# First Ich, now Dropsy



## Mikolas (Jan 16, 2010)

So as some of you know, I've recently been combating ich and seem to be mostly rid of the darn thing. Some of the fish have a spot or so at the most, but that's as far as it goes.

Temperature is still at 84, about .7 tbsp of salt per 5 gallons, still doing medication.

However, for whatever reason, one of my Roseline sharks (which are very active fish), disappeared from the trio and I found him hiding under one of the fake driftwood.

It seemed incredibly bloated, the scales are protruding, and it breathes quite heavily, and doesn't move around so often. 

I felt it is a pretty accurate description of Dropsy, which I just researched after noticing it's odd behavior.

I quarantined him to the other 10 gallon tank, and removed all previously infected ich fish back to the main tank (I didn't want to have the two together). 

Soon thereafter, about a few hours later, the other Roseline went berserk, chasing around the final Roseline like crazy, and breathed heavily and is semi bloated as well. I immediately moved him to the quarantine tank as well.

I don't know what I'm to do. I guarantee you that the first Roseline did not have these signs yesterday, does Dropsy work this fast?

Some extra notes, the first Roseline does not eat or anything, the second however does. 

Any advice would be appreciated.


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

*Wow you sure are hitting all the diseases huh. At least the ich is going away and you got no casualties from that right. I hear fish that have had ich will somewhat have an immunity to it. Ive experienced some of my fish that have acquired ich before has not gotten it the 2nd or 3rd time around. Ive never experienced any of my fish having dropsy before . 

But from reading up about it... here's one of the quotes from a site, "The general consensus seems to imply that if caught in the earliest stages, dropsy can be effectively treated with anti-bacterial medications and/or salt baths. So, how do you catch it in those early stages? In most cases, the fish in question will stop eating, typically a day or two before the swelling starts. It may also hang back at feeding times, and generally stop associating with other fish in the aquarium a day or two before that. So, there is often time — but you have to be a keen observer to see the changes in behavior. The very minute that you observe any change in the behavior of your fish, consider what the cause might be. Unfortunately, once a fish’s abdomen swells and scales raise, it will not recover; the fish will eventually die. 

But agian, I havent dealt with it and dont want to suggest anything false that might harm your fish. But from what I am reading, I think you must act fast as more time will allow disease progression. *


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

84 is too cold, go to 88-90 degrees, 84 encourages the ich to spread.

I had ICH from SFBB bloodworms get to my discus, I used 92 degree water and NO SALT, 2 weeks later no signs of ich.


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

*Heres an interesting fact about ich. 

"It has been found that Ich does not infect new fish at 29.4°C/85°F (Johnson, 1976), stops reproducing at 30°C/86°F (Dr. Nick St. Erne, DVM, pers. comm.), and dies at 32°C/89.5°F (Meyer, 1984)"*


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## Mikolas (Jan 16, 2010)

Thanks for the ich advice, it has helped me greatly to fix the ich. 

But now what to do about the dropsy?


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

Mikolas said:


> Thanks for the ich advice, it has helped me greatly to fix the ich.
> 
> But now what to do about the dropsy?


*
I have no idea about dropsy...*frown but ive read in a few sites to do baths for them also. Agian, I dont want to give the wrong advice and get flamed for wrong info. *


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## Mikolas (Jan 16, 2010)

Update:

3 Cherry barbs
2 Gold Rams (male and female pair)
1 Reticulated Hillstream Loach

Since the Ich problem, those fish listed above have died, though the exact cause of death is unknown.

Currently, 2 of the Roseline sharks, 1 of which had Dropsy like symptoms, are quarantined.
The dropsy subsided, but it is breathing heavily, and have multiple bleeding sites within its body as though somebody took a razor to it and gave it multiple scratches. 
The other Roseline shark is also breathing heavily, and swims with its head face down, which I assume is swim bladder disease. This fish also has bleeding sites, but at the base of its fins.
Both Roseline sharks have damaged fins.

I'm diagnosing their problems as multiple bacterial infections ranging from Dropsy, Swim Bladder Disease, Red Pest, and Bacterial Hemorrhagic Septicemia. I'm hoping Maracyn 2 will cure all this. 

Other than that:
3 otos - 1 dead, 1 returned, 1 missing in action
1 Celestial pearl, missing in action. 

I don't know how to account for missing fish, none of my fish are big enough to eat them. I checked the filter, and there is little chance they could have jumped out.


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## Username2220 (Aug 19, 2010)

Hey, I have a goldfish who recently began showing signs of dropsy. The symptoms appeared almost overnight and the fish was very swollen with obvious pine coning. I had quite a lot of trouble finding cures online because everybody seemed to recommend different things. By the time I found a promising treatment, my fish seemed to be back to normal. About a week has passed since the symptoms passed and it seems to be doing very well. I'm not sure if maybe the fish is still sick or if the bloating and pine coning were not dropsy at all but for now it seems like my goldfish has gotten rid of the dropsy without any treatment.


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