Dropsy

Tonight just before doing my twice weekly water change I noticed one of my guppies had dropsy (thank goodness my shrimp experiment didn't work so I had my Q tank available). I got the guppy out and put it in a bucket of tank water until I got the Q tank set up and used some Interpet no 9. During the cleaning of my tank I saw another guppy that looked like it was starting with the same although not so obvious so I have put it in the Q tank too (rather be safe than sorry), I know from reading that there isn't much I can really do as they are unlikely to survive but wondered how likely it is it will spread in the tank.

I did a 70% change in the main tank tonight (double what I normally do)

Water stats before change and after change were exactly the same

pH 7.2
Ammonia 0
NitrIte 0
NitrAte 10
GH 6
KH 4

Oh Gypsy, that's bad news. You might find this useful -
https://tropicalfishfanatics.forumotion.com/fish-diseases-and-treatment-f30/dropsy-t30.htm

At least you have another tank to put them in which is a good thing, and you have started treating early, which is good.

I'm going to try my best with them anyway but I don't hold out much hope the one that looked the worst is now lying on the bottom although it did come up for a bit of food.

I just find it really strange as I do very regular water changes and tests and the results are never any different and everything I read seems to indicate poor water quality as the main culprit.

Am I right in thinking that to try and keep the risk low I should do daily water changes in the main tank for a while and if so how much would be recommended (I usually do about 30% twice weekly).

I just feel so awful knowing that there is nothing I can really do.

Sorry to hear about your probs gypsy. Here is a little extra info, hope you get things sorted :|
It also recommends interpet #9 so I think you're doing all that can be done

So sorry to hear that, Gypsy. My Dwarf Gourami that recently died manifested the symptoms of Dropsy in its final hours. AFAIK once that occurs, it's the end stage of an internal bacterial infection and sadly, there's very little that can be done at that stage. I've never heard of a fish actually recovering but Interpet No. 9 might help lessen the symptoms.

Well both look a little more lively today although their scales are still sticking out, I honestly thought they would have died by now, but then again I've no idea how long they would normally take to die once the scales are sticking out, I just presummed it would be faily quick. :|

Oh well the one that looked the worst has finally died. TBH if I had been able to get clove oil yesterday I would have put the poor thing out of its misery. The second one doesn't seem any different really it definately isn't any worse but then again it was only very slightly swollen and the scales were just a bit funny round the tummy area so maybe the treatment will work him then again maybe not but time will tell.

The rest of the tank still looks okay with no problems although the regular water changes have caused their own problem with the KH crashing so have had to add bicarb to the new water again. For some reason my tap water has gone from being a KH of 3 to 0 so I hadn't added enough bicarb to keep it up enough.

Well, well done on keeping one of them alive Gypsy, it is a rare event I think to get a fish through an attack of dropsy.

Thanks Diana, but I'm not going to count on it surviving just yet, it can stay in the Q tank until I am absolutely certain that it is fine, second dose of No9 was added today.

How's your fish doing Gypsy? Hope it's ok.

The surviving one is still doing okay thanks cam, it still looks the same but I suppose that it doesn't look worse might be a good sign.

That's good news Gypsy - I wonder how long the effects of dropsy last for? Are you still treating it with the Interpet stuff?

I haven't got a clue how long the effects might last for although I did read one case of the fish dying about a month later but it was in a worse state than mine.

The plan today is to do a partial water change and then re-dose with no9, but as they don't tell you what to do after the second dose I'm not really sure if this is right or not as the q tank has had the 2 doses, but I figure if I do the water change and re-dose it can't really do much harm.

Well things are getting worse again, I have now found a 3rd guppy with dropsy, I have put it into the Q tank along with the other one but have also decided to start dosing the main tank as it is obviously one of the contagious bacteria ones. None of the other fish seem to be showing any signs of it but the fact that that is now three is starting to worry me a bit.

Water levels are still all fine so I'm pretty sure its not a water quality issue :|

Amm 0
NitrIte 0
NitrAte 5
pH 7.0
KH 2
GH 6

I'm really sorry to hear that Gypsy, it must be so annoying particularly when you are careful about the water quality.

Bad luck gypsy, hope it works out ok.

Oh well Guppy number two has gone to fishy heaven and number 3 doesn't look to great either, looking at the main tank I'm not a 100% convinced that the other 4 adult males are escaping it either. I have given the main tank a second dose of interpet no9 tonight but I'm seriously considering putting them all into the q tank but I don't want to give them a death sentence if they are healthy and also with it only being 15L I don't think its really big enough to hold them all even for a short time.

Oh Gypsy that's bad news isn't it. What other fish do you have in the tank with them?

18 harlequins
4 BN Plecs
1 zebra danio (inherited along with the guppies)
1 baby male guppy (was bought as a harlequin )
and my cherry and amano shrimp

Hope everything is going ok now Guppy.

I think you're supposed to do a water change a few days after you've added the second dose of Interpet No. 9 as the medicinal effects are cumulative.

Oh well guppy number three has now gone. The good news is the remaining ones still look okay and surely they would be showing signs by now so it looks like that problem is over.

The only thing now is I can't believe how empty my tank looks after losing just 3 guppies (although I have lost some plants as well as my vallis just decided to collapse and die )

Ive been wondering how you were getting on Gypsy. Sorry you've lost another fish but I hope you are over the worst now.

On a brighter note, it does mean that you will have to pay another visit to the lfs soon, so what do you think you will do - replace Guppys or get something different?

Will go for something different definately, just not sure what. I'm going to wait a few weeks though as I'm struggling with the KH/pH, it just keeps crashing even though I added cuttlefish bone and add Bicarb at water changes. (I don't think it is helping that for some reason my tap water now appears to have a KH of 0)

Try adding some epsom salts to a bucket of water... give it a good mix up & test the kh & gh & see what it is. I will just check the amount...ok, for every 18L of water, add 1-tablespoon Epsom salt & 1 tsp bicarb. We tested in a 10L bucket so added 7½ ML epsom salts & 2½ ML of bicarb.

Also, as an alternative adding some coral gravel to your filter in a little bag may help