Dropsy treatment, sea salt vs Epsom salt?

[MaggstAa]

I've noticed one of my goldfish has early signs of dropsy so I've transferred her to the QT. I couldn't find Epsom salt so I got natural sea salt recommended for bathing similarly to Epsom. Before I put it in though I want to make sure that it is ok and won't be harmful? The QT is about 6.5 gallons/25 liters. Thanks!!


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[Delapool]

Is your fish improving?

 

[MaggstAa]

Unforunately she passed away yesterday...? I put in a bit of the salt along with low dose of antibiotics and she seemed ok, swelling was going down a little, but yesterday morning she was laying on the ground. I put her back in the big tank and I changed 80% of the water in the QT cuz I thought maybe she was getting OD'd, and in the big tank she was swimming lively again so I left her in there while I was out for the day. I came back and she was super pale laying on the ground and barely breathing. I put her back in the QT and she was just floating around, and within 10 mins she was gone...? I feel like I should have left her in the QT cuz I think the other fish may have been aggressive while she was weak, I just thought that since she was more active in the big tank that it was something with the water...


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[Delapool]

Sad news Are the other goldfish ok?

 

[TMaier]

I have had dropsy pop up on occasion over the past 20 years. I have never been able to save the afflicted fish.

But I have never had it spread. Only one at a time. Few and far between.

Knock on wood.




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[Delapool]

It's so rare for me I confess as well. Not much experience with it.

I was doing some reading on sea salt and the Epsom salt seemed the better option but hardly ever had it show up in fish here (mostly been in old fish).

 

[MaggstAa]

Yeah we bought her about two years ago so she was older than the rest, all of which are behaving and looking normally. It was weird because for ten months I've had her and the one other female in a separate tank because the males were aggressively breeding and I had just returned them to the big tank about a week ago since they had calmed down...That was my first dropsy case so like every other fish disease unfortunately it happens often that the first time you learn the hard way what and what not to do...? always feel guilty though even though I did what I thought was right


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[BettaChi]

my sympathies



So sorry for your loss. Poor little fella.


May I ask what type of antibiotic you used?

I found the difference between the two salts is marginal.

Aquarium salt (AS) is primarily engineered to create a healthy aquarium atmosphere and add beneficial elements to the aquarium.

Epsom salt (ES) is designed for lowering swelling of popeye or bloating in fish (similar to how humans use it for swollen toes) and won't necessarily have the same tank affect that AS has. It doesn't really seem to treat the illness but just lower the symptoms (like tylenol) and hopefully make the animal more comfortable. (?)

Keep in mind that this is just what I read and not my own experience or opinion.

 

[MaggstAa]

Thanks for the info! Hopefully I won't need it for future reference, but now I know...I use the antibiotic ESHA3000, I've used it for both bacterial and parasitic infections for them for years and it usually works wonders (given that it is actually a bacterial or parasitic infection, which sometimes it's hard to tell).


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