Gourami with Dropsy, dead in 1 day

[bman]

Yesterday, while at work my wife called me on the phone. She said my gourami was bloated and his scales were sticking out; also was lethargic and going to the top of tank slowly to get some air, then slowly returning to the bottom. His eyes were bulging out as well.

Feeling like my hands were tied because I was at work, I did some research to arm myself with the knowledge for whatever I was in store for when I arrived at home.

It was dropsy It's odd how I studied my whole tank and it's members the following day and everyone looked healthy and happy, then in the span of 12 hours, he blew up, and in another 12 he died. From the research I did, I guess there's not much to do once this happens, and treatment does not work MOST of the time. I was preparing an ice bath for him, and when it was ready he had already died.

Water parameters are in excellent condition.
That makes four fish dead in two weeks.

Tank is starting to look bare.

 

[Zagz]

So sorry to hear about your loss. Dropsy is a terrible illness IMO. Bad luck also seems to hit over a short span. Hopefully things will turn around for you now.

 

[bman]

Thanks Zagz.

It was helpful reading your experience with your gourami and dropsy, VERY HELPFUL. I guess I was a little more fortunate that he died quickly, and did not prolong the inevitable.

Testing the water today I noticed that my NitrAte level is at about 40-60. Sounds high, but I'm not sure if that was the cause of my recent problems. This level has raised slowly over a week from about 20 (Which is my target level to maintain).

 

[lmw80]

dropsy is usually cause by either bad water conditions or is a secondary illness. Did your gourami look or act sick before this happened?

 

[bman]

I read also that dropsy can be caused by either bad water conditions or a secondary infection.

The only thing I can think of was my gourami had a sore on his mouth about three to four weeks ago that I treated with Maracyn and Melafix. But that seemed to go away sucessfully.

I did have a pregnant platy die last week, but that seemed to be from impacted babies. Previous to that, I had two of my tetras die, about three days before the platy.

I religiously do pwcs every Sunday, along with weekly water tests. The tank is moderately planted (but the Wisteria is growing so fast it will be overgrown in two more months).

I'm puzzled over this, but have definitely learned a great deal.

 

[lmw80]

hm....what did your tetras die from, do you know?

 

[bman]

I do not have the slightest clue why they died. Even observing them after I netted them out I did not notice anthing wrong with them externally. I heard that it is hard to figure out when something is wrong with them because they are so small (1" long)