Help?

[chelseawinners]

i have noticed today that one of my danios is looking slightly bloated around the belly with all what looks like his scales both sides and on top of his body they look like they have lifted? like spikey? he seems to be swimming ok but seems to swim near the inlet pipe near the surface a lot?

any ideas and should i worry?

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm afraid that's dropsy, and once the scales have started to lift like that it's normally too late to save the fish You could try giving it salt baths (aquarium or Epsom salt; 1 or 2 tablespoons dissolved in a gallon of tank water, leave the fish in for 30 minutes)

Dropsy is more usually a symptom of poor water quality rather than a disease in itself, so you might want to check the levels of ammonia and nitrite in your tank.

How big is the tank, how long has it been set up and what fish are in there? how often do you water change, and how much at a time? Was the tank cycled and how to you maintain your filter?

 

[chelseawinners]

wow i never thought id get that.

i always do a 30% water change every 2 weeks,l have a 125 litre tank and it currently houses 3 harlequin rasboros,5 zebra danios,2 bronze corys,1 apple snail,2 dalmation mollies and 2 algae eaters
i have had my tank set up for just over a year now, 3 months ago i changed the internal filter the fluval u3 to an external fluval 205 filter that has biomax in 2 trays followed by filter floss on top of them,the last tray has one bag of carbon and one bag of amonia remover as recomended by a friend. is this a good set up?
i usually test the water every month and i tested it yesterday there is a slight increase of amnonia at 0.25ppm and the nitrate level was between 0.40ppm and 0.80ppm i couldnt tell the difference between the red colour )i have 6 live lants and 2 artificial plants in the tank.
usually it is around the 0.20ppm mark as the water from my tap houses nitrate at 0.40ppm we live in a crap area, i changed 30 % water just now is there anything else i should or could do? will it spread to the other fish? i believe the nitarte level may of shot up because of one of my plants on one side is dead but i didn't see it until just now after siphoning the gravel around it (poor housekeeping on my part as i broke my leg recently)
anyway i don't want to loose any more fish so what should/could do now to sort/rectify this?

 

[fluttermoth]

Your nitrate levels are not a cause for concern; I would be worried about your ammonia reading though; your tank is old enough that it should be cycled and you shouldn't be seeing any ammonia at all.

Are you replacing the filter media at all or washing it in tap water, or too thoroughly? Remembering to dechlorinate every time?

Un the meantime a few big water changes (25 or 30% every day for three or four days), and keep testing the levels.

I'd get rid of the 'ammonia remover' whatever it is; it's obviously not doing what it's supposed to and your good bacteria should be using up all the ammonia for you. More biomax or sponge would be better.

 

[chelseawinners]

thanks i appreciate it, i'll take out the amonia remover during tomorrows water change and replace it with some sponge as i have 2 draws full of biomax at the moment.
i when i clean the filter i always wash/rinse the biomax in the same tank water that i have taken out and i haven't replaced any biomax in the last 6 months and if i did then i'd only do say half or less at a time as i don't want to run the risk of getting rid of too much healthy bacteria and then spiking my tank.
its weird as my tap water has amonia in it too exactly 0.25ppm and whenever i ready my big 35 litre bin i always teat it with prime as it has amonia remover as well as chlorine and chloramine too which i am told is better than stress zyme?
anyway i will change 30% every day for the next week and keep testing the water every day too/

a big thanks and i'll let you know how i get on

 

[fluttermoth]

Ah..now, I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that Prime could give a false ammonia reading as it breaks the chem,bond of the chloramine.

It sounds like you're doing everything right; you must always bear in mind that sometimes fish just do get sick and it's just life; not necessarily anything you've done.

 

[chelseawinners]

ah ok so i will go back to stress zyme then and hopefully my readings will be accurate within a few hundred water changes lol
now i am off to the chemist to buy some clove oil for my deed later on i may just buy some jd to help me too
this sucks

 

[fluttermoth]

Go for the JD; I know I shouldn't encourage drinking, but in this case I think you'd be well justified!

When people suggest strong alcohol for euthanising fish I always say yes; use the clove oil on the fish and the alcohol for you

You have all our deepest sympathies, I'm sure.

 

[chelseawinners]

cheers people it so nice to know that i am not alone in this at all,thanks a lot and it does mean a lot.
now to pluck up the courage to do the deed...
wish me luck...