Red Tail Shark

Puffy? :sad:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it sounds like dropsy. It is not a disease in and of itself, but rather is an indicator of the any number of different ailments. From what I understand, if a fish is exhibiting dropsy (puffed up body, sometimes scales portruding) then he is probably beyond the point of being able to be cured.

This happened to my pearl gourami, and he was dead within 24 hours. We determined it was caused in his case by poor nutrition.

Does your shark still have a red tail? If he is sick and his tail is still red, then that makes me very nervous, because my shark hasn't been eating much for the last few weeks, and if it keeps up I'm afraid he might join his gourami friend.

I always thought that if the tail was still red then he is probably healthy.

Here is some reading on the subject. I hope there is something you can do for your shark.

http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/detail.aspx?aid=2801&cid=3784&search=

http://www.fishjunkies.com/Diseases/dropsy.php

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hddropsy.htm

http://www.aquariumpharm.com/disease/dropsy.html

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article24.html

what else is in the tank with him....?

Poor shark. :sad:

If other fish are catching it then it sounds like a bacterial infection. Best to isolate sick fish if possible.

"dropsy" isn't infectious, because it is only a symptom and not a disease. But the underlying problem could be very infectious indeed.

Hope you can get this resolved.