Need help treating Dropsy

[23578]

I have some guppies that I'm pretty sure have dropsy. I only realized this morning because one of my fish is lying on the gravel and the plants and won't swim. Looking at the other ones, I think that 4/5 might have it.
I've been watching them a lot today and noticed that the only one that doesn't have symptoms seems to be bugging the other ones, and especially the one that won't swim, so I think he might be stressing them out which could have caused it. I'm not sure if I should remove the bully or the sick fish. Something I have to consider is that I think you're supposed to add aquarium salt to the tank as part of the treatment but I'm not sure if I should because I have a pleco and tetras which I've heard are sensitive to salt. I have a 10 gallon quarantine tank I could move the sick ones to but right now there are 3 other fish I just got from a neighbor that I think might be sick, so I could move the sick guppies over to that tank but I'm worried that they would all catch whatever the other fish have and then just all have multiple illnesses. Also, if I moved the sick guppies, would the stress harm them more than it would help?
Earliler, I took the two worst cases and put them in an epsom salt bath because I read that you should do that. They were in there for 5-10 minutes but it didn't seem to do much to help them.
So basically I think my two options are to either move the mean guppy in with a tank I have with platys and treat the whole tank with salt, or to move the sick guppies in with the other sick fish and treat them all. What do you guys think? Also, please let me know if there's anything else I need to be doing for them.

 

[Andy Sager]

Dropsy is usually caused by internal disease ( either bacterial or viral) that causes the organs to shut down which is why the fish bloat because they can't osmoregulate. Stress can play a role but not usually the cause.
That all said, a picture of the effected fish could help with a diagnosis. Also, if the fish's scales have begun " pineconing" ( swelling away from the body) it's too late to treat the fish and the fish would be better off euthanized.
A side note, the salt treatment is not aquarium salt but Epsom salt, which is not a salt like table salt or aquarium salt, is magnesium sulfate which helps muscles relax which is why when a fish is constipated, this sometimes helps the fish move the blockage. Again, for dropsy, this is not really going to do much.

For now, if you can divide the tank so that the bully is away from the other fish, that would be the best you could do since your other tank has potentially sick fish in it.

Hope this helps.

 

[23578]

I attached a picture of the fish. All the other fish have rounder bellies then usual but it's not this noticeable. Also, I think the mean guppy must have ripped his fin which is why it has that chunk taken out of it. Most of my fish have ripped fins, but his is the worst.
Also, my understanding after visiting a few websites was that epsom salt baths will help the swelling go down, and adding aquarium salt to the tank would help them osmoregulate. I also ordered some kanaplex which should arrive tomorrow because it said that thats supposed to help get rid of the bacteria causing it. Supposedly doing all of this can help save them or at least stop the other fish from getting worse or catching it. I might just use the kanaplex and do epsom salt baths though because of the plants and sensitive fish.

 

[Andy Sager]

I don't see what would be considered " Dropsy" in this fish but you have a better close up view of the fish. I would still isolate the bully. Using the Kanaplex tho can help if there are any bacterial issues on wounds stemming from the attacks.
Just so you know, Kanamycin is most effective in water with a Ph 7.5 - 8.5. If your water is not within this range, the kanamycin will not do much for your fish. You do need to have a clean tank for curing Dropsy ( even when using antibiotics) so if there is any way to use a separate container rather than the main tank, that would increase the treatment positively.
As for treating Dropsy with salt, there are conflicting thoughts on it. The use of salt for osmoregulation helps more when the fish are healthy and actively regulating themselves by releasing as well as absorbing fluids. With Dropsy, the problem is that the fish is not releasing fluids. Personally, I'm on the "Not to use it "side.
Hope this helps

 

[23578]

The dropsy isn't very obvious to people who haven't seen the fish before, but all my fish are a lot rounder than before and some of them are losing color so I do think it matches with dropsy. For the bully, I put him in a breeder box so he's in the main tank but he can't reach the other fish. My PH is at 7.6 so hopefully the meds will work.
My tank is pretty clean, and all the water paramaters are good so I thought I would just put the medicine in the tank. By a separate container, do you mean it would be like the epsom salt baths where I put them in there for 10 minutes or like a quarantine tank for them to stay until they're better?

 

[Andy Sager]

The dropsy isn't very obvious to people who haven't seen the fish before, but all my fish are a lot rounder than before and some of them are losing color so I do think it matches with dropsy. For the bully, I put him in a breeder box so he's in the main tank but he can't reach the other fish. My PH is at 7.6 so hopefully the meds will work.
My tank is pretty clean, and all the water paramaters are good so I thought I would just put the medicine in the tank. By a separate container, do you mean it would be like the epsom salt baths where I put them in there for 10 minutes or like a quarantine tank for them to stay until they're better?

A separate container for them to stay in until healed. This could be a tank, bucket, bowl, see through shoe box or anything where you could accurately measure the amount of water so that you could medicate at the correct dosage. ( There's a sterilite container the size to fit files from a filing cabinet that holds 10 gallons of water. They are cheap at Walmart. )
Many farmed Guppies now have internal worms ( cammallanus) that could be the reason for the roundness in the belly area coupled with the loss of colors. If the loss of color has not effected the bully, you can rule out a condition in the tank making it inside the fish. The problem is having so many fish getting dropsy at the same time or losing color at the same time. Internal bacterial diseases are not usually communicable and loss of color is often due to poor water conditions ( which, btw, is one cause of Dropsy.) Cammallanus worms however highly contagious so you want to check the anal area closely ( use a magnifying glass) to see if you see any little red thread looking things coming from the anus. If you do, you should treat the fish in a bare bottom container with items like Fritz Expel-P or any med that contains levamisole. You want to do this in a a bare bottom tank because the med does not kill the worm but paralyzes it so that it can be expelled from the fish. The worms would then need to be siphoned out of the tank in order to prevent re-infestation.