Hey, everyone....I have what I think might be an emergency with one of my goldies.
It's Mu-Shu, my female oranda. She's 2 years old and is so bloated that she looks like she's going to explode. She hasn't let go of any eggs in months. She gets pop-eye frequently, but it always goes away in a few days. But now she has pop-eye and she's hugely bloated. Can anyone help?

30-gallon tank, running for 3 years
0 ammonia
5 Nitrate
0 Nitrite
7.5 PH (normal)
2 Aquaclear 300 filters
Weekly 50% water changes
I use Tetra AquaSafe to dechlorinate
3 fish in tank (including MuShu): both male orandas, 4-inches long
No new fish added--all 3 have shared the tank for 2 years
I feed my fish spirulina flakes and ProGold
Scales are sticking out a bit, but I don't know if that's just because she's so bloated.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kristi

Kristi how is she acting? This will tell us lots.

You have some signs I don't like to see, the bloating along with popeye and some pineconing of the scales. Those can mean Dropsy. How long has she been doing this?
With the Popeye is it the actually eye ball or the flesh around it? In better words does it look like a bagel or donut around her eye?

If she is not acting well I would most certainly think she is coming down with dropsy. You will need to start treatment asap.
You can read my thread that is pinned on dropsy at the top of the page.
It is possible to get her thru it, but in the meantime you will need to figure out what caused the dropsy.

Laurie,

She's not doing anything out of the ordinary--you'd never know anything was wrong just by watching her. The swelling is around the outer part of the eye, not the eye itself. So I guess it's more like a bagel.

She's been bloated for weeks, but I just noticed her scales standing out today.

I've moved her to my hospital tank. What meds should I give her?

Thanks, Kristi

Oh boy..sounds like my fish and yours have the same problem....To the T....I dont get it..It doesn't look like dropsy but I dont know..Please let me know what you find out..Thanks Nikki

Hmmm, you say she is acting normal???? This is always troubling, a fish that shows all the symptoms but acting normal. You can be assured that with "a sick fish" and these symptoms it is dropsy, but since she is otherwise fine, it could be something else.

Watch her closely. I would at this point leave her in the hospital tank, make sure the temp is around 80 degrees (raise it slowly if not) and fast her a couple days.
Often a female can get bound with eggs (this will help with that).
If at any time she starts to pinecone worse or gets sicker then start with Maracyn 2 and Metromed (medicated food from goldfish connection) and use epsom salts in the water.

At this point I would do that though.

Well, unfortunately she's no longer acting normal. She just sort of "treads water" in one area of the tank and "glubs" a lot. I added epsom salts to her tank last night, and gave her a dose of Melafix. Should I add more epsom salts tonight? She's really pineconing now--I'm afraid I'm losing her!

Please advise!

Thanks,
Kristi

Hey GF~

Your salt is a GREAT thing. Way to go. The dosage I use, which I was told by a fish specialist I know, is 1 TSP per gallon of water. Do that for 3 days, and it brings it up to a .03% Salt water.

Is Mu-Shu eating? Does she look like she is going to explode? Or is it just the eye area? What's Mu-Shu's poop like?

She pooped some yesterday. I fed her a little while ago and she just ate a little.

She's really pineconed now. I feel like I'm going to lose her. My daughter is just beside herself.

I'll add some more salt tonight. Thanks for the advice.

Kristi

What does Mu-Shu's poop look like? By the size, length, width, colour we can tell if its a bacteria or parasite. Long and stringy? Yellow? White? Short? Thick? Thin?

It sounds like Dropsy to me. Usually its from poor water. It can be bacterial or viral. You need to treat with medicated food. With more information, we can give a better diagnoses and tell which medication will be most effective. Start doing a 20% water change daily, replacing the salt you took out too. For the tank she's in. So if its 2gallons you took out, add more water and 2tsp of salt.

Hi Kristi - not to confuse anything but please don't add 1tsp of epsom salt per gallon - that's too much.

Also, I think the best thing to do is read Laurie's pinned thread on dropsy. I had a problem once and used that as my guide.

You're going to need some stronger meds than melafix - that won't do anything for dropsy i'm afraid.

See how you go and my fingers are crossed - I really hope she gets well soon

qtmonki01, you are mistaking salt with epsom salt. Epsom salt is not a salt at all. Please be more careful and 3tsp per gal of water is 0.3% not 0.03%.

Kristi, there is a good chance that your fish has dropsy and you need medicated food like medigold or Romet B. Maracyn1 and 2 in the tank water. Warm the tank to 78*F gradually, 2*F per hr and lots of aeration. Here is no guarantee that she can be cured as by your description, it is at a fairly late stage but it is worth trying. Good luck! Fingers X'ed.

Where can I get Medigold or Romet B? Does Petco or Petsmart have them? I know I can get the Maracyn there.

I have Mushu in a 10-gallon tank. I followed the advice in the pinned thread and used 4 1/8 tsp of epsom salts. Should I do a water change before adding more?

Thanks,
Kristi

YOu can get some Metromed (which is prefered to treat dropsy) online at Goldfish connection. Are you in the states? If you let them know you have a fish with dropsy they can expidite it to you.

Thanks Captk and Jenw for catching the epsom salt dose!!

Epsom salts are very different than aquarium salts and while salt is a safe product to use, it must be giving in the proper dose or it can KILL a fish. (I know unfortunetly lost one do to a salt over dose).

Just wanted to let everyone know that MuShu passed away this morning. I'd had her on Maracyn-2 for 7 days, but she just never got any better. She was pineconed terribly, and stopped eating the last 2 days. I'm going to miss her.

I want to thank everyone here for their good advice. My goal now is to make sure MuShu's tankmates don't get dropsy. I took MuShu out of their tank a week ago; is there anything special I need to do?

Thanks,
Kristi

I'm so sorry, Kristi.

As long as the water is good in the main tank, your other fish will be fine. The bacteria is in the water all the time. A healthy and stress free fish can handle them.