Ammonia level: zero
NirIte level: zero
NitrAte level: 5
pH: 7
Temp: 72oF
3 airstones
110 litre tank (30 US gallons)
weekly 60% water change
Two Fluval 3+ filters which each filter 700 litres per hour (185 US gallons per hour)
3 fish (blackmoor and 2 fancy goldfish) and a hillstream loach
Nutrafin Aqua Plus added as appropriate to each water change
Fish fed on sinking pellets, bloodworm and occasional peas
Tank has been running a year - all fish are just under a year old too

A week or so ago my other blackmoor, Blueberry, got sick and died . Still not sure really what was wrong with him. At the time my other blackmoor, Sharon, looked a bit listless too but no outward physical signs.

After blueberry died, I put the remaining fish in another tank. In the main tank I removed a lot of gravel, so now its about 1/2 to 1 inch deep and cleaned it as best I could. Also took plants and ornaments out and washed them (in dishwasher, no detergent), put new airstones on, cleaned filters as normal (rinsed in tank water, replaced half in each with new filter medium), did an 80% water change, and added salt to 0.1%. Then added the 3 fish back (loach kept in unsalted other tank)

The fancy goldfish seem ok. Sharon the blackmoor was a bit listless, resting on the bottom, but thought maybe that was due to stress and perhaps being a bit poorly - thought if i left her alone she might perk up. Then noticed she had one eye which had turned white/opaque, and she seemed to have a small cyst just behind her eye too. Thought that as water and tank were in good condition and there was 0.1% salt that best to leave her alone and keep an eye on her. She was still listless but would swim about to feed so had my fingers crossed.

Today she's taken a real turn for the worse - other eye now also going cloudy - cyst is no better (might be a bit bigger), fins clamped, doesnt move very much (in fact she was jsut floating about in the tank with the currents from the filters so moved her into a small tank to keep her stress levels down), floats on her side or upside down, seems to have lost her black colour quite a bit, and scales are raised.

Am assuming this is dropsy and probably not much i can do for her....?

See photos:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b346/rokki100/IMG_1771.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b346/rokki100/IMG_1769.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b346/rokki100/IMG_1768.jpg


The water conditions before both moors got sick were fine, but there was probably too much gravel (although i gravel vac at each water change...).
I have now added more salt to the main tank to 0.2%, but Sharon is in a different tank with the 0.1% salt (was bit worried about adding more salt as she's already so poorly)

Am getting really worried that i might kill them all off! And its so awful to watch. But not sure what else i can do? I live in UK so getting hold of some meds can be a bit problematic.

Please, if anyone has any ideas what's going on with my tank i'd be very grateful for any advice - it would just be terrible if the last two fish got poorly too.

What on earth am i doing wrong?

Hi Rokki
I cant tell from the pics about the raised scales so a pic from above would be really helpful if you can get it.
Sounds like a bacterial infection but flecks on the eye could be a type of fluke though it can also be because of the bacteria.
Have a really close look at the little tiny pore holes around her face and see if any look abnormal, such as any grey stuff or just bigger than normal.
If the fish has dropsy then adding epsom salt would be better than the normal salt and raising the temp slowly to 80f.

hello again Sandy! Thanks for replying - I've been chasing around any aquatic stores that are open near me in case i need to buy any meds/heater etc, and there is one I can go to tonight if i need to.

Here's another picture showing the raised sclaes a bit better:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b346/rokki100/IMG_1772.jpg

He's not particularly swollen so perhaps not dropsy?

Her face and pore holes seem fine, no change (althou to be honest i've never looked at her that closely before)

The white stuff on her eyes isnt like flecks - it looks more 'solid' than that (pic 2 from my first post probably shows it best)

What on earth am i doing to my fishy's?

Am also worried because i am going to visit my mum tomorrow aftenoon for the whole weekend, and dont want to just leave her.

Going by that pic its definately dropsy and the swelling will probably follow. Once the scales are raised there is very little that you can do.
As you are going away for the weekend then you will be leaving her at a critical time as you need to add epsom salt at 1/5th of a teaspoon per 3 gallons uk and then slowly raise the temp to 80f. If you can do that before you leave then she might stand a chance of still being alive when you get back.
Bacterial problems are quite common if the immune system isnt working properly so keep doing water changes.

An antibacterial med from interpet can be added to the water which hopefully will help as well.

Could you email me so i can talk to you about something, thanks. You will be able to use my email link in my profile.

Hi Sandy - its saying that i'm not allowed to send you an email....?

Its 1/8th of a teaspoon per 3 gallons uk not 1/5th

As i can edit this post i will give you my email address here and then take it out after you reply to say you got it.

White in the eyes are also a sign that there was damage whether it be Trauma /poor water quality/Toxins in the water- at one time.Being that it's both eyes I'm wondering if your tank readings had spiked recently,and that the cloudy eyes may be a result of that?Dropsy is a symptom so it could have come from that.
Buying a heater definately will help along with Sandy's suggestion of Epsom Salt.A good round of Antibacterial meds and food will also be needed.

thanks for all the advice and concern - Sharon is still holding on but is still very poorly. Have been to get some meds - have got Interpet anti internal bacterial, and some extra salt. There were no smallish heaters, and the large ones were expensive so will have to leave temp as it is (which is 72oF at the moment - will leave central heating on all day and night to help as well)

The container we've got Sharon in at the moment is really too small, so am going to reduce the filters flow a bit and reposition the flow outlet so that there isnt so much current in the main tank, then i can put Sharon back in there.

My question now is - should i continue to salt the tank? Its currently at 0.2%. I dont have epson salts so its just aquarium salt i'm putting in. Do I put the meds in with the salt or after a few days when i've water changed the salt out of the water? Or should I get the salt level right down and use the med?

Have just read the medicine guidelines (should have done that before i posted!) - it says it works best at 0.2% salt so have added the meds to the tank

Anyone reading this keep your fingers crossed for Sharon!

I know the meds say to salt to .2 but aquarium salt stops the fluid coming from the fish whereas epsom salt will draw it out.

Good luck with her.

There's some debate over whether salt doesn't do more good than epsom salt and recently my friend's fish (a beautiful koi) had dropsy so I did some research and I happened across this thread at koivet (posted by Richard E Carlson - REC):

Dropsy

So we followed it to the letter (replacing the meds with those available in Australia) and for now, Paula's Koi is showing some improvement. The swelling has diminished some and he's now eating.

I don't think there's a right or wrong but it's definitely food for thought

Food for thought indeed Jen. Interesting article.

hello there! Sharon's still hanging on. Still fairly still at bottom of tank but fins dont seem as clamped as they were, and am certain that her scales arent sticking out as much but a bit difficult to see as she's resting under a clear plastic 'waterfall' thiingy (had to turn bubbles to this right down so it didnt stress her too much). I think she likes it in there because the other fish dont go there and it's fairly still water (no currents from the filters), just some small gentle bubbles at the top.

Anyway, i think i see some improvement, but it might be wishful thinking!

Keep everything crossed for us guys!

I am glad that you seem to be seeing some kind of improvement on her.Good luck and hopefully she pulls through.