I just lost Kata from dropsy, or rather whatever infection caused the dropsy. And now Mizuko looks like she could sprout a Georgia pine! I've already gone through the check list of water conditions and have started treatment but I'm so right now I could just I'm going to be just horrified if I loose her too!

I'm so sorry to hear that Liv

Thanks Mads. This makes me so made especially since I just got her back. I wonder if I might have done anything to cause these infections since this is the second fish in the matter of only a few weeks to do this?

When it rains it pours... I lost a fish in dropsy while I was in hospital with my son, who had broke his leg...
Sorry if I am just making it worse...

Any live foods?

Liv,
I hope Mizuko gets better for ya! I don't think it is anything you are doing. I mean, can't fish just get sick, even with the best care we can give them? You are the best fish mom I know, so I can't imagine it is anything you are doing! I hope she gets over this...keep us posted!!!

Yes but in the case of expert fishkeeper like Olivia who keeps the water params perfect, when a fish gets dropsy, it's quite possible that the source of he problem may be a bacteria or parasite from a food source. At this point, any live food, frozen food, or veggies become a suspect.

Humans have a great system of quickly getting rid of bad food that may cause harm to our body....vomiting. Goldies do not have that option.

Again, I am just speculating with my question about live food. However, as you stated, since Olivia is such a good fish mom, to me it is hard to imagine that it was something in the water. I would look closely at what she ate in the last few weeks.

hurry up and buy metro med from goldfishconnection

my lipstick have dropsy and i give him more air bubble

and i feed him metro med

Yes she had some of the live brines we bought last week and she started acting like she was feeling yucky a few days later I started an antibac treatment as soon as I noticed that she wasn't feeling well because I figured maybe I cross contaminated my tanks or something. I have a new rescue and I cleaned Mizuko's tank and the new guys tank just a minuet or two apart. I thought I was careful but perhaps I wasn't careful enough.

I rinsed the brines really well and made sure that I wasn't feeding any to the fish that were dead and/or rotting. She's also fed fresh fruits and veggies but those are blanched for about 10min before I feed those.

Did some one move this thread cause I could have sworn I posted it in GF discussion?

Rinsing the brines with tank water probably kills off salt water bacteria that are living in the salt water that the brines come in. However, it won't do anything to any bad bacterias that are living inside the brine.

Did Kata eat the live brines from the same store too?

what are water parameters (ammonia nitrites nitrates ph) ?? symptoms of dropsey can resemble many types of diseases. Besides your two sick fish have there been any other problems with the tank. Often the pine cone effect is the result of a secondary infection/virus. Check their gills. Are they nice and red/pink without fraying. If they are grey or discolored and frayed this could be a sign of flukes. What about their bellies. Are they firm or soft and mushy. A soft and mushy belly can be egg bound fish or kidney failure. All of these these entities can lead to that pine cone effect that you are talking about

No Kata died several days before we bought that batch. She hadn't had any live foods for about three weeks before she got sick. I only feed live foods about once a month and I usually feed ghost shrimp and have never had any trouble with those. My LFS didn't have ghosts the last go round so we got the brines.


My params in that tank are 0 ammo, 0 nitrites, 5 nitriates, ph is 7.7. Her Gills are pink and pretty. As a precautionary I always do a scrape 'n' scope of slime coat and gills to rule out common problems. Her belly is tight as a tick and she acts like she's pretty uncomfortable.

I would say that the brine is a prime suspect at this point.

I made the difficult decision to delete live foods from my goldies' diet a couple of years ago when Sosh got dropsy. Thanks to the overnight shipment of Metromed, he is still alive and well today. Many people, including a LFS employee who sold me the brine speculated that the brine may have been the culprit for causing Sosh's dropsy.
I say difficult decision because as you know Olivia, goldies absolutely love live brines. Depriving goldies of live brines is akin to telling a woman she can never have chocolates!

