Water Baby
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi All
I just had to share this as I had a recent experience with saving a fish which had developed dropsy. This is the first time I have ever had success in saving a fish from this usually fatal condition.
My comet Nemo developed a swelling behind one of her gills which I suspected could have been caused by parasites, an ulcer or a bacterial infection, or a combination - my other 2 fish were healthy. She was also sitting on the bottom a lot and looking worn out. I put her into a quarantine tank and treated her with levamisole hydrochloride (for parasites) with no success. She got worse and her scales started sticking out and eventually she stopped eating. I lost a fish with the same symptoms about 6 months earlier and had tried numerous medications with that one too.
I decided to try the natural approach. I isolated Nemo into a quarantine tank, pumping lots of oxygen through the filtered water. I gave her daily doses of tonic salt and epsom salts as well as pimafix and melafix. Each day I would siphon the stones and change 25% of her water with cycled, filtered water. I used double dosages of both stress zyme and stress coat to cycle the water each day. As well as this I gave her frozen fish foods (and shelled peas) rubbed with fresh garlic each day. I saw daily improvement until - 2 weeks later - she was well enough to be returned to the tank.
It's now about 2 months later and she is till perfectly healthy with no signs of illness. I wouldn't hesitate to use this natural method of healing in future if required (which I hope it isn't!).
I hope this helps another fish in need
I just had to share this as I had a recent experience with saving a fish which had developed dropsy. This is the first time I have ever had success in saving a fish from this usually fatal condition.
My comet Nemo developed a swelling behind one of her gills which I suspected could have been caused by parasites, an ulcer or a bacterial infection, or a combination - my other 2 fish were healthy. She was also sitting on the bottom a lot and looking worn out. I put her into a quarantine tank and treated her with levamisole hydrochloride (for parasites) with no success. She got worse and her scales started sticking out and eventually she stopped eating. I lost a fish with the same symptoms about 6 months earlier and had tried numerous medications with that one too.
I decided to try the natural approach. I isolated Nemo into a quarantine tank, pumping lots of oxygen through the filtered water. I gave her daily doses of tonic salt and epsom salts as well as pimafix and melafix. Each day I would siphon the stones and change 25% of her water with cycled, filtered water. I used double dosages of both stress zyme and stress coat to cycle the water each day. As well as this I gave her frozen fish foods (and shelled peas) rubbed with fresh garlic each day. I saw daily improvement until - 2 weeks later - she was well enough to be returned to the tank.
It's now about 2 months later and she is till perfectly healthy with no signs of illness. I wouldn't hesitate to use this natural method of healing in future if required (which I hope it isn't!).
I hope this helps another fish in need
