my water test from yesterday morning.
pH 7.6, Ammon 0, nitrite 0, nitrAte 0

last night when i finish washing the dishes, i found one of my chinese oranda with his head stuck in the penguin power filter. i was stupid for not attaching the strainer. i immediately unplugged the power filter. the fish swam away as if nothing happened.
this morning i fed the fish and went to work. i was prepared to do a water change after i got out from work today. i grabbed my buckets and found the chinese oranda flipped over on top of the tank. i immediately put him in the quarantined bucket. i examed him closer and found he has dropsy. his scaled was all sticking out and his arms all red. i dont think he'll make it thru tonight. i poured 1 TSP of stress coat, cuz i ran out of aquarium salt. anyone have any sugguestion on how to save my fish??? is dropsy contagious, should i be worried about my other fishes too?

Hi fondoo - that's so sad

I wouldn't use stess coat - it tends to coat the gills and can cause breathing problems. It's not something to put in as a substitute for salt i'm sorry.

There's really only one thing that will help - and that's perfect water. I can't see any raised scales - are they completely raised from the top?

Try and get some salt if you can and start adding 1 teaspoon per gallon - keeping track of how much you put in and how much water you will need to change daily. Did the symptoms occur as a result of getting stuck? Were there any symptoms prior to this?

Do you have any meds on hand? Medicated food? Maracyn I or II?

Please post back soon.

thanks for the fast replay jenw. i went to petsmart immediately and picked up aquarium salt and spoke to the fish lady, she recommended maracyn-two. i poured a pack and i'm hoping and praying that my chinese oranda will make it thru the night. after pouring the maracyn-two, my fish is trying not to flip over and is swimming with only one arm. both arms are extremely red.

i've salted the bucket with 4 TBSP of salt.

I hope he gets better <says a prayer> - and please keep us posted

From what I can see, he looks like a little beauty

Sorry about your fish Fondoo. I have also heard that heat will help stimulate the immune response. So if you have a way to raise the temperature up to 80 degrees or so that might help. Even if it is just a heating pad under the bucket.

There is also some debate about whether or not aquarium salt should be used for dropsy. Epsom salt is said to reduce bloating, not aquarium salt. I have seen it argued both ways on koivet.com and actually have not been able to decide myself. I think on this site they are firm believers in epsom salt, saying regular salt causes fluid retention.

Hope your little fish gets better tonight.

edit: Dropsy is not contagious. It is a symptom, not a disease.

what a relief..i thought it would be dead this morning. i rushed downstairs this morning to see how it was doing. the oranda made it thru the night. i did some more online research this morning and decided to pick up some epsom salt and a rena 200watt heater. normally, i dont believe in heaters, but in this case its a life and death occasion. it looks like its doing better from last night maracyn2 medication. atleast its not floating on top upside down anymore, but the scale are still sticking out. i feed it some flakes and it was really hungry.



video clip: video clip

dropsy link: http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/disease/dropsy.html

Looks very promising. Swimming and eating are very good signs!

Keep it up and hopefully he will make it!

I am so happy to hear your fish is doing better. I have one with dropsy right now so I know how you feel!

Best of luck!!!

goldfish rookie: what are you feeding your dropsy fish?

ColorFin (Tetra) sinking granuels, soaked in a small glass with tank water for a few minutes and frozen baby peas. I have been feeding a small amount of granuels in the morning and peas at night. It is important you don't overfeed.

I hope this helps, it seems to be working for me!

Chris

That's very promising fondoo - hopefully he/she'll continue to improve

As your fish is still eating get some medigold.
The red streaking may be septiceamia so keeping the water perfect is vital. What are the tests for your main tank and how are the other fish doing?

i ordered some medi-gold and metro-meds from rick today. hopefully it'll arrive sometime next week. i did a 50% water change(main 55gal tank) yesterday and todays water test are pH is 7.6, Amm 0, Nitrite 0, and NitrAte 0. Two large Ryukins, black moor and another oranda are doing very well.

How is today?! Hope the MertroMeds get there soon!

hey graham, my oranda is hanging in there.. the heater is turned up to 86 and it looks more active and isnt floating on the top anymore. he swims around and comes up for air. i do a water change everyday and add maracyn2. i've notice alot of white mucus floating around, i dont really know what it is. i've been feeding it pea's and it looks pretty hungry. i'm hoping rick's medication will come in this wednesday or thursday. i told rick i needed the med's ASAP, cuz my oranda has dropsy. his scales are still like a pine cone.

