# bloat or just fat?



## nickquinteros (Sep 17, 2014)

I've had 3 cobalt blue zebras for about a month now and when I bought them they were pretty thick for their size. but recently one of them has had some really long droppings. like honestly close to 4 inches long at times. it's always been dark and thick but I just wanted to see what everyone thought. is it bloat or is he just fat? I feed once a day with enough for them to eat in about 20 seconds NLS 1mm sinning pellets. but he is a very aggressive eater and even when Im not feeding them he's eating algae almost all day long. also I'm speaking about the lighter blue cichlid on the right side. I know some of the symptoms of bloat are lack of appetite lethargy hiding extended belly and white stringy poop. the only symptom he has though is extended belly. he eats fine poops fine and move around the tank frequently. so is he fat or is it bloat?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

If he's defecating food colored feces and eating then I'd say he's just overfed.


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

Looking at all the fish, looks like they are all overfed.


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

to me, they do look a bit too chubby, and I prefer them to be a little thick vs. a little thin... What helped me was to start measuring their food. Then cut down by a small percentage until they look, on average, about how you want them to look.


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## nickquinteros (Sep 17, 2014)

the problem is that only my cobalt zebras are thick like that. I have a few yellow labs and one yellow tail acei that are all normal weight. my cobalts are always feeding on the algae along with the food I give them.


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

I understand, we all have the same problem - or at least what _seems _like a problem. 

You are not going to starve your fish out by cutting back a little. I have close to 40 mbuna, and you have to do your best to average it out. Some will look a little on the skinny side, most normal, and one or two a little chunky.

But, IMO, every fish in this photo is _overly _chunky...  Cut back. They will not starve! One thing I do is for a 24 hour period every week, I feed shelled peas. It keeps them full, keeps them kind of flushed out, and just by doing that one day/week, I've cut their caloric intake by close to 1/7th, as peas are nowhere near as high as our scientifically engineered fish foods...

What you can Not do is feed the tank so the skinniest fish is normal to thick size. Just cut back 20% overall for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. (For me, I find when cutting back the total amount of good, stress is minimized by feeding smaller amounts more often vs. once/day. I also put the food in the current and all over the tank so all the fish have a better chance of getting something to eat.)

Honestly, with as much as you seem to be overfeeding them, I'm surprised you haven't run into bloat yet. And as you know from all the posts here, that is much worse than cutting back a little...

Let us know how it goes!


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

their fat all of them. you should cut back. i feed my 28mbuna half a teaspoon (large teaspoon) a day. sometimes 3/4. i feed new life spectrum.

they dont need allot. during the day the should have a straight belly or verry slighly inwards.

http://www.aquamalawi.com/assets/images/L.yello01m.jpg

like this.

good luck


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