Dropsy

[fishfight]

My skirted tetra has a big belly. It's been this way for about a week and a half. We thought she was pregnant, but it might be dropsy. All of my other fish have died, is this one next? How can I tell?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Its probably constipation; dropsy is quite easy to diagnose due to its distinctive pine cone effect on the scales, heres a pic of it on this link;

http/www.fishpalace.org/dropsy_qianhu.jpg

Although the tetra could be pregnant although they are egg laying fish as far as i know; my neons get pregnant from time to time but nothing ever comes of it due to their fry being practically invisable and light sensitive, meaning they die in strong light.
Have you tested your water quality recently and what are the stats, i.e ammonia, nitrate and nitrite?
How long has the tank been set up for, how many fish did it used to have and now has and how big is the tank?
Did the dead fish show any symtoms or strange behavior before they died?
How much are you feeding them on an average basis and what?
What other fish do you have and used to have and their individual numbers?

 

[fishfight]

Have you tested your water quality recently and what are the stats, i.e ammonia, nitrate and nitrite? : Yes I took my water to the LFS and it all tested perfect.

How long has the tank been set up for, how many fish did it used to have and now has and how big is the tank? : The tank has been set up for about a month now. It used to have two angels, two skirted tetras, 1 pleco, 1 albino clawed frog(before you say it...i know), 3 ghost shrimp, and one catfish silver shark(I know it's brakish). The two angel fish have died, and the one skirted tetra became fat in the belly about a week and a half ago. The tank is a 30 gallon tank.

Did the dead fish show any symtoms or strange behavior before they died? : The flipped over and fell to the bottom alot, getting stuck to the filter. One had it's bottom feelers missing for some reason??

How much are you feeding them on an average basis and what? I feed them twice a day tetra color® fish flakes, and blood worms every once in a while(only the frog eats them). The skirted tetra eats the same as the rest. Not eating excessively.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I would go out and buy yourself a water quality test kit and test the water yourself, what one person may veiw as "fine", could actually be quite serious; more than often i hear the story of lfs's testing somone's water and then when that somone tests the water quality themself they find out everythings not "fine".

If the fish appeared to not be able to maintain balance in the water/stay upright, it was most definatly a swim bladder disoreder they were suffering from; swim bladder disorders are most commonly caused by bad water quality, internal bacterial infections or from excess stress or constipation, but to rule out water quality problems you gotta test the water yourself
I would do some water changes, like a 30% one now and go out and buy some water quality testing kits for ammonia, nitrate and nitrites and post us the results ASAP.
It may also be worth buying some internal bacterial med while you're out because if your water quality is good that'll be the next step.
As far as feeding is concerned, as a rule of thumb you should feed your fish one fish flake each twice a day minimum.