whats with the weird lump?
 

One of my female convicts has a strange lump on her belly... I think its coming out of her butt. Looks like a bubble or something. It has doubled in size in 24 hrs. I read something about swollen anal glands?? WTF? These fish are so new to me and I don't really know much about them. Should I be concerned about this strange lump? I have a friend with a few convicts and she said two of hers have what she calls "outies" as well.... is this just a normal thing that happens to fish?

the more I scope her out Im starting to think that its her insides coming out. Her belly looks distended compared to all the others. Im wondering if she has a blockage or something and can't poop causing the swollen belly causing a prolapsed anus. I dont know what to do. I work in nursing and if I had a patient with a prolapsed anything we generally push it back in, but what the heck am I supposed to do with a fish?!

wow what a predicament lol i know its not funny but sorry. anyways are any other fish showing the same thing? what does their diet consist of? sorry no real answers here just trying to get more info to help me brainstorm a bit more on what it oculd be.

Ive noticed a few others with the tiniest little bit of a protrusion. The more I sit here and google the more I think prolapsed rectum is rather common and usually correct itself, but her case seems somewhat severe. I feed them cichlid flakes. Same food they have always got. I watched one of my big males take a giant big fat poop that kinda shot out of him, not the usual stringy poop. ( sorry for my unique description) so Im leading towards constipation being a leading factor in the problem. What i dont understand is my gramma had this tank for years, and Ive had it now for a week and I am not doing anything different in terms of feeding except Im not feeding as much as my gramps was. They were apparently over fed ( says the "fish guy" who I hired to move the tank). Grampa fed them twice a day twice what they needed, and I am now feeding them 3 times a day smaller amounts. This particular female is missing part of her head from a previous injury a long time ago. I have a soft spot for her. A part of me wants to net her and poke it back in... bad idea????

netting her and pushing it back in sounds extremely dramatic in terms of a fish seeing how if they get stressed they get sick and develop all kinds of problems. one of them earlyier mentioned some type of parasite. maybe do some more investigation and then possibly medicate. i dont think the fish would live through being netted pin ned down and soemthing being forced back inot its butt. but thtas just my opinion fish can be super sensitive to these kidns of things. atelast i think so.

Yes I agree, it was only a small part of me that wanted to do that.... the nurse in me ;) She seems fine, although its still there. I did a huge water change, vacuum etc today. It has gone back in somewhat and I saw her have a very skinny (thread like) poop today, so Im almost 100 % convinced its her little rectum prolapsed. Passing some stool means theres not a complete blockage so Im crossing my fingers it corrects itself.

Feeding the fish crushed peas (without the case) will help if this is related to intestinal issues. I'm not saying it is, but... . Blanch the peas and remove the casing (squish out the pea) and see if the fish will eat it.

Thanks I will do that! Is using previously frozen peas acceptable?

Yes.