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Is my silver tip tetra pregnant????

15K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
Hi im new here n would like some advice plz.

I have a 90 litre tank with various fish in it 4 of which are silver tip tetras. i recently noticed 1 was gettin a little fat so i kept my eye on it. Now it has got even bigger and i have noticed red little marks on either side of it (they kinda look like stretch marks!) today i noticed that its gone very pale.

Can anyone tell me if they think that my fish could b pregnant or just full of eggs?????

Thanks :-?
 
#3 ·
Tetras cannot be pregnant, sorry to disappoint you. It's probably either bloated or full of eggs, but I don't know tetras, so I'm no help.
 
#4 ·
Hi im new here n would like some advice plz.

I have a 90 litre tank with various fish in it 4 of which are silver tip tetras. i recently noticed 1 was gettin a little fat so i kept my eye on it. Now it has got even bigger and i have noticed red little marks on either side of it (they kinda look like stretch marks!) today i noticed that its gone very pale.

Can anyone tell me if they think that my fish could b pregnant or just full of eggs?????

Thanks :-?
When adult (mature), female characins (tetras are characins) are a bit rounder than males which are more slender, generally speaking and assuming healthy fish. When the female fills with roe (eggs) she gets even rounder. If any of your 4 silvertips are males, he/they will know and start driving (chasing and staying very close to) the female into plant thickets or under plant leaves (assuming there are plants or other items that will suffice). Once spawning among characins occurs, it is hard not to notice it as the fish display different behaviours than otherwise. The eggs are adhesive, and will stick to the plant leaves (or other surface), but with the parents and any other fish in the same tank, the eggs will almost always be immediately eaten.

Female characins generally pale in colour at spawning. But this could also indicate something else, and the "little red marks" make me wonder if this isn't some type of problem, disease or something. Silvertips are one of the more active and sometimes aggressive (for a tetra) of the family, and can can be a bit nippy, particularly when kept in small numbers (minimum group of 6 is recommended for all characins that are shoaling fish). Not saying it is, but that could be another possibility.
 
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