My son swears my guppy has dropsy, but she's acting fine

[nelliebo]

For the last week, Donna has acted like she was ready to give birth (gradually growing belly, hanging out by the filter, not eating much, nipping at the other fish who come near, etc). Last night I noticed that some of the scales on her chest are sticking out, and my son (13 years old and fish enthusiast), swears she has dropsy. I didn't want the others getting sick, so I put her in the 1 gallon bowl I had set up in hopes of catching any fry that I find in my little 5.5 gallon tank with some aquarium salt added (1 tsp) and now she seems quite happy. Still fat, but swimming around a lot more, and eating more. I've had her for about a month, and the pet store had the females and males separated, so she could very well be ready to birth. I'm adding some links to pictures for the experts because Dr Google is just as worrying for fish as it is with humans. lol! Unfortunately, with her being in a bowl, it was hard getting a picture that wasn't distorted, so there are a few to get the best look. Any advice/help would be appreciated.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/DanelleB/20180527_2338391.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/DanelleB/20180527_233526.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/DanelleB/20180527_233359.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/DanelleB/20180527_233351.jpg

 

[mikey11]

its not dropsy......

when a fish has dropsy thee whole fish looks like a pinecone

 

[nelliebo]

That is wonderful to hear! Thank you!

 

[fish48]

your son is right your fish do have dropsy you can clearly see the scales sticking out on it's chest

 

[IHaveADogToo]

She looks pregnant to me

 

[nelliebo]

She's still in her hospital bowl and swimming along, fat and happy with a good appetite. None of the scales on her side or back are sticking out, and it looks like the scales on her chest/tummy aren't sticking out as far as they were Sunday night. I'm pretty sure she's quite pregnant--her gravid spot went from dark brown to pale pink, practically translucent, and I swear I see dots (eyes?) in there when she swims away.

 

[nelliebo]

I have moved her back into the tank a few days ago and she is doing great. Poor Donna can't seem to get a moment's peace today, though. Everyone keeps coming up and 'sniffing' her belly (even one of the shrimp), so I think she's very close. Exciting times!

 

[seangee]

Is that basket thing behind her the filter inlet?
If so it will swallow the fry quicker than the waiting fish. If you don't have a sponge to cover it you could use a stocking.

 

[nelliebo]

Ahh, I'm trying to grow some plants. Right now the front two are empty since my seedlings died.

 

[nelliebo]

Thursday Donna had one fry, then developed a prolapse. She appeared to be doing OK until last night when she startled and seemed to loose control of all movement. Poor girl just couldn't stay upright and couldn't breathe. Hubby performed an emergency c-section, but none of the remaining fry survived (I counted around 20 of them--they looked smaller than the surviving fry, but I didn't really see any yolk sacs).

Luckily I removed the other guppies from the tank Wednesday so I went ahead and scrubbed everything down and replaced the substrate (hated that gravel, so I was planning on it anyway). Hopefully with the newly cleaned, conditioned, newly bacteria-ized tank, everyone else will continue to thrive.

 

[Colin_T]

Did you wash the filter out too?
If yes you might have to cycle the tank again or grab some filter media from another filter to get it going

 

[nelliebo]

No, I have a little corner filter. I left the rock/ceramic media as/is and changed the filter media. I also added bacteria supplement just to be sure and let it run overnight before adding the other fist back.