DROPSY

[Katielady0501]

Help please!! My fish has dropsy! Her scales are sticking out and I’m scared! Can anyone give me tips on what to do to help save her? I really don’t want to lose her! I put her in the hospital tank and she’s still swimming and eating just her scales and belly are bloated! Help me! also she just had some babies

 

[FishFinatic77]

The first thing we have to do is figure out what caused the dropsy. What are your water parameters? How much do you feed your fish?

 

[Katielady0501]

The first thing we have to do is figure out what caused the dropsy. What are your water parameters? How much do you feed your fish?

I know that I overfed her a bit! I don’t know the water parameters, my tank is a 29 gallon

 

[Essjay]

The first thing to check when a fish is not well is the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in your tank water. You really need your own test kit, but for now can you take a sample of your tank water to an LFS and ask them to test it - make sure they give you numbers.

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you clean the gravel at every water change?
Not enough water changes can allow things to build up in the water, and not cleaning the gravel allows debris to build up in there. These can make fish sick.


Dropsy isn't an illness itself, it's a symptom of several other diseases. To treat it, we need to know what the underlying disease is. It could be a bacterial, viral or protozoan infection which need different treatments.
One thing you could try is an epsom salt bath as epsom salts draw out fluid from the body. Epsom salts can be bought from pharmacies but they must be pure with no perfume or colouring added.
Take some water from the tank into a small tub. Add epsom salt at the rate of 1 teaspoon per gallon and dissolve it thoroughly. Place the fish in this for up to 30 minutes but remove the fish earlier if it becomes distressed.





However it would be unfair of me not to warn you. Dropsy occurs when the kidneys are damaged by the underlying disease and while there are cases where a fish has recovered, this is not common as the kidney failure has usually gone too far by the time dropsy develops. Please be prepared for this.

 

[Katielady0501]

The first thing to check when a fish is not well is the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in your tank water. You really need your own test kit, but for now can you take a sample of your tank water to an LFS and ask them to test it - make sure they give you numbers.

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you clean the gravel at every water change?
Not enough water changes can allow things to build up in the water, and not cleaning the gravel allows debris to build up in there. These can make fish sick.


Dropsy isn't an illness itself, it's a symptom of several other diseases. To treat it, we need to know what the underlying disease is. It could be a bacterial, viral or protozoan infection which need different treatments.
One thing you could try is an epsom salt bath as epsom salts draw out fluid from the body. Epsom salts can be bought from pharmacies but they must be pure with no perfume or colouring added.
Take some water from the tank into a small tub. Add epsom salt at the rate of 1 teaspoon per gallon and dissolve it thoroughly. Place the fish in this for up to 30 minutes but remove the fish earlier if it becomes distressed.





However it would be unfair of me not to warn you. Dropsy occurs when the kidneys are damaged by the underlying disease and while there are cases where a fish has recovered, this is not common as the kidney failure has usually gone too far by the time dropsy develops. Please be prepared for this.

I do have a test kit so I’ll test the water! I noticed that her belly isn’t as bloated anymore and her scales are going down. She seems fine and is eating! I’m going to do the Epson salt bath for her and I’ve been using Melafix.

 

[Katielady0501]

The first thing to check when a fish is not well is the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in your tank water. You really need your own test kit, but for now can you take a sample of your tank water to an LFS and ask them to test it - make sure they give you numbers.

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you clean the gravel at every water change?
Not enough water changes can allow things to build up in the water, and not cleaning the gravel allows debris to build up in there. These can make fish sick.


Dropsy isn't an illness itself, it's a symptom of several other diseases. To treat it, we need to know what the underlying disease is. It could be a bacterial, viral or protozoan infection which need different treatments.
One thing you could try is an epsom salt bath as epsom salts draw out fluid from the body. Epsom salts can be bought from pharmacies but they must be pure with no perfume or colouring added.
Take some water from the tank into a small tub. Add epsom salt at the rate of 1 teaspoon per gallon and dissolve it thoroughly. Place the fish in this for up to 30 minutes but remove the fish earlier if it becomes distressed.





However it would be unfair of me not to warn you. Dropsy occurs when the kidneys are damaged by the underlying disease and while there are cases where a fish has recovered, this is not common as the kidney failure has usually gone too far by the time dropsy develops. Please be prepared for this.

I also try to do a water change every week or every second week. I always clean the gravel and try to keep it as clean as I can. I’ll test the water and give her her bath, I’ll also feed her some peas so she can poop easier. Today she has poop that’s brown and a little thicker and she’s swimming around a lot, showing off her tail like she normally does. She’s breathing a little faster than normal but she seems to be okay. She looks a lot calmer in my second tank where it’s only her and four neon tetras who like to sit in the cave. They occasionally swim up to her and she doesn’t seem bothered by that. She looks more relaxed away from the boys who were always mating with her. She still eats, always eating and swims up to the surface when there is food. She seems normal but I’m still using Melafix to help her.

 

[Katielady0501]

I tes

The first thing to check when a fish is not well is the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in your tank water. You really need your own test kit, but for now can you take a sample of your tank water to an LFS and ask them to test it - make sure they give you numbers.

