Is This Dropsy?

[lynda4375]

I have 4 goldfish and 2 weather loaches in a 200ltr tank. About 2 weeks ago my fish started behaving out of character, hiding behind ornaments and when they came out they'd dart erratically around the tank, banging in to things and then hide once again.

I increased water changes (I usually do 2 buckets=30 lts a week) and started doing this every other day. My tests showed 0 ammonia and nitrite but the PH was 6.0 I've managed to get this up to 6.4 but I cant seem to get it any higher, and I'm reluctant to use chemicals as this has been the cause of bacterial infection previously and I lost 2 fish through it.

One of my goldfish has a swollen body, one side looks like something is protruding beneath the skin. He's lethargic but all are still eating well. The other 3 have no swelling but have red streaks through their tail fin.

Can anyone suggest a good bacterial medicine that has cured your own fish with similar symptoms?, I've tried to battle this before but lost the two infected. I've removed an ornament that came with the tank, I think this was the cause as it disintegrated a little as I lifted it from the water. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Colin_T]

Goldfish are messy fish and need 1/3 water changes each week. Because you only did small water changes the PH dropped and the water quality deteriorated causing the fish to develop finrot (frayed fins, redlines in tail). The low PH and high nitrates is what was causing the fish to act nervous and panic when anyone went past the tank.
Make sure you do regular water changes and gravel cleans to prevent the water going bad.
You can have some limestone or shells in the tank to help buffer the PH back up. You can get it from the LFS or at the beach.

You can try salt to fix the goldfish. Use 1 heaped tablespoon per 20litres and if no improvement after a day then add another heaped tablespoon per 20ltrs. Leave the salt in the water for a couple of weeks and if they are better then do 10-15% water changes each day for 2 weeks to dilute the salt. Then you can increase the size of the water changes after that.

To work out the volume of water in the tank
measure Length x Width x Height in cm
divide by 1000
equals volume in litres

When measuring the height, measure from the top of the gravel to the top of the water level. If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove them before measuring the height.

The goldfish with the swollen body probably has dropsy. There isn't much you can do for internal problems, however, if you get the tank water clean it may clear up, but no guarantees. If the fish gets worse and stops feeding then I would euthanase it.

 

[black angel]

Dropsy has a swelling underneath the fish and affects both sides.
Are the scales raised at all? this is a classic symptom.

If not then maybe a tumour somewhere. If scales are raised then salt will not help this condition and may in fact make it worse.
Epsom salt is best for this but realistically its end game for your fish as this means the disease has progressed too far.

Seperate the sick fish thats swollen and place in at least 10 gallons of water with lots of filtration and air and raise the temperature very slowly to around 26c and get some epsom salt. If the fishes scales arent raised then just watch him .

Another thing is eggs in a female becoming compacted, but given the other symptoms it may be bacterial in nature.

Can you get a pic?

If the other fish have blood streaks in fins and body may look bruised this is septiceamia and a lot of large water changes will help.

Are they commons or fancies? How long are they excluding tails? Which filter are you using?

9 times out of 10 more water volume and bigger filtration systems help enormously.

As for ph as long as its stable then its ok, you dont want it fluctuating too much. my own goldies in the pond are at 6 if im lucky.

 

[lynda4375]

Thank you so much for the advice. My fish are between 11-12 cm (body only) The fish with the swelling is the longest and doesn't have sticking out scales, only very slightly where the protrusion seems to be. Should I still separate him and use the Epsom salts?. I have some, and a hospital tank that holds 50 litres. How much Epsom salts should I use for that?. If a bacterial infection is the cause, should I avoid heating the water to prevent accelerating its reproduction?. I think all four are common goldfish, I got them from a fairground just over a year ago so I am not completely sure. I have an external filter which came with the tank. The photos below show my swollen goldfish and the remaining three white ones, plus my filter. I think the three white fish may be recovering after the water changes, the red streaks are less visible today. They're still acting frightened and hiding at times. The swollen ones side seems more lumpy today.


http/img91.imageshack.us/img91/4575/01mediumzc6.jpg

http/img241.imageshack.us/img241/2966/02mediumiq9.jpg

http/img241.imageshack.us/img241/8839/03mediumfo7.jpg

http/img241.imageshack.us/img241/1835/filtermediumjn9.jpg

 

[black angel]

no epsom for this fish...looks like it has tumours as the body is uneven all the way round. there is a disease that causes these to rupture out and leak fluid in to the water and spread to other fish. please quarantine it to make sure this doesnt happen. but whether or not this fish has it im not sure and the name escapes me. have you introduced anything new like like plants?
the other fish look really nice but seem to have maybe septiceamia, try a lot of heavy water changes and test for ammonia and nitrites often.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The white stringy poop seen in one of the pics does indicate an internal bacterial infection- the epsom salts will help the fish pass out any excess fluid, but it won't necessarily cure the internal bacterial infection, i would recommend using a strong dose of "anti internal bacteria" by Interpet as this will help cure the white stringy poop problem and more, you should treat all of the goldfish in the tank as a precautionary measure (particularly if the others have white and stringy poop).
Raising the temperature will not help bacterial infections, this only works for parasites like whitespot, you are best keeping the tank cool as this will help improve the oxygen content of the water (which is important when treating fish with meds- oxygen dissolves less the warmer the water is) .

 

[lynda4375]

I put him in the hospital tank two days ago and added one table spoon of Epsom salts to the 50 litres in there. I've also used the interpet anti bacterial meds. Only the recommended dose. I've used this stuff on two other fish that had this swelling ages ago and it did nothing at all for them. Is it safe for me to increase the dosage other to that on the bottle? seen as it had no effect last time I thought I should add more but I'm not sure what would be a safe amount. I increased the heat slowly to 24c but I'm now reducing it after reading the advice. His breathing has become rapid and I'm hoping the cooler temperature will improve things.

I haven't added anything new to the tank, but when I took out an old ornament last week it was disintegrating on the inside. I think that might have caused it. Thanks to everyone for your wonderful advice. The others are looking much better after the daily water changes and I treated them with disease safe yesterday, its the only meds I could find that mentioned blood streaked fins. They're barely visible now.

Also wondered if anyone has tried Kusuri sabbactisun treatment before?. I bought some but I'm going to call them tomorrow and see if it can be used with the interpet treatment. Seen as it doesn't contain any chemicals I'm hoping they say it can.

 

[black angel]

epsom salt at that dose will do nothing...to me the waste is clear and zig zag...female with eggs. meds in this country that are available over the counter for internal bacteria are worthless. vets are the only people that can give anything worthwhile...so try and find a vet thats fish friendly or youll be spending money on treatments that are ineffective. a vet can give a better diagnosis....is there maybe a good water garden centre near you? or koi club?


is the fish feeding? if so what you giving it? try offering squashed green peas and gelled food like bloodworm.