i just came back from my aunts today only too see my comet (4.5 yrs old) lying on the bottom of the tank with his dorsal fin down.. no movement in him... i looked at him closely and saw his stomach is drooped really far down and on the underside of it is all scratched up and bloody (i put melafix just now) how did this occue.. hes the only fish there and there nothing sharp.. is it cancer????

Ramy

ouch! I have no idea but I'm having sympathy pains for him...

oh no!! it might be something bacterial, I hope someone comes along with more helpful advice. Is the water ok? Have you posted this in diseases & diagnosis? Someone there might be able to help sooner. I hope your fish gets through it ...good luck

What are your water params - do you have any ornaments in there that he could have wedged himself under & gotten stuck??? (& then gotten out from under & scraped himself in the process???)

Hmmmm - post back soon!

Jenn

EEEEK!!! that's horible! I'd add some salt asap!! :crp

water params perfect... nitrates arent high only in 20's.. nothing in the tank can hurt him... its impossible to get hurt in the tank i made!!... i have no idea what to do... but is it usual for a cut to make the stomach sag??? i am starting to think its cancer (cause of the bump on his underside and its really red)

its getting serious now.. i touch him and he doesnt even respond.. he just falls over on his side... i got a good look at it.. it's sagging 2 cm more then below his head and it isnt bloody but yet bronzey red... it almost looks fleshy or scabby....

whats going to happen???

theres progress.... he started to swim a bit... really wobbily and he kept falling back down to the gravel... anyone help????

It could be an abcess (sorry, can't spell).. I think a picture will help.
does it look like this?



Just watch him slowly, and as long as the fish is eating, there is hope.

no.. i think it is dropsy.. and the reason for the blood is cuz of dragging along the gravel so much...

it says dropsy mortality rate is high.. i have medicine.. im just hoping it'll work.. how long od you think until i see results??

I have no experience on dropsy, never seen it in my life. Sorry

its really weird now.. the bottom has turned all fleshy blood, no protruding scales though.. but every 2 minutes he will jump up swim go to the surface scavenge for food as if he was fine but then all of a sudden he plumps back to the bottomm.
help

Ramy

But the question is do you know for sure what is wrong? And is the fish still eating normal?

well, to be honest, it doesnt look good for your little guy. these abdominal swellings, accompanied by erratic behavior, are usually indicative of some serious internal problems that cant be sorted out with treatments. the best thing you could do if you wanted to try save your little guy is to keep him warm (80F) and feed him a medicated food such as medigold or metromed. of course, keeping the water as pristine as possible helps loads.

if he continues to do poorly, you might want to think about eutanization........

Do you mean that the organs are melting? Because some other post said something about he organs melting

thanks for the replies... its weird... yesterday night he swam like nothing was wrong and then now he's plopped on the bottom of the tank.. you mean there is no cure??? how did it happen tho?

would pictures help??? it just may be a slash of flesh but i need someone else's eyes... should i go take a pic>?

Pics always help when you're trying to describe something like this!

Post Away!!!

my camera isnt recharged.. gotta wait.. but he seems as though nothing is wrong now.. he acts like he always did, contantly movinga nd he stoill has his eating habits (tearing away lettuce from the snails.. eating brocolli etc.. lol just his stomach is bright bred.. i put melafix to see if it would help clear it up.. still no signs of that happening.. after all its only been 3 dosages so far...

thanks for the replies


ramy

It does sound like a bacterial infection. As mentioned earlier, if you have a good medicated food, it would be wise to feed that.

a pic would definitely speak volumes. try to get one for us.

im a bit confused, is this a swelling protruding from his belly or is it just a cut?

im as confused as you... it used to be the stomach was swollen and there was a large rectangular red patch that looked fleshy.. now the stomach is normal and the red patch shrunk and is a slightly lighter red is he getting better??? i guess it may of been just a cut.. cuz he is acting normal.. but what could cause a cut in the shape of a 1 cm wide by 2 cm long rectangle?? theres nothing sharp in the tank

my cam isnt working.. i dont know why:O

Just a guess -

Red streaks and a red underbelly - it could be septicimia - which is blood poisioning from a bacterial infection.

Medicated food and medicated water treatment. Septicimia can be healed if it hasn't progressed far enough to damage the organs.

if its clearing up and starting to look better, thats good. it may very well have just been a cut.

was the swelling like a swelling around a cut we would get? or was it more of a constipated looking bloated swelling?

either way, as with all injuries like a cut or abrasion, very clean water, visual monitoring and even feeding medicated foods and/or using melafix is what is called for.

honestly, it only takes the slightest bumps to the underbelly to cause an abrasion or cut. theres much smaller scales there so theres a bit less armorlike protection. do you have gravel? any ornaments at all? even filter intake tubes can cause this if theyre hit hard enough.

keep us posted, okay?