Dropsy

[Lakea]

This is my first experience with dropsy, or at least that is what I suspect it is . I posted this on another site, but I thought I would share it here too.

Yesterday morning I woke up to an extremely bloated, bulging eyed little bronze cory. I knew that dropsy is usually a symptom of poor water condition so I immediately checked my parameters.

The parameters seemed good to me:
Ammonia and Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10
pH is about 7.4
GH - 150 ppm
KH - 120 ppm
Temp: 79F

I've been doing 20% water changes about every four days.

But I have also heard that with dropsy the parameters might be fine, but there could still be something bad in the water. So I did a 90% water changed and gravel vac'd everywhere I could. I changed out filter flossed and rinsed out my filters (in old tank water). I am also going to cut down on feedings in hopes it will help keep the water cleaner.

I also read that dropsy could be a sign of bacterial infection so I added melafix, which is the only antibiotic I had on hand at the moment, it may help, but dropsy I see is pretty hard to beat. I might try to find a stronger antibotic. I have heard some success with salt baths, but you can't do that with corys.

She hasn't had any problems swimming, her appetite is great, if she didn't look so funny you would swear nothing was wrong.

I've done a lot of searches but I haven't been able to turn up an pictures of a cory with dropsy, so I took a picture of mine:



She is very bloated looking compared to the other corys, her under side is a lot more rounded and her cheeks are very pudgy, and her eyes seem to bulge out (this picture doesn't show that very well) her fins also seem to stick out more. Dropsy tends to make the soft areas of the body swell, which is her eyes and underparts. I liken her appearance to a black moor goldfish.

I know dropsy is considered a 'symptom' and usually result from a problem with the kidneys. I have read of some fish spontaneously recovering from dropsy.

[Lotus]

It does look like dropsy. Good luck. I've had very few fish recover from it, but you can always hope for the best. If you see any other fish showing signs, you'll probably need to treat the whole tank (which would mean the fish have a bacterial infection causing dropsy).

[Lakea]

Thanks and Yes I am keeping an eye on everyone, now that I know what to look for I hope to catch it early if any more get it.

[Lakea]

Just an update, it has been three days since I first noticed my poor bloated little cory. She has not improved, but she has not gotten any worse either, in fact she shows no other signs of dropsy besides the bloatedness, so I wonder if it is dropsy.

Well I did check parameters on all my tanks and am very glad to report that my ammonia/nitirites are all 0ppm and my nitrates are now 5ppm (except on my 6.6g, they are almost 0 and my 55 is maybe some where between 5 and 10).

I will continue this round of treatments and see how things go, I hear it may take up to a week before I see any signs of change. But I don't know that melafix will be enough, I thinking of switching to a stronger antibiotic, I think I have some erythromycin on hand.

[Lotus]

This is a nice article on dropsy: Flippersandfins.net on treating dropsy!

[Lakea]

Thanks for the article, I never heard of medicated food before, but I am going to try and find some.

[minihorses4ever]

Looks like Dropsy to me to. I lost a goldfish to it.. I treated him for it, but it didn't work. He was actually up and eating until the very end. I first noticed the bulging eyes, and then about a week later, the bloating came. He died shortly after the bloating started.


I hope your little cory makes it through!

[Lakea]

Well my cory is still going strong. The only thing I have treated with is Melafix (which is probably mainly for external infection), I did a huge water change, added some vitachem and I have been running the carbon filter for a couple of days to remove the meds, I was told to run it for a week. I had to order medicated food, couldn't find it in stores, I am afraid it won't get here before I leave tomorrow for a week.

Anyways I just wanted to report that the swelling of her eyes has gone down a whole lot, they appear almost normal. And for a few days on side of her looked a bit... wrinklely, but is now smooth and normal looking again. The rest of her bloating in her body has also gone down a lot. My cousin will be taking care of her while I am gone and I hope she will continue to improve!

[Lakea]

I came back from my vacation to find a completely healthy cory, absolutely no sign of dropsy! I didn't even get to use the medicated food I ordered. I am so happy!