Could this finally be dropsy??

[jbimflyer]

Hi all, I have posted before about my son's Goldfish having swim bladder issues, and becoming floaty right after being fed Goldfish "sinking" pellets. The fish was sick stemming back months ago after the Auto fish-feeder terribly overfed my fish, and polluted their tank with food. After returning from our trip I saw this disaster, but the other Goldfish wasn't affected to my knowledge

Anyway fast forwarding to the present The affected fish is doing much better than when this first happened, but the last couple of weeks has been having what appeared to be SBD. Now I have read some info on this and have tried some of the suggestions like feeding peas, but he wont eat them... he sucks them in and then spits them right out. LOL Longstory short I have just noticed over the last few days that this fish has become rather rounded at the mid-section, and shows the "pine coning" scales i have read about as a issue associated with dropsy. However what I find strange is that although I do see these things, there are no pop eyes, he is not floating or bobbing around... and has even been swimming alot better than before. He's swimming deliberately like the other unaffected Goldfish does, no floatiness, no swimming on his side or in crazy circles, and is still eating normally. This is really surprising to me, b/c for a fish with signs of dropsy, he is actually behaving more normal than before i noticed the pine coning and bloated mid section. I had been confusing this new look for pregnancy initially... until I read up on dropsy. I dunno maybe it's a mild case of it, but I have ordered some metro meds and will feed them to him as soon as I get them delivered. Here is a video I made before I saw the signs of dropsy: http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab55/jbimflyer/f59c4206b961f1889b1eaf562efbba49.mp4

 

[Mitch_Wilson]

I'm not even going to pretend that i know anything about dropsy, i thankfully have not had any experience with it. Hopefully someone here can help with that aspect of it, however the fact that he seems to be ok other than the pine coning and bloatedness sounds promising to me.

But what i did want to say is that while watching your video i seen that you had a heater in your tank. I wanted to make sure that you know that almost all gold fish are cool water fish that do best in room temperature water. I'm not sure what type of goldfish you have, but I'm only aware of just a few warm-water fancy goldfish. But having a fish in water temperature above what they can tolerate can cause all kinds of issues due to stress and other factors.

 

[jlk]

He doesnt appear overly bloated or pineconed yet. A full blown dropsied fish will blow up like a baseball and all of its scales will stick out. Start him on the metromeds when they arrive and feed for a minimum of 14 days. You can also give him an epsom salt bath 1-2x a day. Dissolve 1 level tsp/g in conditioned temperature matched water. Place him in the bath and observe for 15-20mins then return to the tank. If he is overly stressed, immediately remove him to the tank. Good luck!

 

[jbimflyer]

I'm not even going to pretend that i know anything about dropsy, i thankfully have not had any experience with it. Hopefully someone here can help with that aspect of it, however the fact that he seems to be ok other than the pine coning and bloatedness sounds promising to me.

But what i did want to say is that while watching your video i seen that you had a heater in your tank. I wanted to make sure that you know that almost all gold fish are cool water fish that do best in room temperature water. I'm not sure what type of goldfish you have, but I'm only aware of just a few warm-water fancy goldfish. But having a fish in water temperature above what they can tolerate can cause all kinds of issues due to stress and other factors.

Yeah I need the heater b/c of the cories needing warmer water, but I keep the temp at ~70 degrees, this is mid range tolerance for my goldies and lower end of tolerance for the cories. The panda cories like a cooler temp, so 70-72 is good for them.

 

[jbimflyer]

He doesnt appear overly bloated or pineconed yet. A full blown dropsied fish will blow up like a baseball and all of its scales will stick out. Start him on the metromeds when they arrive and feed for a minimum of 14 days. You can also give him an epsom salt bath 1-2x a day. Dissolve 1 level tsp/g in conditioned temperature matched water. Place him in the bath and observe for 15-20mins then return to the tank. If he is overly stressed, immediately remove him to the tank. Good luck!

Ok thanks, and you're saying that Epsom salt could possibly stress him? Is aquarium salt similar or should I specifically use Epsom salt. I have been using aquarium salt at water changes and seperately here and there for him, but not too much since I've read that it's not good for the cories.

 

[jlk]

Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) is not the same thing as aq salt (sodium chloride). MgSO4 helps with fluid retention and acts as a mild laxative. Aq salt is not a good idea as it may further stress his kidneys.

 

[jbimflyer]

Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) is not the same thing as aq salt (sodium chloride). MgSO4 helps with fluid retention and acts as a mild laxative. Aq salt is not a good idea as it may further stress his kidneys.

Thanks... I didn't know this.

 

[Sharpchick]

You can also feed spinach for constipation.

 

[jbimflyer]

You can also feed spinach for constipation.

I guess it would have to be cooked and diced up.

 

[Sharpchick]

I guess it would have to be cooked and diced up.

I keep a bag of chopped spinach in my freezer. I take out a few of the leafiest pieces, put them in a small bowl, and pour boiling water over them. As soon as the water is cool enough to put my fingers in, it's ready.

My calico ryukin Gypsy eats spinach out of my fingers.

 

[jbimflyer]

Ok I have a question about the dosage of metro meds. So I started feeding Sharkey metro meds this morning, and I was just wondering if I should feed him it twice a day or just once a day for the 14 days. And how many pellets for a small goldfish... I gave him like 3 or 4 this morning, and I figured I'd give him 3 more tonight. Sharkey could basically fit inside of the smilies box for reference of size.

 

[jlk]

Feed 2-3x a day. The best way to to figure out the dosage is via weight of your fish but unless you have a small digital kitchen scale, this will be hard to figure out. Feed a bit more than usual but there shouldnt be piles of wasted or leftover food.

 

[jbimflyer]

Feed 2-3x a day. The best way to to figure out the dosage is via weight of your fish but unless you have a small digital kitchen scale, this will be hard to figure out. Feed a bit more than usual but there shouldnt be piles of wasted or leftover food.

Ok thanks J.

One more question... I just bought some epsom salt, so you said that I should use 1 level teaspoon... however the treatment tank is only 2 gals, does it matter??

 

[jbimflyer]

Well just to update Sharkey is showing improvement after just 3 days of treatment with Epsom salt and metro meds. I must say I'm happy to see him doing better. By day 14 I'm confident he'll be way normal again.

 

[jlk]

That's great news!