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you clean the gravel at every water change?
Not enough water changes can allow things to build up in the water, and not cleaning the gravel allows debris to build up in there. These can make fish sick.


Dropsy isn't an illness itself, it's a symptom of several other diseases. To treat it, we need to know what the underlying disease is. It could be a bacterial, viral or protozoan infection which need different treatments.
One thing you could try is an epsom salt bath as epsom salts draw out fluid from the body. Epsom salts can be bought from pharmacies but they must be pure with no perfume or colouring added.
Take some water from the tank into a small tub. Add epsom salt at the rate of 1 teaspoon per gallon and dissolve it thoroughly. Place the fish in this for up to 30 minutes but remove the fish earlier if it becomes distressed.





However it would be unfair of me not to warn you. Dropsy occurs when the kidneys are damaged by the underlying disease and while there are cases where a fish has recovered, this is not common as the kidney failure has usually gone too far by the time dropsy develops. Please be prepared for this.

I tested my water the levels are
Ammonia: 0.5 ppm
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.25 ppm

 

[Essjay]

Ammonia and nitrite need to be zero, but your nitrate at 5 ppm is fine. I would do a big water change to get ammonia and nitrite down to zero.

Can I check with you:
How long has the tank been running?
How often do you do water changes?
Have you changed any filter media recently?
Have you added a lot more fish in the last week or two?

I'm asking to find out why you have readings of ammonia & nitrite above zero.

 

[Katielady0501]

Ammonia and nitrite need to be zero, but your nitrate at 5 ppm is fine. I would do a big water change to get ammonia and nitrite down to zero.

Can I check with you:
How long has the tank been running?
How often do you do water changes?
Have you changed any filter media recently?
Have you added a lot more fish in the last week or two?

I'm asking to find out why you have readings of ammonia & nitrite above zero.

This tank has been running since July! I do water changes every week or two weeks. I added Aquarium salt in the tank to help. Yes I changed the carbon and biomax. No the only fish added were my babies that were born in the tank. My tank water is cloudy that’s for sure and there’s lots of food on the bottom. She’s in the ten gallon, I’ll test that water. Thanks so much for the help. I appreciate this so much!

 

[Essjay]

Don't change media! Maybe carbon, though it's not actually needed full time. But biomax should not be changed till it crumbles, it should last for years. Ignore the instructions if they say to change it. That's where a lot of your bacteria live especially in the first months of a tank's life.
If possible in your filter, think about replacing the carbon medium with with sponge/foam. That's a better home for the bacteria and doesn't need changing like carbon.

As the tank has been running for several months it should be cycled, though every time you change media the tank will go through a mini cycle.

Water changes are recommended to be 50% a week. But when there is any ammonia or nitrite in the water a water change should be done immediately.

If there is a lot of food on the bottom of the tnak, reduce the amount you feed. You can remove the food between water changes, but always clean the bottom thoroughly at a water change. If you have gravel, push the siphon tube right down into it to get the mess out of the gravel.

 

[Katielady0501]

Don't change media! Maybe carbon, though it's not actually needed full time. But biomax should not be changed till it crumbles, it should last for years. Ignore the instructions if they say to change it. That's where a lot of your bacteria live especially in the first months of a tank's life.
If possible in your filter, think about replacing the carbon medium with with sponge/foam. That's a better home for the bacteria and doesn't need changing like carbon.

As the tank has been running for several months it should be cycled, though every time you change media the tank will go through a mini cycle.

Water changes are recommended to be 50% a week. But when there is any ammonia or nitrite in the water a water change should be done immediately.

If there is a lot of food on the bottom of the tnak, reduce the amount you feed. You can remove the food between water changes, but always clean the bottom thoroughly at a water change. If you have gravel, push the siphon tube right down into it to get the mess out of the gravel.

Okay I will do an immediate water change. I never knew that. I always got told to change the biomax so I’m sorry. Thanks for the information, is it possible to get the gravel out and clean it.

 

[Katielady0501]

Okay I will do an immediate water change. I never knew that. I always got told to change the biomax so I’m sorry. Thanks for the information, is it possible to get the gravel out and clean it.

Don't change media! Maybe carbon, though it's not actually needed full time. But biomax should not be changed till it crumbles, it should last for years. Ignore the instructions if they say to change it. That's where a lot of your bacteria live especially in the first months of a tank's life.
If possible in your filter, think about replacing the carbon medium with with sponge/foam. That's a better home for the bacteria and doesn't need changing like carbon.

As the tank has been running for several months it should be cycled, though every time you change media the tank will go through a mini cycle.

Water changes are recommended to be 50% a week. But when there is any ammonia or nitrite in the water a water change should be done immediately.

If there is a lot of food on the bottom of the tnak, reduce the amount you feed. You can remove the food between water changes, but always clean the bottom thoroughly at a water change. If you have gravel, push the siphon tube right down into it to get the mess out of the gravel.

How much should I feed them? I try feed them twice a day.

 

[Essjay]

A very approximate gauge - a fish's stomach is roughly the same size as its eye. The amount of food should be equal to one eye per fish, once a day.
However - you mention babies in the first posts - are they still in with the mother? Fry do need to be fed more than adult fish, but anything left on the bottom of the tank should be removed. In a small tank, a turkey baster can be used for this.