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I have quite a few neons and a few cardinal tetra.
They all race around gobbling up the flake food I give them and are voracious eaters.

Some of them eat until their stomachs are bulging and they then stay in the top 3" of water struggling, trying to get down lower. And float up to the surface if they pause in their struggling!...only to try again to get down lower into the tank.

I don't overfeed them, it's just that some are MUCH more aggressive eaters leaving the others unfed.

Is that normal? Or a sign of anything (except glutany of those few fish)

I once had a similar issue with my tiger barbs some years ago, did some research that indicated that a combination of things could be happening,
either a possible bacterial/viral infection of the swim bladder or gulping air while feeding at the surface along with dried foods that have not been presoaked in a small amount of tank water, the dried food is consumed, them absorbs water while in the fishes stomach swelling and putting pressure on the swim bladder not allowing the gasses in the bladder do disapate properly...
Here is a link to a page that gives a brief-general outline of some probable causes and remedies... hope it helps !!
http://www.animalhealthcare.ca/contents/content.asp?id=339&cat=Exotic

P.S. I know the article addresses goldfish,which some are really problematic with this problem, largely due to body shape of some of the species, but I found by fasting the barbs for a few days then a few meals of shelled mushy peas with presoaked daphnia worked extremely well for me, after things were back to normal, all my dried foods were soaked for atleast 15 min before feeding as this article suggests... again hope this thought helps and hope all turns out well for the neons !! good luck !!


J.

It's normal for ANY fish to eat as much as they possibly can. This is a natural instinct as food is scarce in the wild.

What you see happening is a result of your use of flake food. This can cause the fish to swallow air, which will make it difficult for them to keep underwater. As Ironhand mentioned, you can presoak the flakes. You could also try sinking pellets, as IME neons generally hang out in the middle-to-bottom layers of the water anyway.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Thank Guys,
I agree that surface feeding of dried food has to be the reason.

I too, after an event like that, skip a day of feeding and all they fish are swimming normally by that time.

I'll presoak the food before feeding them. You are right, it seems like they gluttens are full of air....HaHa!

Thanks!!

I have never seen that with the Cardinals could be because they are not in competition with other fish. I also have noticed since I installed the HOB the food moves down lower in the tank and many just wait there.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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as has been stated I would try presoaking your flakes in a bit of tank water and then dumping into the tank.. see if that makes a difference.. I had this happen to my betta once and fasted him until his bulging belly was gone (about 3 days) then started soaking his food a bit and haven't had a problem since

keithgh,
I've formed the habit of temperarilly shutting off my 2 Big HOB filters during feeding because quite a bit of food gets sucked into the filter before the fish can eat it. It dirties up the filter pad, and wastes the food too.

And the fish know now that it is the "signal" for food coming and get excited.

But I will presoak it first from now on.
Thank you all!
dS

If that is happening sounds like you could be feeding too much as once. But if turning the filter off for a minute or two works OK keep doing it.
Place the food as far as you can from the filter as well this will also help.

As for me trying any thing like that I can guarantee I would forget to turn it back on.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW