Dropsy?

P

PikeLee

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Dec 19, 2002
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NY
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***Originally Posted in Cichlids***

Gasping Cr. Compressiceps
Help!! My Male Cr. Compressiceps is Gasping at the bottom of the tank. I recently transferred a male and female pair into a 30g along with some target fish. All the fish were fine for about a week. 2 days ago, I noticed the male with a what looked like a fresh Black eye (the underneath of his left eye was reddish).

Since that, he's been breathing very heavy at the bottom of the tank. He stays in his little cave. He still has enough energy to defend his territory. But I'm worried that he might not make it.

All the other fish in the tank are breathing fine. No problems at all. It's just this one Male Dwarf pike. I started using an air pump. I'm hoping that this does something. But it's been about 5 hours and still no signs of him getting better. I also added some Aquarium salt to help. But still nothing.

Any Ideas on what this could be or what I can do to resolve this.

Tank conditions:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
PH: 7

:confused:
 
Just to give an update. I put the male Cr. (pike) into a 10g quarantine Tank. I took out the carbon and started to medicate with fluke tabs (I thought it was gill flukes at first). I'm on my 2nd medication and still no signs of him getting better. The Tail end of his body seems to curl up sometimes. He still continues to gasp at the bottom of the tank.

I noticed that he's a bit plump. He hasn't eaten in a day or so (at least I haven't seen him). I do not see any scales protruding. But since he's a bit on the heftier side of things, all I can think of his Dropsy. Anyone know of an Effective medication that I can use?
 
You've already done just what I would have done, so I'm just lurking here....

Dropsy is a terminal condition, more or less, when liver/kidney functions have been so compromised that tissues start to bloat with fluid. People used to think of it as simply "constipation" and add Epsom salts. I don't think so.

Wish I were more helpful...
 
Dropsy

I lost a labeo bicolor to dropsy a few years ago, my lfs suggested a broad spectrum antibiotic but it did not help. My understanding of dropsy is that it is secondary to another condition, but I am by no means very educated on diseases I have been lucky enough to not have to deal with them often. In my case I know the dropsy was secondary. The building I work shut down the air conditioning over a very hot weekend and I came into work on Monday to find my tank at 90 degrees F. Needless to say my three gorgeous balas were riddled with ich and were too far gone to recover even though I treated the tank, my labeo bicolor died of dropsy about four days later. The surprising thing is that my four year old cherry barb (took him in from someone who was going to flush him) who had ich so bad he refused to eat for two days did recover and is now (and I kid you not) about eight years old. Tough little bugger.

Good luck
 
Hey guys,

This New Years has been pretty bad for me (Aquarium wise). I lost a wood shrimp out of nowhere. One of my bloodfin tetras just dropped dead out of no where, and yesterday my male compressiceps died.

After I transferred him to the Quarintine and applied 2 doses of the Fluke Tabse, I noticed he was really getting swollen. He didn't have any of his scales at a 90 degree angle (pine cone affect) like most people say to use as a diagnosis, but he was a really big, especially for a fish that hasn't been eating.

He was still breathing very heavily. I went to go to the LFS to get some Dropsy Medicine (kanacyn) on my way home from work, but by the time I arrived home, it was too late. I'm pretty upset about it since the female was ready to lay her eggs and that was the only male I had. In fact, most of my LFS never even heard of the compressiceps.

Well, thanks for all you help and input. All I have to do now is disinfect the quarantine tank and carefully monitor the female that is left. I'm thinking that she's breathing a bit heavier too, but my girlfriend just told me I'm being paranoid.

After I disinfect the Quarantine tank, I'm probably going to put her in there and treat her with the Kanacyn to be on the safe side. Any one ever use this or know if this is safe for a planted tank? Take it easy and hope your New Year goes well for you.
 
Bummer. I'm sorry to hear this.

A question: when he was dead, were his gills standing a little open, like a door that's left ajar? I suspect gill flukes are the problem, and I hope you're more successful treating the female.

I lost my Singapore Shrimp just before the holidays...
 
Hey, I know it is a little late, but I thought I would offer you some odd comfort...
There is nothing that can be done for a fish that has dropsy, which is what your fish had. By the time you notice it is sick, the illness is too developed. In some of the really fancy (expensive!) koi that I have seen get it, even injections of antibiotics from a vet work only .001% of the time. Fancy, overbread Goldfish are really prone to dropsy. The best I can offer is to say it is best to pray for a swift death, which is seems like yours had. I euthanize any fish that I see with it.
Basically dropsy is the result of an infection in which the fish starts to retain water. Then this retention squishes the fish organs, like wetman said. Bacterial infections can be rampant in a tank or they can be isolated to one weak individual.
-vt fish
 
I don't seem to get the emails from your replies. Apologies for the late response.

WetMan, I really didn't get to notice the gills too much. I did notice that the underneath one of the gills was red. I'm not sure if they remained opened. His Tummy Sure was huge though.

I'd like to treat my main tank and make sure nothing is in there before I add anything else in. But I can't seem to find anyone who can tell me if Kanacyn is 100% safe for Planted tanks. I even sent the Manufacturer an email.

I found that Fluke Tabs are safe planted tanks. They're pretty friendly about that kind of stuff.

I've been monitoring the female really closely, and she seems fine. I think her breathing heavy was my paranoya. The other fish in the main tank look decent. Everyone is swimming around looking for a bite to eat, even the female pike. I think she just hid in her cave because she saw someone staring into the tank just hawking her.

I'm trying to look up what can cause this to prevent any future outbreaks but find very little. Only what it is and some possible medications...Well, thanks much.

PS. I thought I lost my other Wood Shrimp, but later found him. Them things camoflouge pretty well.:D
 
If it were me, I would not treat your tank. It sounds like everyone else in the tank is healthy, so I would not risk adding more medicine and throwing your tank off.
What I think happened is that your fish had a bacteria infection. The bacteria caused hemorraging under the eye. The bacteria got so bad that the body tried to defend itself and bloated. It sounds like this is an isolated case. Here is a loose example- Think of it like getting a cat scratch on your hand. If you are weak then the scratch can get infected and make your hand swell. If you are healthy the bacteria in the scratch might not affect you at all, and you do not notice it. I am finding that some fish are really prone to this- and my personal theory is that it is the result of overbreading. Although in your case the fish may have been stressed from being transferred.
Gill flukes are parasites and I do not think they would make a fish bloat, unless the fish was really infested into its belly... anyone care to comment? Gill flukes would tend to make a fish scratch on things and be irritated-such as gasping. A fishs gills are normally red, and a fish that is bloated and sick will tend to gasp for air. Have you gotten any new fish recently? This is most often when you see outbreaks of it.
I would keep an eye on things and then treat your tank if you see more problems.
-VT fish
 
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