Did Dropsy Kill My German Blue Rams?

[Ross]

I was lucky enough to buy some young GBR's 2 or 3 months ago even more lucky that they were male and female Anyway last week the female went very swollen.I thought she was full of eggs so I was not so concerned but after 3 or 4 days she went back to her normal size and a day after that she went very dark and hid in the plants.She did eat but stopped after day of going dark,she got smaller and smaller until unfortunalty she died yesterday 🙁 And the Male has started to swell now and I think its Dropsy which is difficult to cure.I very rarely have any deaths in my tank due to disease hence I dont have any meds ATM but I think I will go to my Local Fish shop in the morning to get some just in case.I do around 60% water changes per week and keep my tank in good condition so is this likely to be a one off?

 

[Dolly Sprint 16v]

Ross

Quote from a book I have "Interpet Tropical Aquarium Fishes" "Dropsy"

Occasionally a fish's body becomes bloated to such a degree that the scale protude outwards. This is due to to the cavities within the fish's body become filled with liquid. There is some confusion as to what causes this. It is difficult to cure and can be contagious, so isolate the fish until it recovers or has to be destroyed. Sorry for the bad news.

Regards
Paul.

 

[sanj]

It is possible to cure dropsy, i did it a couple of years ago with a denisoni barb. i isolated him in a 90 l hopsital tank and used the interpet treatment for internal parasites. It took a few weeks, but the fish did recover. Yet one case of dropsy is not necessarily the same as another.

 

[Ross]

I do find it concerning that the Male has started to bulk out but not as much as the female.I am going to get some meds today just to be safe.

 

[Ed Seeley]

Dropsy is a symptom of something, not a disease in itself. You can't treat dropsy - you can act to reduce the symptom of it. If you want to heal the fish you need to find out what's causing the dropsy. If it's bacterial then you have a chance - if it's a kidney or other internal problem then you have very little chance. The problem is it is very difficult to diagnose what is causing the dropsy so any treatment you add is a chuck-it-and-chance approach and could possibly make things worse. Fish may also swell from internal parasites but their scales shouldn't distend and pine-cone as they do in dropsy.

Personally I would remove the fish to a quarantine tank. Add salt @0.3% to reduce the osmotic pressure on the fish and reduce the amount of fluid going into the fish's body and use Melafix as I have found it helps healing and has an antibacterial effect. It is alos very mild with no side-effects that I have seen when I've used it. This may reduce the dropsy effect, reduce a bacterial infection (or at least prevent one happening as a secondary infection) and hopefully give you time to see if the fish will recover.

 

[roadmaster]

Might look at oxygen and CO2 levels afternoon and evenings. Rams in particular are sensitive to changes in water chemistry perhaps including the lower levels of oxygen and possible higher levels of CO2 that may take place of an evening when plants are using oxygen and Co2 levels may be increasing.
May not have sudden effect ,but might be chronic condition that occurs daily ,, and over time,,have negative effect.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all, Ed wrote,

Fish may also swell from internal parasites

unfortunately there are still a lot of very poor quality Rams about (often sterile and hormone treated), and they are very prone to internal parasites. The dark colouring and behaviour would make me suspect internal nematode worms.The other thing is they like soft, warm "Discus" water with fairly low TDS & pH.
cheers Darrel