Hi! It sounds like he is doing loads better - that's great!

Rick sends stuff out fast - esp. if you have a case of dropsy - I have always gotten my orders from him so fast I can't believe it. It will prolly be USPS Priority Mail. MediGold is good but the Metromeds are for Dropsy - it has and additional anitbiotic in it - (I can get into pharmacy-geek mode later) - just wanted to let you know that you might get your stuff sooner! I hope so!

PS - the white stuff is prolly slime coat coming off - that's good for him to shed coat that might contain harmful bacs - and the salt helps him build up new slime coat (it acts as a mild irritant which increases mucus production) - good stuff! Helps him heal himself as the slime coat is the first line of defense in the fish immune system - even if you are treating an internal bac. infection, the slime coat slough/build-up will help make him less susceptibel to opportunistic pathogens.

Hi Fondoo,

I am going through the same thing and just ordered the Metramed and Medigold from Rick. We are eagerly awaiting the meds arrival. I wish you the best of luck on the road to recovery for your Oranda.

i hope the med's arrive in time. i thought my oranda was doing better. his scales are no longer pine cone, but he's still floating on the top upside down. i wish i could do more..
but time will tell..

I have had to deal with dropsy tons. What I always do is: quarantine, raise the temperature, add epsom salts to reduce swelling (1/8 of a teaspoon to 5 gallons of water) and use jungle's fungus emiminator. I also feed medicarted food. It always seems to help.

Dropsy is very contagious, but there is a chance the other fish will not get it.

I hope your little guy pulls through. I have a black moor that pinecones every once in a while (has done so for about 2 years now) but he always goes back to normal in the end. It is very strange, but true. I wish you guys luck!

this morning i woke up to find my dropsy fish side stomach all red. at first i thought it was laying against the heater too long and got burnt. is that possible? he's still eating and you can see from the first picture. he no longer has pine-cone scales anymore, but still floats on the top of the water.






rick's med's should be coming in today. he shipped them 2 days, instead of 4 days.
what a guy!!

okay. should i feed my sick fish metro-med or medi-gold??

You got it ?! This from Rick's site:
http://www.goldfishconnection.com/shop/det...uctId=9&catId=5
If you have any questions and you call him - he answers every thing as if you were the only thing he had to do at the moment! Good luck!
PS - no one has ever responded to an e-mail though - but they answer the phone.

I got my Metramed and Medigold too! My Oranda has dropsy and Rick told me to feed Metramed exclusively. He did personally respond to my email.

(Oops! I didn't mean anything negative against Rick or GC by that comment about e-mail- sorry! I have had e-mail commnications with GC in the past - I should have specified that when I e-mail a question on the button iin each product category, I have not gotten a reply - since the matter is urgent I just wanted to suggest phone would be faster! Thanks for pointing that out, JoH, becasue it came out the wrong way - I love GC! - and would not want my comment to reflect badly on them when in fact they are really fanastic about communicating with customers)! Best wishes for a quick recovery to your Oranda, too!

Graham no apologies necessary! In no way did your post seem derogatory whatsoever. Your suggestion was right on. If you need immediate attention, the phone beats email everytime.

Thanks - still better to be clear though!

How is your fish doing?!

Not too good. I don't want to hijack Fondoo's thread but I am on the 911 board too. Please post there with any advice. Thanks!

no biggy, jack of hearts. we're both having the same problem and its always good to hear other ppl opinions. i feed my oranda metro-meds tonight and he's been on the bottom of the QT instead of floating on top. thats a good sign....

graham: yeah, my med's came in today at 4:30pm. i'm so happy rick shipped it 2 days instead of 4 days. i was afraid that my oranda would not survive.

Hey fondoo, how many of those pellets are you feeding your fish? Are you going to feed him twice a day? I have been breaking it in half and fed them twice today. I am going to put Sash in a 5 gallon hospital tank tomorrow as Jack the healthy fish is eating most of the metromed. Best of luck to both our Orandas! We will win this battle!

i've fed my oranda 3-8 pellets tonight. i'm thinking of mixing the medi-gold and metro-meds, so my oranda gets both medications. i wouldnt feed the fish twice a day, cuz it will cloud the water. i'm doing a 35% water changes everyday, so ammonia and nitrite doesnt kill it..

