My Oranda (his name is Panda) is currently suffering from what I think is dropsy. All the levels (nitrate, nitrite, pH, etc.) are normal. He was in a 20 gallon tank with 3 other orandas (two of which are tiny). I moved him into a 10 gallon quarantine tank yesterday so he's alone now. I'm currently putting Maracyn II in Panda's tank (I'm on the second day of treatment) and I've been feeding him a medicated food and peas (I also added some epsom salt to his tank). I'm pretty sure he has dropsy but I'm not completely sure. His scales are protruding slightly, but that's all the symptoms. He's swimming, eating and acting normally. This is the first time I've ever had a fish with dropsy and I just want to make sure I'm doing all that I can for Panda. I'm really attached to him and I don't want to lose him:( Do you think he'll make it?

My fish has the same thing right now and I've also never had to deal with it. What is the temp of your tank and how much epsom salts did you put in? I'm wondering if I should do that to my 27 gallon tank. I got maracyn 2 also and have been using it for two days now. From all the other members I've heard that they can make it if you catch it early enough. Being that he is still eating, that's a good sign! Good luck!

I'm sorry to hear that your fish is sick! I can definately sympathize! Good luck to you and I hope he gets better! To answer your questions, I've got my tank temp between 80 and 82 degrees right now. I didn't put in quite as much epsom salt as is recommended simply because I couldn't remember how much you are supposed to put in. I'll probably add more tomorrow. Panda seems to be in good spirits and is still acting pretty normal. He rests now just a little more than he did before (could be because he's alone now and there's no one around to make him move all the time). But whenever I walk up to the tank, he swims up to see me. I was also wondering, should I continue the Maracyn II treatment after the five days are up even if he hasn't recovered? Or do I continue with the meds until he's all better? Hopefully he'll get better before the five days are up and I won't have to worry about it:)

Temp is always a good thing. Also remember it will take time to get rid of it. It took my Dede a good 2-3 weeks for it to be gone.

Also another thing make sure you dont have hollow ornaments in the tank this can cause the problem, stagnet water in the tank can cause bacteria bloom in the tank.

As of right now, the only things in my tank are the filter, the heater, a bubblestone and Panda. The tank doesn't even have gravel (had a bad experience the other day with one of my little Orandas getting a piece of gravel stuck in his mouth). Plus the medicated food I bought is really small and I was afraid Panda wouldn't be able to find it in the gravel. Should I add anything to the tank? Oh, and Koko, how bad off was Dede before you started meds? I'm wondering how bad my fish really is. He's still acting normal and is fairly playful. And the only sign of dropsy so far is the raised scales. I have absolutlely NO experience with drospy and I'm scared for poor Panda!

I wish I could find her photos but there on a disk some were

She had Dropsy so bad that she looked like a pine cone and she had popeye at the same time the second time around. shes had Dropsy twice in ther life (2 times in one year) and still is around.

The heat and the medigold is what finally did it for her.

Its cureable. did you take out the gravel resently? and when you did was it really dirty?

I moved Panda into a quarantine tank three days ago and started meds and epsom salt when I did. The quarantine tank is new and Panda is the only fish to have ever been there. As for his original tank, the gravel was fairly clean. Though I do have so hollow ornaments it there. Did I do a bad thing by moving him? I figured it would be better to move him than subject my other fish to his medication. Should I move him back to his original tank and forget the quarantine tank? I will if you think I should. I just want to save my fish!

If hes acting okay over there I wouldnt worry about.

Thank you so much for your help! I feel much better knowing that I'm doing all I can for Panda and that other fish have made it through this okay. This is an awesome website! Thanks for responding so quickly, too. Panda and I both appreciate it! He's acting pretty much the same in his new tank as he did in his old one. He's not quite as active but I think that's because he doesn't have other fish around to make him move. Once again, Panda and I really appreciate all the help! I'll keep you posted on our progress!

Please do......Im glad to always see kind and caring people that want to help there little ones. glad you came in and hope to get to know you more:)

I'm very sad to report that Panda now resides in that big fish tank in the sky. My boyfriend found him around three thirty this afternoon. The weirdest thing is that he was up and swimming around fine yesterday. Then this morning, he was very sluggish (and very skinny). And he was gone by the time I returned home from classes today. I've been crying since I found out. I would like to thank everyone, especially koko, for the advice and support. Panda and I really appreciated it! It allowed us to have a few more precious days together that we otherwise wouldn't have had. Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

OoObubblesOoO, I am so sorry to hear about poor little panda. I am now going through the same thing with my little fantail, Sylvia.

I am sure Panda knew all the great stuff you were doing for him and appreciated it.

I also am so sorry to hear about the loss of Panda, I was really hoping that he would make it through this. On this site, we all know what you are going through and really sympathize with you.

I'm soo sorry to hear about Panda I'm sure little Panda knows you tried your best to help save him. *hugs*