Suspected Dropsy

[chayedan]

a week ago my brother brought home some leftover goldfishes from his fishing trip (the one large packet for $1.50 type) and tossed them into my tank.
the next day 4 of them died... and subsequently all of them died off in ones and twos. i decided to do a water change together with quarantine using OceanFree External bacteria and Fungus Away... and transferred them to a new tank. the first 2 days in the new tank was fine... but suddenly after a latent period my pure bred male guppies exhibited rot tail disease that spread very rapidly in 24hrs (claiming 6 male and 5 female casualties) and now i only have a single cross-bred male and 3 females left.
just when i thought the trouble was over, my cichlid developed prominent scales and rapid breathing, and lost his body colour... he just passed away, too.
i'm very sorry to lose all my beautiful fishes... and scooping out corpses everyday is really really horrible. i noticed that my albino shark is also showing some signs of inactivity... do you guys think it's dropsy? and do you all think it's due to the goldfishes (many of them had huge tummies)? shouldn't have put them in...
i don't have any pictures cos i don't have the luxury of a digicam or a phone cable... please try to advise... i really don't want to see my entire tank die off...

[vinz]

I'm no goldfish expert, but some species of goldfishes do look like they have bloated stomachs, though healthy.

Key signs of dropsy is extreme bloating, protruding scales and popped out eyes. Usually all 3 signs are present. The first 2 definitely.

From your description, it's more then just dropsy. Those goldfish brought in a whole host of diseases.

My advice will border on the extreme.

If most of your fishes are dead or dying already, quarantine them in a spare tank, aerate well, and add medication. Hope they survive. If they do, keep them in the spare tank (without medication) at least for a few more weeks. If they don't come down with anything else, you can risk introducing back to the main tank. Don't get too many new fishes by then... so, if the event repeats, you won't lose so many. If things are stable for a month or more, get more fish.

For the main tank, empty it, scrub clean and restart. I would suggest you clean the tank with a mild bleach solution (20 parts water to 1 part bleach). Rinse thoroughly, several times. When you re-start the tank, make sure you add a good dose of anti-chlorine.

For rocks, gravel, driftwood, boil them if you can. If not, put them in pails and pour just-boiled water over them and let them soak for an hour or more. For gravel, stir with a stick for a while.

If you have plants, see http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-qa.html, under "How do disinfect my plants".

A less extreme treatment would be to just let your main tank be fishless for a few weeks. If you have plants, use plant-safe medications to kill off any free floating patogens. The fish experts in AQ will have a better idea of what is a good broad spectrum medication to use. When you start to add fish again, start with a few you're willing to lose... observe for a few weeks, then get more if the disease don't come back.

[chayedan]

Gosh... thank you. it sounds horrendously dramatic, but i suppose it's really necessary... i'll adopt the scrub-tank method cos i dun wanna risk the disease coming back... >_<

[vinz]

Well, do quarantine the fishes first. Wait a bit for advice from the rest... see what they think.

[michael lai]

Hi Chayaden,
Sorry to hear about your fishes. I'm not sure whether it's the goldfish but being feeder fish I'm guessing their environment ain't that proper either. Like what Vinz diagnosed, there are more than 1 disease here. The cichlid probably had dropsy. But why the attack was so fatal I believe it's because of overcrowding when you added in the goldfish. My 2 cents here would be to throw in a heater, raise temperature to 30 degrees, throw in Befuran( yellow powder and packet )it cures a variety of bacterial both internal and external, off power filtration if any but continue strong aeration. If fish is seriously infected, you can bath them with befuran also( read instructions on packet) but in a quarantine tank. Observe for the next 3-4 days, before doing another 25% water change. My personal opinion, taking everything out ,scrubing and boiling is a last option because your tank will start from ground zero and I don't think the sick fish can survive that ordeal. May the force be with you.

[michael lai]

I also wish to share with you guys, I have no vested interests in the medications that I recommend. But I share with you medication that works for me. I have tried many different medications. Some works, some don't, some faster, some slower.