Dwarf Gourami With Dropsy(?)

[Lisecw]

I didn't post this to emergencies because from I can gather, my poor little guy is too far gone to be helped. I need to know if the rest of the fish are going to be ok.

I have a 225 litre tank with 2 Angels, 4 Blue Gourami, a Gold Gourami, a Kissing Gourami, 5 Clown loaches, 2 Yoyo loaches and 2 Brstle nose catfish.

The Dwarf was a nice bright orangy-red. Now he's gone almost white, is extremely bloated and yes it looks like the scales are popping out. I'm not sure when it started, but is extremely noticeable now.

I do a 25% water change one week, and change the filter medium the following week. I have had a snail infestation which I've been treating with Snail Rid.

I don't have a spare tank I can use as a hospital tank....but this experience is telling me to get one quick.

Is dropsy caztching?

Regards,

Lise

 

[Cooky_luvs]

I'm not positive that dropsy can be contageous, but I know that two of my old thick-lipped gouramis died from what appeared to be dropsy. All other fish including other gouramis were perfectly fine. Sorry to hear about the Gourami, I hate losing fish.

~Danielle

 

[Lisecw]

I hate losing fish too. Last year I battled an ich infestation and successfully saved every fish. All my other fish look very healthy right now.

I just don't know about this little guy...he must be suffering.

Lise

 

[sylvia]

Dropsy is a symptom - not a disease. What your fish has is some kind of internal bacterial infection, which is extremely common in dwarfs and often triggered by stress. Considering the other gouramies you have in with him and the angels, that is no surprise - three-spots and kissers are all large, often aggressive species - not good tankmates for the fragile dwarf - and angels can be even worse.

Note, also, that your tank is currently very over-stocked. Silver sharks need a minnimum of 125 gallons due to their activity levels, nervous disposition and schooling habits. Angels, three-spots and kissing gouramies all spend their time in the middle layers and will all become increasingly aggressive towards each other as they mature. If your angels are a pair and they breed, you'll have even more trouble on your hands. The same applies to the three-spot gouramies if they attempt to breed though the problem with them won't be long-lasting (blue, gold, opaline, cosby, platinum and lavender are color morphs of these - trichogaster trichopterus). I generaly suggest a guideline of 'one three-spot per 10 gallons' and at least 20 gallons per kisser (but in a minnimum tank size of 30 gallons). Not to mention clown loaches need a minnimum of 60 gallons - though these grow slowly so will be fine for a good while yet. This over-stocking and liklihood of aggression emerging are a couple of excellent ways to get a dwarf gourami dead (and many other fish also).

Internal bacterial infections like this are not highly contagious. However, when the dwarf dies, if the other fish nibble it, they are likely to catch the disease also. The best thing, for both the dwarf and the other fish, is to remove him and euthanise him with clove oil. Put him in a bowl of tank water - make sure the temperature doesn't drop as you don't want him to suffer - and add some clove oil. Usualy just a few drops will kill a fish but, because gouramies breathe air, it can take a little more. Once the gills have stopped moving, add a couple more drops to make sure, and then leave the gourami in the bowl for at least a few hours. Alternatively, if you have no qualms over doing this, once the gills have stopped moving, take the fish out and smash its head (ie: the brain). The reason you need to either destroy the brain or let the fish die/drown when the gills have stopped moving is that there's a small chance that, ocne disposed of, the fish could recover... Slowly 'drying' to death would in no way be an 'easy' way to die (euthanasia literaly means 'easy death' BTW). Also, because dwarf gouramies breathe air, he'd die extremely lowly as he would not die from suffocation.

Oh and note, do not flush the body - dispose of it in your dustbin. There are quite a few reasons for this but the main one is to avoid introducing disease into local waters where fish may not be able to handle it as, not having been exposed to such diseases before, they'll have very limmited resistance to it.