Swollen Fish Help

Thankyou in advance for any help at all you can posibly give

I have moved him (I say him but I don't know if its male or female) to a quarantine tank this morning
Tank size: was in 90L now in 10L
pH:7.6
ammonia:0
nitrite:0
nitrate:20-40 in main tank, 40-80 in QT
kH:
gH:
tank temp:room temperature (usually about 18C)

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):
Since i got him (a few weeks ago) he's been quiet- i was worried that he hadn't been accepted into the shoal as he hung about on his own however he ate fine and swam fine.
This morning i got up and checked on him- he didn't eat when i fed them all, still hid in the plants and he was swollen. It appears to be dropsy (which i know is a syptom of somthing else) he quite swollen (but not the worst i have seen) and slightly pineconed. He's also very washed out, he was never very colourful but now he has practicly no colour. However as far as I'm aware dropsy causes them to either sink or float- he's sitting near the bottom most of the time, but not sunk- he swims okay but doesn't seem to want to. He's also constantly gasping.

He's also more bloated than this morning

Volume and Frequency of water changes: once per week about 20% in the main tank

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: the usualy media and I started treating the QT tank with Myxanzin as i thought it may be a bacteria thing causing the dropsy. I also gave him a salt bath this morning as that seems to help with a lot but it didn't seem to do anythign either way.

Tank inhabitants: Main tank- 6 other Rosy Barbs, 5 White Cloud Minnows, 1 Paradise fish. Apart from one or two Cloud they're all juvi's

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): 1 white cloud. This was after he was quiet but before he swellde up. So far no problems with the Cloud- he's active and eating as well as playing with the other clouds

Exposure to chemicals: just the fish tank stuff- dechloranator and the myxazin

Digital photo: the first is of him this morning, the second of this afternoon (there's only one fish but some of the reflections are easier to see than the actual fish)





So does this sound like something Myxazin could clear up? or is it somethign else? Is there anythign else i can be doing for him? Or any other pieces of advice?

I'd be extreamily grateful for any bits of advice, experience or opinions you could give- Thankyou, Derek (Rosy Barb) is one of my favourite fish

Might be dropsy?

catfish4ever said:

Might be dropsy?

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thats what i was thinking but I've been told that dropsy is only a syptom and thats why it isn't curable- you need to cure the cause of it... Which is a right pain 'cause aparently finding the cause is difficult

If thats a guppy of some sort. e.g. My friend had a problem where his fish couldn't release babies and died.

catfish4ever said:

If thats a guppy of some sort. e.g. My friend had a problem where his fish couldn't release babies and died.

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It's a Rosy Barb so not a livebarer and also a juvi so if it is female I'm not even sure if it's old enough to be producinf eggs- it's only 4cm of the maximum 10. I've already had a problem with my Guppies- had 11 and all but one died for no reason I hope his other fish are alright now

treat it with anti-fungal or anti- internal bacteria? maybe a small case of swimbladder due the upside down rosy barb pic. I honestly don't know much but i really want to help you out as its very sad losing a fish.

catfish4ever said:

treat it with anti-fungal or anti- internal bacteria? maybe a small case of swimbladder due the upside down rosy barb pic. I honestly don't know much but i really want to help you out as its very sad losing a fish.

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At the moment i'm trating with an anti-bacterial thing in teh hopes that helps- so far nothing. And he isn't actually upside down- theres no substrat so it's reflective, he's swimming the right way up.

I'm glad of any help i can get, I can't stand to lose another fish- I've only been keeping fish for about 3 months and lost far too many

If it is dropsy, and it's certainly not as obvious a case as some, then it's almost certainly too late to do anything. You are right in saying that dropsy is a symptom of some other problem, but the symptoms are caused by the failure of the internal organs.

There is a thread from yesterday, the title is something like "Ill Molly", which shows a photo which is classic dropsy - your photos aren't quite so obvious.

the_lock_man said:

If it is dropsy, and it's certainly not as obvious a case as some, then it's almost certainly too late to do anything. You are right in saying that dropsy is a symptom of some other problem, but the symptoms are caused by the failure of the internal organs.

There is a thread from yesterday, the title is something like "Ill Molly", which shows a photo which is classic dropsy - your photos aren't quite so obvious.

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I don't think i could euthanise him even if it is the kindess thing to do so I'll keep treating him with what ever i can find- thankyou though

he looks a lot fatter than that molly but only very little pine-coning- it's only just visable, is it still likly dropsy then seeing as it isn''t so obvious?

Treat for bacterial infection and do daily epsom salt (NOT aquarium salt)dips. You can find epsom salt very cheap at any pharmacy or place they sell over the counter medicine for people. Ingredient is magnesuim sulfate. Mix at 1 tablespoon per gal and leave the fish in up to 30 mins up to 2X a day. Do partial daily waterchanges in the tank and do not overfeed the fish.
That is the best advice I can give. It does look like dropsy as the swelling is down the entire length of the fish. Dropsy is tricky because it is hard to pin point what is causing the symptoms. If there is ANY chance of saving the fish, hope that it is bacterial in nature and treat for that. Organ failure is obviously something you cannot help with. Epsom salt will draw the fluid out of the tissues and relieve some of the swelling you see.
It is worth treating and trying to save him as it is nearly impossible to determine the cause. And keep your fingers crossed.
all the best
cheers

loraxchick said:

Treat for bacterial infection and do daily epsom salt (NOT aquarium salt)dips. You can find epsom salt very cheap at any pharmacy or place they sell over the counter medicine for people. Ingredient is magnesuim sulfate. Mix at 1 tablespoon per gal and leave the fish in up to 30 mins up to 2X a day. Do partial daily waterchanges in the tank and do not overfeed the fish.
That is the best advice I can give. It does look like dropsy as the swelling is down the entire length of the fish. Dropsy is tricky because it is hard to pin point what is causing the symptoms. If there is ANY chance of saving the fish, hope that it is bacterial in nature and treat for that. Organ failure is obviously something you cannot help with. Epsom salt will draw the fluid out of the tissues and relieve some of the swelling you see.
It is worth treating and trying to save him as it is nearly impossible to determine the cause. And keep your fingers crossed.
all the best
cheers

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Thankyou- I'll get hold of some epsom salt ASAP and I'm halfway though a bacteria course. So far he hasn't gotten worse- but he's no better and isn't eating.


Thankyou again, i really hope this works.