Whats Wrong With My Severum?

[kris1978]

my severums fins are going white and sticky looking and looking tethered, cant see much in the pic, also some of the scales are sticking out from its body which i think might be dropsy but not sure and also wont use its right fin much.
please can you have a look at some of the pics and see if you can tell whats wrong and what i need to do to treat it.
cheers all

 

[Pleccy]

I would put it down to some sort of damage, rather than dropsy, in which case all of the scales would be sticking out, not just a small group. Have you got anything in the tank that could cause damage to the fish such as sharp or abrasive decor?

 

[kris1978]

no its not down to decor, another thing i just rememberd is that he goes scaty, when i say scaty i mean he goes dark green and just swims all over the place as fast as he can, not getting chased by anything, and he gets twitches.
i dont have a clue whats wrong, plz help

 

[Pleccy]

Could you give us a few details about your tank, and also the results from a set of water tests?

 

[kris1978]

what would you like to know about the tank?
its 5ftx2ftx30", 2 ext filters, gravel, stones rocks, wood and flowerpots.
fish inc:
3x 3.5" oscars
3x j/d's 2"
2x 2" convicts
1x jewel 3"
and a couple plecs.

i have been keeping a close eye on the other fish and none are attacking the severum

temp 20 deg c

ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 15
ph 7.6

 

[Pleccy]

Your tank seems fine and I can't really tell by the photo, could you get a side-on snap of the fish?

 

[kris1978]

Your tank seems fine and I can't really tell by the photo, could you get a side-on snap of the fish?

you cant really see the white on the ends of its fins in the pics but you can see the fins dont look rite there.

 

[Pleccy]

I can see the fins look ragged and a funny white tinge to the ends. It could be due to stress. I would try some melafix and see if the problem clears up, if not it may be best to isolate the fish.

 

[kris1978]

thanks for the help will try some melafix soon see what that does, i'll keep you posted.
many thanks

 

[WILDER]

Last stage of dropsy is scales sticking out organ faiilure.
The sticky white fins are bacterial finrot.
If you want to try and save the fish epson salt baths to help draw the fluids out.
Bacterial med in isolation.

 

[kris1978]

Last stage of dropsy is scales sticking out organ faiilure.
The sticky white fins are bacterial finrot.
If you want to try and save the fish epson salt baths to help draw the fluids out.
Bacterial med in isolation.

never herd of using epson salt baths before, where do you buy it from?
i see it has many uses aswell.
i will isolate my fish today and start some treatment with some bacterial med and see how it goes before i go adding the epson salt though.
has anyone else used epson salt?

 

[WILDER]

Epsons salts can get from a chemist, boots, or food stores.
For a bath its one teaspoon to a gal.