dropsy

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pixelcatt

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Apr 19, 2012
Messages
80
Location
florida
One of my oldest and largest dwarf guaramis appeared to be having problems this morning. He looks very bloated and his scales were beginning to turn out. I moved him to qt and added salt and a tetracycline based medication. At the end of the day i cant tell if hes worse of just tired because of the strong current. He can sort of swim a little lopsided. But hes not struggling to breath like ive seen before.

Is there anything else i can do? I thought i was catching it early.
 
Hi! Did you add regular salt or Epsom salt? The bad news is dropsy is very difficult to treat- its a symptom of disease & not a disease itself. It's unlikely your fish has parasites or there's a water quality issue which leaves a bacterial infection or possibly a virus as the culprits. Tetracycline is not skin absorbed & very little will actually enter bloodstream of a fish where meds need to be. You can try switching to a med that's better absorbed such as kanamycin or minocycline or you can seek the aid of an aquatic vet for prescription meds. There has been some success in the goldfish community treating dropsied fish with series of baytril shots. Please ask if you have questions!
 
I used aquarium salts. The medication claims it treats dropsy saying its the result of fungus. Unfortunately I doubt ill have a chance to try anything else since gaurami are labyrinth fish and if he cant reach the surface he wont get enough air. Hes not likely to last long once he cant swim. Only these specific fish in my tank have suffered this and the last one didnt swell up, so i wasnt sure what it was. He just stopped being able to float.
 
there is a SMALL success with blanched, deshelled peas, and water changes, had a male molly survive with this, mine was a water quality issue caught early....good luck
 
Its not the water quality in this case. Just did my weekly pwc and tested. Everything is supposably good. This fish is one of the oldest i have. He was the first fish to this tank. I dont know how much breathing theyre able to do through their gill but hes still alive and kicking. Problem with feeding him anything is that today he hasnt been eating as far as i can tell. As far as eating more veggie matter, all my fish prefer algaewafers to anything else.

I have an assortment of fish in this tank including a different species of gaurami. No other type of fish has suffered these symptoms.
 
Id been told this medication was tetracycline based but its not listed in the active ingredients. Its a Tetra brand treatment for both fungus and bacteria. Ingredients listed are nitrofurazone, furazolidone, and potassium dichromate (dipotassium salt).

I'm reluctant to say hes doing better but hes more active and is swimming a better. xfingers crossedx
 
If he survives the night and I'm able to get him some magnesium sulfate how much do i use?
 
The Tetra product is a mild antibiotic (nitro & fura). If he seems to be doing better, I would continue using it. Epsom salts can be as either a bath or added directly to the tank. They will help to alleviate some fluid retention. You will need to do a big wc though to remove the aq salt if you plan on adding it to the tank. If you add it to the tank, add 1 tablespoon per 10gal (premixed in some tank water). If you do a bath, 1 teaspoon per gal (predissolved) in temp-matched, conditioned water. Bath for 15-20mins & return the fish to the tank. If the fish displays undue stress, return him to the tank asap. Good luck!
 
Is it safe to do diluted treatments with the epsom salts once a month for a couple days knowing this specific type of fish is prone to retaining fluid? Or should it be reserved for serious cases? I know you said it cant be mixed with aquarium salts. I have one other that was just starting to show symptoms so i did the bath and it seemed to really stress him out.
 
Not all fish react well to a bath & fish are equally as stressed by being moved around as well. You can try doing a diluted bath or add a very low dose to the tank. Stress is not healthy for fish & doing a bath may be causing more harm than good if the fish is overly stressed. You will have to use your best judgement & weigh the benefits vs risk of using a bath especially if its not helping matters.
 
If i do treatments of the tank there needs to be no to little aquarium salts in the mix even if its diluted, right.

I discontinued the bath when i saw he was stressed.
 
Just work on gradually reducing the salinity with water changes. Suddenly reducing it without giving your fish time to adjust can cause stress as well. Start with 1 level tablespoon of epsom salts per 20g & see how everyone does.
 
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