sucker fish/bottom fish

Question
i'm hoping u can help : ).....i have a fresh water sucker fish in aquarium and not sure what is going on with it, it use to b slender dunno if its male or female but bulging pretty good.....thought of a few things it cld b but not sure if correct on any of them, 1)was thinking just gettin fat, 2)maybe preg, or 3) if it has what u call dropsie, my betta fish had that and turned in to a balloon because dropsie cause kidney and liver failure: ( ......i hope maybe u can help me with this if not i dunno who else to ask. thanx ;)

Answer
Hi Jolene,
  Your "sucker fish" is probably what we call a Plecostomus catfish. It is most likely just getting fat.  They are egg layers so they don't get pregnant as such and it is highly unusual for one to start developing eggs if there is no mate around (though I can't say that it NEVER happens).  I can't ever recall hearing of a catfish getting dropsie (often called bloat) so that seems unlikely too.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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