Rick told me on the email to only feed the metomed. I would check with him before mixing the two food. Surprisingly the food came with no instructions except for what was on the jar. You don't think twice a day is OK if I do daily 50 % water changes in the hospital tank?

In case it helps anyone to decide: the difference between Medi-Gold and MEtro-MEds is that MetroMeds ahs one additional antibiotic, which is actually an anti-fungal that has anit-biotic properties (and is used similarly for people,t oo). THis is a medication called Metronidazole. Metronidazole is indicated to treat Hexamita (hole in the head) - amongst other things. I do not know about the connection, if there is one, between Hexamita infestation and dropsy. But, this treats both.

Both products contain sulphamethoxine and oremetoprim sulfa - like Bactrim for people - a good genereal all-around broad spectrum anti-biotic. It is bacteriostatic for gram - and gram + bacs so it can affect the good bacs, too - hence the advantage of giving the meds as food! As well as it's direct internal action. Hope both your fish are improving!!!

Hi Fondoo, hows the little guy doing? My Oranda is getting better. I have been breaking it in half but it seems like it is very hard to swallow for some reason. It's not just the sick one but the healthy one as well(Rick said it was OK to feed him MetroMed too). He seems to have trouble swallowing it as well. Does your guy have trouble too? I may break it into 3 pieces tomorrow. By the way, I don't think the stuff tastes too good because neither one eats it eagerly.

well, my oranda doesnt look too good. the red sores are kindda spreading throughout his stomach. he doesnt seem to having any problems eating when its feeding time. i guess he just needs time.

heres todays pict's

Poor guy! We will be rooting for him to pull through!
The fact that he has an appetite is encouraging.

much thanks to jack of hearts and graham.. i cant believe from dropys it came ulcer. i hope this little guy pulls it thru. i can see it lost alot of weight, even though he's still eating.

i dont think my fish is going to make it. both side of his stomach are now ultra red and bleeding. mouth are all red and bleeding. i believe theres blood coming out from his gills.

Im so sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will read your 911 post
He looks like my Fred! all bloody!!!

ok it looks bad
looks like some subdermal bleeding but it may also be internal

I strongly recomnd antobiotic food combined with Marcyn2 and 1
Another option is injections from
the vet

however before this can you please re-post all water params?

Poor guy!!
I feel so bad for him.

How is he doing?

not good.. this morning when i feed him, he was still floating on the top and couldnt even dive or swim down to get the food. his body is so bent out of shape. i cant bear to see him suffer, but cant put him asleep. i can still see him breathing and his gills are moving.

something odd... every since my oranda was sick, i've placed him a in QT bucket on the right side of the 55gal main tank. now, my two large ryukins, black moor and oranda #2 hardly goto the right side of the tank. they seem to be hanging around the left bottom corner a lot. could it be that they detect a sick fish next door?

Poor little guy! I would feel the same way as you. I don't know if I could put a fish to sleep as there always is a possibility that he could recover.

As for the other fish, who knows maybe they sense something. As much as we would love to know, we will never know what goes through their minds.

just wanted to let you guys know, my oranda passed away this morning 10:24am.

he's at a better place, fish heaven..

RIP

Sorry Fondoo. He was a beautiful little fish.

Fondo, I am very sorry to hear this. He was very tough - a very strong fish to have made it so far - because whatever he had, it looked bad.
He had a very happy life with you - all that clean water, big tank, and lots of friends and attention! What more could he ask for!
He is at peace now and suffers no more, that is the best we could ask for.
I am sorry!

Fondoo I am so sorry to hear about your Oranda. I really really wanted him to pull through. I know your fish's condition was far more serious than mine but we were both fighting dropsy at the same time. He was a really beautiful fish. Rest in Peace little guy.

I'm so sorry fondoo

He was a beatiful little fighter - may he

Fondo,

I am so sorry for your loss. He was a gorgeous fish.
I watched your thread everyday as I was going through Drospy myself and was completely oblivious thereto, trying to learn anything I could. The people that help here are sympatheic, compassionate as well as knowledgable. My hats off to them.

Best wishes

~Chris