I had another fish die 4 days ago from "dropsy" and then 4 more became ill 2 of which died yesterday. These fish are all out of the male only tank which is overcrowded and had around 52 mostly adult sized gupps in 100 litres (20 gall). Nothing had died since the first case on the 20th May.
I have yet to see the "pine coning" and the swelling is more in the chest than the abdomen (if fish have chests). I could tell those fish were going to "bloat" days before they did, as they stayed swimming in the current without actually swimming around the tank much.
My new hospital tank has come into good use unfortunately and I've discovered holds 14 litres with filter, heater, that poor platic plant that gets shoved from tank to tank and a rock for comfort :)
Anyway, I digress as usual - I'm not convinced this is dropsy and am now seriously wondering if I'm over feeding? I feed the fish twice a day as much as they eat for maybe 5 minutes (more if I'm mesmerized into watching them too long).
OR could it be parasites of some sort as the males "flick" themselves over the plants quite a bit. The females don't do it and I assumed it was a male thing as they have no women so to speak.
The only other symptom I can think of is that these sick fish hang out at the bottom of the tank (the one back in May didn't do that from memory). They either lay on the gravel or on a plant or rock but usually start swimming at feed time although not eating by the second day.
I've been doing 20% water changes once a week (at least) like clockwork but have increased it to 16% (due to bucket size), twice a week. Ammonia and Nitrites are always 0, pH is around 7.3 to 7.5 and NitrAtes are 10. Temperature is 26-27°C (78-80) but since our warm weather has finished it appears the heater might need replacing as I can't get the temp any lower.
Oh, diet consists of flakes in the morning, tropical fish granules in the evening and maybe once a week they get freeze dried bloodworms. I am not feeding them tonight however and am thinking of starving them for a day or 2.
The local pet shop is ringing their supplier to see if they know what to use to treat (ie. what they can supply ;) ) but that will be days away, if not a week. If it is dropsy then I'd like to try the metronidazole and epsom salts.
Has anyone any suggestions as to whether this is dropsy or not. Do you think I"m overfeeding? Could it be parasites, internal or external?
I have 2 days off coming up - 28th -30th June when I can visit a very big, well run petshop. Any suggestions for what to buy to have on hand while I'm there?
Cheerio
miskairal, with a couple of beers under her belt :)
Immediate Help
