behavioral queue from the male that would force it.

She just got bigger from December until she died, she spent the last 3 weeks in a separate tank for me to monitor. They did stop performing their spawning ritual some time ago, initially they would do this often.

 

[javisaman]

I see. Sorry for your loss. I wonder if their stop of rituals prevented her from releasing then. The question is how someone else who encounters this would be able to handle it.

 

[MERKEY]

@OrionN

Any thoughts on this?

 

[OrionN]

I would save these either in some preservative for freeze so you can look under microscope to see if they are eggs, impacted bowel or tumor.
It looks like egg so she died of eggs bindings. This is without looking Under the microscope at the actual cause which you find post mortem

 

[Cooper 2020]

I would save these either in some preservative for freeze so you can look under microscope to see if they are eggs, impacted bowel or tumor.
It looks like egg so she died of eggs bindings. This is without looking Under the microscope at the actual cause which you find post mortem

Thanks I put some of the lumps under the microscope but they were too big to get into focus, I don’t have the knowledge nor tools to dissect properly. Squashed one lump under a cover slide didn’t get a picture unfortunately. I don’t have the body now.

 

[MERKEY]

Thanks I put some of the lumps under the microscope but they were too big to get into focus, I don’t have the knowledge nor tools to dissect properly. Squashed one lump under a cover slide didn’t get a picture unfortunately. I don’t have the body now.

Very sorry for your loss...thank you for educating those of us who did not know this could become an issue.

 

[Cooper 2020]

I see. Sorry for your loss. I wonder if their stop of rituals prevented her from releasing then. The question is how someone else who encounters this would be able to handle it.

I did search and only found help on aspirating koi that get egg bound nothing for such a small fish like these. I’d tried Kanoplex and Epsom salts also gently massaging her .

 

[Cooper 2020]

Very sorry for your loss...thank you for educating those of us who did not know this could become an issue.

Thanks, I would like to get another female but not sure if this was just one of those things or not.

 

[MERKEY]

Thanks, I would like to get another female but not sure if this was just one of those things or not.

We have 2 pair and 1 pair is starting the dance. This info is priceless for us....I am sure it is one of those things that happens 1 in 10000 or something. (This is not an actual fact)

 

[NashobaTek]

Thanks, I have a male and his harem, the females are just starting to get fat and round, so maybe mine might start spawning soon.

 

[Cooper 2020]

We have 2 pair and 1 pair is starting the dance. This info is priceless for us....I am sure it is one of those things that happens 1 in 10000 or something. (This is not an actual fact)

Thanks I’m hoping this is the case.:)

 

[Cooper 2020]

Thanks, I have a male and his harem, the females are just starting to get fat and round, so maybe mine might start spawning soon.

How many females do you have ? If I add any more I’m considering adding 2 females to the one male.

 

[NashobaTek]

How many females do you have ? If I add any more I’m considering adding 2 females to the one male.

I have 2 females, mainly because I had read info on mandrins in the wild. It said that 1 male will spawn with every female in his territory.
I figured with 2 GF he should be a happy camper.

 

[Cooper 2020]

I have 2 females, mainly because I had read info on mandrins in the wild. It said that 1 male will spawn with every female in his territory.
I figured with 2 GF he should be a happy camper.

Are the females okay with each other too, my male is looking around the whole tank for her, when she couldn’t swim towards the end, he stayed by her side for days.