Zebra Danio Beyond Help?

[homerhotspur]

One of my 3 Zebra Danios has become severely fat/bloated over the last few weeks. I first thought it must be carrying eggs but I think it is just very ill. Basically, it has this huge belly which is now all red blotches, veins etc. When in the tank , it just stayed on the bottom and sort of struggled around. I took the decision to put it into a separate small bowl the other day and it seems a bit happier in as much as it is swimming around a bit but is still looks equally awful.

I have put some anti bacterial stuff in , but how long do you think I should let this go on?

 

[SlyPolak]

Why fungal meds??? Sounds a bit like dropsy.. are his scales protruding looking like a pinecone??

Water stats, temp, tank size, and inhabitants would help....

 

[homerhotspur]

Why fungal meds??? Sounds a bit like dropsy.. are his scales protruding looking like a pinecone??

Water stats, temp, tank size, and inhabitants would help....

I think you may have suggested the problem, having looked it up. From above, the fish does indeed resemble a pine cone and looks very poorly. The tank is well established and little has changed over the last few months. I change about a third of the water each week. It is a 60 litre tank. I have some Cardinal Tetras, 2 other Danios,a few Halequins, lined Barbs and 3 Corys. I check for Nitrite and Ammonia each week and it has always been fine. One of the other danios was very poorly a couple of months ago, in fact I thought it was dead. It was lying on its side. I isolated it, gave it some internal bacteria med and it amazed me by recovering to go back in the tank. It now seems ok, but it does have a sort of humpback spine and struggles to swim down to the lower reaches of the tank.

What would you suggest for Dropsy if not anti internal bacteria meds?

Thank you

 

[SlyPolak]

Sorry for the "fungal meds" response.. reading too quick I guess....
If it is the dreaded dropsy I'm afraid I have never heard of anyone having their fish recover from it. Dropsy is a symptom not a disease in itself, it is caused be MANY different things such as other unseen ailments to bad water quality. I think the internal meds are your best bet if your stats seem fine and you dont see anything on the "outside" being apparently wrong... If its still eating what kind of poos is it having, if they are white or clear and kind of stringy it might be a sign of internal parasites as long as you are feeding it "coclored" food... If you are still trating with the meds., next time you dose , mix some in a cup and let some food soak in it for a few minutes.. I really don't know what it could be............
GOOD LUCK

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

My boyfriends zebra danio was puffed up and was pine cone like...Don't know if it was dropsy or not but it looked like it - we did a 100% water change and cleaned the gravel (it's not usually recommended to clean so much at once) - anyway we put it back in the tank afterwards and now we can't tell which one it was that was bloated and pinecone-y. If you have caught it early I'd maybe recommend keeping the water perfect; doing daily water changes (say 20%) for a few weeks to see if it improves etc.