Here is also a quote from the book Fancy Goldfish by Dr. Erik Johnson & Richard Hess.

The quote is from Hess.

"In my opinion, feeding live foods is an invitation to trouble. There is too much of a chance that you will introduce bacterias or disease carrying organisms."

This has always been a controversial topic. Some experts swear by live foods. I just decided the personally I didn't want to take the risk.

Hey Liv,
so sorry to hear about the fish.
Just a question as I'm out of date with your news; when you say 'just got her back' - had had she been elsewhere while you were ill?
What are you treating her with?

Yeah Philip gave her to one of my neighbors while I was ill but when they heard I had recovered they decided to give her back to me.

I'm treating with metro meds and spectrogram, raised the water temp, and am carefully watching my params. I also increased aeration.

Hope your fishey is better soon

Hey, Liv, How is Mizuko today? Any better?

Not really. her scales are still sticking out but she's moving around a little better today. I'm not going to get my hopes up though coz Kata acted like she was on her way to being well and then she just gave up.

Awww I sure hope she gets better for ya. I sure would hate for you to lose another fish. Do you think it has anything to do with her staying with those other people while you were sick?

No they kept her in a tank by herself. They aren't expert fish keepers or anything but I don't think they did anything to cause this.

Oh, that's good!!! You know, I think something like this can happen to anyone, expert or not. I think no matter how careful someone is, a problem can always occur. So many things can hurt a fish or stress them out. I never knew just how many things can cause stress until I came here!!!

Yeah GF are some pretty delicate little critters. Some times I wonder why I love 'em so much. They sure do cause me a lot of worry but when I look at any GF I reminded of a lot of sentimental crap that gets me all choked up....Dang it! That just made me think of something. I gotta go write!

never give up
cuz you never know. Life Sometimes have ways to cure

Gees, Liv - that's too bad. Have you done any faeces scoping? Is there any chance it could be internal parasites? Tapeworm?
Have you spoken to Trinket? She is fantastic on anti-bac meds and always seems to be able to pinpoint the perfect treatment.

Yeah I always thought "hardy goldfish" was an oxymoron. They were developed for beauty and their immune system are highly compromised.

I really hope Mizuko pulls through. I know you will give her the best nursing care Olivia.

I remember Mizuko from the beginning, she was a rescue fish wasn't she? And she had some bottom sitting going on back then. I wonder if this has been a long time "brewing'? Although she was fine in between wasn't she... how is she doing today Ryuu?

Not good she's even more swollen. As if she could burst if you just look at her the wrong way. I feel absolutely horrible for her. I had trouble getting her to eat today and she's also bottom sitting now. I think she maybe coming to her end. If she's still alive tomorrow and there's no improvement I may consider helping her along. I can't bare to watch her suffer and I can see the absolute misery when I look into her eyes.

Hi Ryuu,

I know I'm not a Mod and am not supposed to give advise but you may want to get Gel/Tek Penicillin as it sounds like an internal infection. You may be too far along for any treatment to help but I have found this to be a miracle drug. It seams to help with everything BUT you have to only use it during emergencies or your fish will not get any benefit from it over time.

James

James - she's already feeding medigold I think.

Liv - have you tried putting her in epsom at all to help with the fluids? Are any of the fins streaking red?

She passed away last night.

Oh no. I'm sorry, you lost her You've had a bit of a rough time all round, hun. Feel better.
Pix

That was a very fast progression Liv.

What about injection therapy? Do you keep any medications for injection? Whatever it is that's gotten a hold of your fish seems very hardy and fast moving.

I'm so sorry Olivia. I hope you feel better soon.

Poor little Mizuko. Rest in peace Mizuko.

I only had one shot left over from Kata's bout. I gave it to Mizuko but It wasn't enough. Do you think maybe I should have a necropsy done on her? I'm keeping an eagle eye on my other fish and looking for sign in them.

I'm so sorry for your loss Olivia. You did all you could to save her.