Is my clown gravid, or just fat?

[JWhipple]

I noticed one of the smaller clowns engaging in what I recognize as spawning activities towards this one earlier, then I noticed how large it's belly is..

So - is this belly normal, or do you think it's full of eggs?

Both pics are the same fish - I apologize for the different angles!

[Emma Turner]

Beautiful clown. But chances are this fish is just well-fed, I don't think it is probably mature enough for it to be gravid.

Emma

[Colin]

I agree, looks like a young fish. What size is it?

[JWhipple]

I'd say about 6 to 6 1/2 inches in length.

[shari2]

Does she stay fat like this, or does it come and go with a good meal?

[JWhipple]

Stays about the same regardless of when the last meal was!

[Colin]

Thats larger than the picture makes the fish look

cheers

[shari2]

I know we commonly think that loaches need to be mature to spawn. At one point, however, I had a fairly young (and quite small) yoyo who got fat. wondered if it was gravid, but the consensus was she was too young.

Due to an unfortunate Pimafix accident I lost her and decided to see why she was fat. She was loaded with eggs.

I think there may be quite a difference between the age at which a young female fish will begin to fill with eggs and the age at which they are able to actually spawn. But that's just a personal observation, certainly nothing to take to the bank.

[Vancmann]

My vote is very well feed. I think that the rear part of the belly more around the ventral fins looks fat when gravid. From the look of the lines on the tan part of it's body, it looks like a fine specimen juvenile. Could be wrong.

[JWhipple]

Here's the same fish with a few others for size comparison... NOTE: This photo was taken about a month ago - the big belly came about AFTER this.



The big one, of course, is in back... 6 to 6 1/2 inches barbels to tail.
The small one in the middle is about 3 inches, and the larger in front is about 4.

[shari2]

Nice healthy fish you have there! And is that rock obsidian?

If she is gravid, it's only mildly so and not something you should worry about. Keep an eye on her.

In case you haven't seen it, here's a pic of some very gravid, hormone bred, yoyos:



http://aquaweb.pair.com/forums/archives ... read=45074

[starsplitter7]

Ouch! That looks painful.

[JWhipple]

...is that rock obsidian?

Not sure actually - all of the larger rocks in my tank I picked up in bags at the craft shop. They were labeled as river rocks, but I thought because of how they were worn smooth they would look nice in the tank. I doubt there is anything worth more than a few cents in there though, as each bag cost only $2.