Dropsy Or Septicemia?

[trianglekitty]

Months ago I had an outbreak of septicemia that took out half my tank. With treatment the survivors did well and have been fine by all appearances.

Over the last few days I noticed one of the guppies looked a little off. Hanging near the top of the tank, not schooling with the others, fighting against the current, etc. Nothing very drastic though, and I wasn't sure if I was imagining it. Today he has some reddening on his belly, and his belly is swollen enough that the scales are starting to protrude.

This would seem to match dropsy, right? I'm hoping so, because dropsy seems less likely to take out the rest of the tank. Tomorrow I'll be moving him to a hospital tank (have to buy one first) and starting him on meds. The water quality checked out perfect- 0 for ammonia and nitrites, low nitrates.

Assuming it is dropsy, how likely is this to spread? I know dropsy is caused by different things, so that isn't always an easy question to answer, but just based on your experience with it. I know it isn't my water quality. He is a relatively new fish to the tank- about two months.

At the moment all of the other fish seem fine and are acting normally.

 

[Athena]

Hi - what is your tank size/water volume and current stock?

Also, what are they fed and how often? Do you use salt in your tank?

Sometimes dropsy will affect only one fish in the aquarium, with no ill-health to others. It all depends on what the cause of it is, as you know. It could be that this new guppy was frail before you bought it, making it more susceptible to illness than your other fish. Or there could be an environmental problem within your aquarium that, if left, could result in more illness as the weeks go by.

When the dropsy reaches that stage of bloatedness and protruding scales, there is very little hope of survival for the fish because by then the internal organs have already been damaged causing a build up of fluid.

If you could give us a full description of your tank set-up that might help in determining whether anything can be altered to improve things. If it turns out that your set up/stock level is fine, then we shall have to put this down to the guppy having some internal problem before you bought it.

Regards - Athena

 

[trianglekitty]

He died overnight.

The tank is a twenty gallon. 8 guppies (male), 5 hengeli rasbora, 8 cory cats, and 5 ghost shrimp. The filter is a biowheel rated for 50 gallons. I do 50% water changes twice a week.

The only thing I can think is that the guppies do peck at each other- maybe he was getting the brunt of it and it weakened him enough for this to happen? I check my water ever other day, and the levels are always spot on.

I wanted to add I lost another guppy three weeks ago. He was fine one day, and dead the next- no red streaks or belly swelling. I chalked that up to him being the biggest, but defiantly on the bottom of the pecking order, and being the oldest- he was an adult when I got him. So I don't know if that is related, and I have something going on.

Should I maybe treat them all with antibiotics just to be safe?

 

[Athena]

Well, it sounds like you're extremely viligant with your water changes regime, and you're not overstocked.

Yes, any kind of bullying/harrassment can weaken the immune system of a fish due to the stress. So that could be one cause. Even the fact that you're doing twice weekly water changes of 50% might be stressing to the guppies (even though it's for their own good, the water change procedure does stress some fish). Is there a reason why you change that volume twice a week? Once a week would suffice with a tank of that size with that stock of fish, if you wanted to cut down on water changes.

Guppies, in general these days, are not very hardy fish and don't seem to live very long, anyway. Are you buying all your guppies from the same source?

Regards, Athena

 

[trianglekitty]

Well, it sounds like you're extremely viligant with your water changes regime, and you're not overstocked.

Yes, any kind of bullying/harrassment can weaken the immune system of a fish due to the stress. So that could be one cause. Even the fact that you're doing twice weekly water changes of 50% might be stressing to the guppies (even though it's for their own good, the water change procedure does stress some fish). Is there a reason why you change that volume twice a week? Once a week would suffice with a tank of that size with that stock of fish, if you wanted to cut down on water changes.

Guppies, in general these days, are not very hardy fish and don't seem to live very long, anyway. Are you buying all your guppies from the same source?

Regards, Athena

Well, I basically am kind of paranoid, so I change the water that often just to be on the safe side. I feel like I am bordering on being overstocked- the fish are all rescues expect the rasboras, and aren't what I intended for the tank.

Maybe I'll try doing it once a week, and just monitor the levels in between to make sure I don't get a spike. I'd be terribly upset if the water changes were what was stressing my fish.

Most of the guppies came from my cousin's tank- she just let them breed out of control, so they are defiantly inbred and probably not good stock, though they look very healthy. So certainly there could be a genetic issue at play.

 

[Athena]

If your filter is fully cycled and you don't add extra fish to the load then there shouldn't really be any worry about ammonia spikes unless something dies in the tank and is left there for a while (or if you are overfeeding them).

Your filter is more than adequate for your size tank, so that's a plus sign and the filter bacteria will be at the level to deal with the ammonia/nitrites being produced - but if you are nervous over this, by all means do a mid-week test of the water (every other day on a fully cycled tank isn't necessary, either).

Your fish are not too many for your filter to handle and there shouldn't be any issues with overcrowding of free swimming space as your cories are bottom dwellers and will be out of the way of the guppies and few rasboras that you have, for most of the time.

Nice of you to adopt those fish, even if they're not the fish you ultimately wanted. As I said before, guppies don't live too long, so just give them the best life you can for now because more than likely they won't be around in a year's time and then you can choose the fish you really want.

All the best - Athena