Pakistani/Yoyo Loach with Swollen Belly?

Question

I got a Yoyo Loach last weekend. He (she?) is young, only about an inch long.
Over the past couple days His tummy seems to be swelling and now he looks really odd because it is so distended.

My husband is convinced that he is just over eating and that it will go away. We had a snail problem, and knew they were voracious eaters, but didnt know they were THAT voracious. Now there are hardly any snails in the tank aside from empty Trumpet Snail shells (he seems to like those better than the pond snails).

Other than the belly, he seems fine. He is acting just like he always has, spending every spare moment searching for more snails. He has no spots or leigions.

Is this normal? What can I do? I cant very well take away the source of the food. Could it be something else ?I was thinking dropsy, be he seems fine other than the tummy

Answer 1

That is classic Yo-yo Loach behavior. Mine both did the same thing when I first got them (I was a bit unsure of how to feed them at first). You just have to lay down the law, feed less, and watch their bulge disappear. Now that they have practically eliminated your snails, their eating should slow down a bit, but you will still need to give them less food (whatever food you feed your other fish, you can be guaranteed these guys are eating it too) to prevent their rapid horizontal growth... Contact me if you have any questions.

Soop Nazi

Answer 2

I fairly have 3 clown loaches in a 46gal and that i've got experienced an identical element. 2 of them used to get very swollen after ingesting to the place i assumed they may be pregnant. It wasn't till my Jack Dempsey began ingesting each little thing that they began looking frequent sized back.