Pleco (albino bushynose) big round belly

[armin]

For the last 2 days my pleco female has a very big belly, she si not that old but I think she's over a year now so how do I make the difference if she's pregnant or just a digestive problem....
Thanks for helping me,
Armin

[armin]

Male and female or just male?

[gemjunkie]

Both of those fish are males.... Plecos are egg layers and do not 'get pregnant'.

[Fishnut2]

I think that both plecos are females...and gravid with eggs. (Females can have bristles along the lip line) The last pic is almost definetely a female. Look for the orange/pinkish mark on the forehead of males. This pic shows a proven trio.
An overhead pic would help for confirmation!

[Osiris]

Either that female is very plump of eggs or man could be bloat or something just dont look right. But then again i just never really studied my females prior to laying, i just look over and see male on eggs.

[GoodMike]

both are males! look at the odontodes growth on the "female"...thats a male. females can have small bristles around the very edge of the face but NEVER up the bridge of the nose like the other one does . it does not have eggs, eggs do NOT form like that in their stomach, positioning is all wrong. that fish is having digestion problems or somthing.

http://www.fishaholics.org/gallery/a...albinopair.jpg

in that pic, the female on the right is egg bound, you can kinda see the golden color, an egg bound female does NOT have a green stomach.

[gemjunkie]

I have a 'hairy' female but she does NOT have THAT many OR any bristles in the middle of her face. I consulted with Barbie before posting to see if she thought the same thing I did.

That fish REALLY needs to get rid of some waste or it's not going to make it. I can post pics of a gravid 'hairy' female if I can find it, that is the wrong color for eggs.

*sorry poor pic but a nice gravid female*



This is a gravid LF female..



And I can't find my other female pic at the moment but will post it if I find it. In any case, you can see the slight odontode growth on both of these girls and that would be the only place the female would have bristles and they are also short.

[Fishnut2]

Those are good pics Gem! You can't expect perfect from every pic In Armin's 2nd set of pics, the 1st 2 pics show the bristles the best. What appears to be bristles running up the nose, is actually the bristles from the left side of the face. There might be a single bristle on the nose, but the fish still lacks the forehead spot. If you vent the fish...again it looks like females to me. I'm not the greatest at venting, but that's another good way to sex them. It's hard to disagree with Barbie, as I really respect her opinion. She's helped me a lot (as well as others) over the years. I'd really like to see overhead pics.

[Obsidian]

I was told that when they turn brown like that it means they are unable to digest what they are eating. I would try starving the fish for several days and see if he continues to poop.