Options for Guppy with Dropsy

[Verity]

Hi Guys.

Last week when I was doing my water change, I noticed one of my guppies was looking rather bloated. I went in for a closer look and realised it had pineconed.

I knew this was dropsy, so I checked online how to treat it.

I put him in a hospital tank, added some Aquarium salt I have, and some anti internal bacteria medicine.

For the first few days the guppy was very lethargic and not eating. But now a week later he is much more active.
Although he still sits on the bottom of the tank, he does keep getting up and shooting around the tank for a bit.
He is also eating slightly again, but it still pineconed and bloated.

Ive been looking into dropsy and everyone says it is very hard to cure.

How long does it normally take for the fishs life to end?

Should I wait it out and see if he is getting better?
Do you recone he is getting better? or am I just kidding myself?

how do you know when they have recovered? Ive read that they are never quite the same. does that mean they never quite look the same? or just act a bit withdrawn?

(I feel bad because he is on his own.
and am unsure if he is in pain....it certainly doesnt look comfortable.)

Or am I better off ending things? ....i dont even know how I would go about doing this


Sorry for asking dumb questions but im unsure personally what to do in this situation

 

[dkpate]

I have had to put 2 of my fish down for dropsy.
I have never heard of anyone curing it, but if he seems to be getting better, you might as well keep trying, unless he gets really bad.

 

[tyspot1000]

Fish may recover with no treatment and may die despite it. There are multiple possible causes. Sometimes it's not contageous, but sick fish should be isolated and treated since determining the actual cause may be impossible. The swelling is because the fish is absorbing water faster than it can eliminate it, and it can be caused by many different problems. High nitrates are one thing to check. Internal bacterial infections, including fish TB, are other possibilities. If there are no water quality problems, you may want to attempt antibiotic treatment in a separate tank.

Dropsy is not very contagious; however, Fish usually die from this, but in some cases where the problem is due to bacteria, if detected early enough, it can be treated.

It's possibly the hardest internal bacterial infection to cure. There are a number of medications available such as penicillin, tetracycline and naladixic acid. The fish usually doesn't make it. By the time the scales begin to raise, however, it is very fatal to the fish. Salt baths can help to draw the fluid out of the fish. A variety of medications can be purchased that treat dropsy, which sometimes occurs due to an internal bacterial problem. Medications for external bacterial problems only will not be effective for this problem