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About Karen Fields
Expertise
I own and maintain a large number of tanks with many various tropical fish species. During my fishkeeping past I have learned a lot of the myths and truths about tropical fish care. Currently I keep a wide range of species and have a lot of experience in; Severum cichlids, gouramis, platies, goldfish, bettas, tetras, paradise fish, Angelfish, Corydoras catfish, and many others as well as a couple of years with brackish water. If you have a question on tropical fish keeping I`ll be sure to answer it in the simplest way I can, and if I don`t know the answer, I`ll research the answer for you. Happy fish keeping!

Experience
I have experience in setting up fish tanks, what to feed certain species, compatible species in my experience, cleaning the tank,
and all around tropical fish care. I also have learned the truth of many of the myths of tropical fish keeping in the past.
Happy fishkeeping!

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Pet Fish > Freshwater Aquarium > my shark

Freshwater Aquarium - my shark

Expert: Karen Fields - 11/6/2009

Question
i have 2 columbian sharks and one of them has a very large belly but he/she hasnt ate anything but a little food every 2 days so why is he/she like this but it's swimming normally and is doing fine is she pregnant?

Answer
Hello,
Columbian sharks can be a bit difficult to take care of due to demanding water requirements. When young, these fish can live in freshwater... but when older they do better with brackish water. Which is water made up of part freshwater and part saltwater -- the most ideal method for making brackish water is by using marine salt made for marine aquariums. Regular aquarium salt won't work unfortunately because it lacks trace elements and minerals marine salt contains.

Columbian sharks rarely breed in the aquarium. Her swollen belly may be a something bad unfortunately. Such as an internal issue to do with the kidneys. Fluid retention and/or constipation is also possible. Its good that she is swimming normally and seems to be doing fine and that makes me think perhaps she is showing symptoms of something only minor.

The best thing I can recommend is do a 30-50% water change. Clean water can really help fish if they are having issues.

See how she does and try offering her some frozen brine shrimp to help with any digestion issues.

You might look here for a bit more info on these sharks that might help you further -
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile63.html

I really hope this helps!
Karen~

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