Tank Work After Dropsy?

[vanvran]

Hi, I lost all 4 of my betta girls recently. The last one was definitely a final case of dropsy. One of them was fine one day and dead the next. The other two developed huge basketball shaped bellies before dying. I had a hard time keeping them away from my other fishies' flake food and think that was part of the problem. Now, one of my dwarf platies who hung with my last betta girl that had dropsy is dying. I can't see any signs of what's wrong other than he is suddenly hiding, breathing hard, and now has deterioration of fins. Is it possible to catch dropsy a month after my last betta died from it? Also, the tank had been given 50% water changes twice since then. Of course, I also medicated the tank trying to save the bettas.

Is there anything that should be done to a tank after you lost fish from dropsy?

 

[WILDER]

Dropsy can pass on if a fish pecks at the dead body.
How long were the dead fish in the tank.
For dropsy epson salt baths and a bacterial med.

 

[Colin_T]

clean the tank conditions up too because internal infections are often a result of dirty environmental conditions allowing bacterial numbers to build up and infect the fish.
Do more gravel cleans and water changes

 

[vanvran]

Dropsy can pass on if a fish pecks at the dead body.
How long were the dead fish in the tank.
For dropsy epson salt baths and a bacterial med.

Thx, Wilder. As soon as I spot a dead fish, I remove him, however, don't know for sure - with work and sleeping. I have other fish that I've had for years - I decided to put Maracyn in the tank and believe it or not, the little platy actually seems to have improved. I'm hoping the little guy pulls through. I can't bear to see fish suffer.

 

[vanvran]

clean the tank conditions up too because internal infections are often a result of dirty environmental conditions allowing bacterial numbers to build up and infect the fish.
Do more gravel cleans and water changes

How often do you clean a 20 gallon tank that has 10 small fish? I used to do weekly tank cleaning (gravel vac, filter cleaning, etc.) but since the water seemed pretty clean, I started doing it every 2 weeks. I believe it started when I bought my girl bettas at a LFS that is known for it's pretty fish who don't last very long. I learned the hard way--I didn't separate them right away during feeding time, so they were gobbling up my other fishes' flake food as well as their betta food. They were so fast! I would sprinkle their food in one corner and sprinkle the other fishes' food at the other end, but they managed to get to it anyway. Then they started getting huge bellies. So I skipped feeding them once or twice a week, and when I did feed them, I put them in a breeders crib (they swam right in because they are so smart and knew they were getting fed!) However, 2 died quickly (overnight with no other symptoms) and the other two started hiding at the bottom, not eating, losing color, while getting bigger and bigger. I treated the tank with two cycles of Triple Sulfa with no luck. I lost all 4 girls. My platy was hanging out with the last sick one and now he's sick.

 

[Colin_T]

doing a partial water change and gravel clean each week should be fine. Even once a fortnight if fine. However the easiest way to work out how often you need to do water changes is to monitor the nitrate levels in the tank. If they go up quickly between water changes then you need to do more changes to bring it down. Alternatively reduce the food being fed or reduce the number of fish in the tank.

If you have problems with sick fish it is a good idea to do water changes & gravel cleans each day for a few days. This helps to clean up the tank conditions and if you have to treat the fish with any medication, it will work more effectively in a clean tank rather than one that is dirty. Also the water changes will often bring about an improvement in the fish's overall health.

With internal problems like Dropsy (bloating) it is very hard to treat the fish involved. You need to get an appropriate amount of medication inside the fish and normally the fish isn't eating so you must rely on the medication being drunk or absorbed by the fish.

Eating the other fish's food would not have caused it to develop in the bettas. They can eat any fish food and it shouldn't be a problem. They potentially had an internal infection when you bought them and it is now in your tank.

 

[vanvran]

doing a partial water change and gravel clean each week should be fine. Even once a fortnight if fine. However the easiest way to work out how often you need to do water changes is to monitor the nitrate levels in the tank. If they go up quickly between water changes then you need to do more changes to bring it down. Alternatively reduce the food being fed or reduce the number of fish in the tank.

If you have problems with sick fish it is a good idea to do water changes & gravel cleans each day for a few days. This helps to clean up the tank conditions and if you have to treat the fish with any medication, it will work more effectively in a clean tank rather than one that is dirty. Also the water changes will often bring about an improvement in the fish's overall health.

With internal problems like Dropsy (bloating) it is very hard to treat the fish involved. You need to get an appropriate amount of medication inside the fish and normally the fish isn't eating so you must rely on the medication being drunk or absorbed by the fish.

Eating the other fish's food would not have caused it to develop in the bettas. They can eat any fish food and it shouldn't be a problem. They potentially had an internal infection when you bought them and it is now in your tank.

Thanks, that's very informative and helpful. I did a 40% water change prior to putting the Maracyn in the tank and I'll continue to do partial changes and check nitrates, etc.