bloated fish

Hi, Belli !

Welcome to AquariaCentral, home of the friendliest and most helpful fish-keepers in the entire universe !

What you are describing does sound like Dropsy, altho I will need to have some more information :

Are the scales of the fish actually sticking out, giving a "pine-cone" appearance ?

Are the fish's eyes bulging outward ?

Does it have any skin ulcerations ?

You have done the right thing by starting the Myacin. I would allow that to run its course and then follow that up by a water change of about 40% every other day for the next week or so and see if that helps. Dropsy can be attributed to dirty water conditions, immune suppression, or nutrition.... but the good news is that these are all correctable conditions !

Keep the faith, Belli.

Definitely continue the water changes and the medication. I have seen fish recover from it, but it will depend on how far it has progressed as to its chances of survival.

You did the absolute right thing by isolating the fish as soon as you realized something was wrong. I wish more people would think to do this when they see symptoms because it minimizes the risk of losing an entire stock of fish.

Tell me what the fish is doing today and if there are any changes that you can see. Is it resting on the bottom of the tank ? Is it laying on its side ? Most importantly, is it eating at all ?

No, Dropsy "itself" is not contagious because it is the end-result of susceptibility from poor general health, but it is a bacterial infection so you will want to eliminate the conditions that could be causing its decline of health. As in the case of most fish diseases, you will want to avoid sharing siphons, nets, and any other equipment between tanks if at all possible. Out of curiosity, when you do your water changes, are you vacuuming the junk from the substrate and the surfaces of your decorations ?

No need to treat the other tank for prophylactic purposes... yet. You don't want to medicate your tank unless absolutely necessary - so keep a "watchful waiting" attitude with the other tank and make sure everyone is eating and swimming properly as these are usually the first signs of illness. We will re-evaluate the medication issue if anyone in that tank shows symptoms.

Most of all, relax. I know it is very disheartening to have a sick fish but you are doing everything possible to save it. We'll be right here to help so don't give up hope just yet !

If he's struggling you need to put him in a glass of water and set him in the freezer. He'll slow down and go peacefully to sleep.

"Dropsy" is a terminal condition. Fluids build up because the fishes' kidneys and liver have stopped functioning. In really extreme cases the scales can stand out like those on a pinecone.

Bacterial diseases aren't very treatable. I feel that when a fish recovers from outward symptoms it's still a bad idea to return it to the community. It is likely to remain a subclinical carrier, asymptomatic but infectious all the same.

It's hard when a fish dies. They're so small and you feel responsible for them. Chin up! tomorrow is another day.

I think TnCgal will agree that at a certain stage medication isn't any more use...

I'm probably more pessimistic about medicating for bacterial infections than most people....

Yes, I will agree with that, based on the answers to the questions I asked earlier :

"well he is laying on his side on a plant near the surface reaching up to get air.
not eating
struggling to breathe.
i feel so bad for him."

I'm so sorry, Belli, but these are all signs that your fish may not last too much longer. I didn't realize his symptoms had progressed to that point, I'm sorry.

However, I differ from WetmanNY in the way that I do believe that antibiotics can help with bacterial infections ... I have seen too many infections get cleared up by medicating to not believe it works, but if the symptoms are so severe and the fish has stopped eating and is laying on its side then that is not a good sign for recovery.

How is your fish doing now ? Are all your other fish still stable ?

Belli,

I'm going to move this to the General FW forum since this is not directly a beginner's question !