yellow cacatuoides female

[apisto_shores]

I have a question, my yellow cacatuoides female is always fat looking.
Like she is always full from eating, but I only feed once a day. So
I know I'm not over feeding. I'm wondering if apisto's get malawi bloat.
But she is always willing to eat. Every now and then she will turn her gold
yellow but won't guard anything. She doesn't hide or act shy. Is this
normal?

 

[gully fourmyle]

Not in my experience. Bloating is caused in part by poor diet. Your fish could also be egg-bound. That happens when the fish comes into season and fails for whatever reason to be able to spawn. If this happens a number of times in succession, the fish remains that way and never breeds. It does not appear to shorten the life of the fish though. In my experience, it's most common in Gouramies. Another possibility is constipaton. If you have been feeding the fish red meat such as home-made beef heart or pieces of hamburger, the fat and/or the connective tissue can cause a blockage that is fatal unless the fish eventually manages to pass it. That is not likely the case here but it does illustrate the similarity between human physiology and fish physiology - neither we nor they can assimilate the fat from red meat properly without causing problems. The difference between the seriousness of the effects is simply size. We're bigger so it takes much longer to kill us.

 

[apisto_shores]

Well I only feed frozen foods(brine,mysis and blood worms). I do water
changes every two weeks. None of the other fish seem to have this
problem ,so I know it's not water quality. Does anybody reccomend a medication?