Francis has Dropsy

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by Pufferpunk »

Thanks, I'll get that medicated food (I was considering that but was already medicating his food with metro) & the Kanaplex. funny thing though, the guy I've been working with, told me 2tsp/g of salt. So did another GF breeder at the cichlid swap.
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by Nuclear_Glitter »

Interesting. Maybe it's worth a shot. I'm really hoping he pulls through. I noticed there's detailed info on that video in the video description.
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by bertie 83 »

Defo worth a try pp.
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by Pufferpunk »

Not too many cary Seachen's meds. The 3rd LFS I called has it but they closed before I could get there. Hopefully, tomorrow, will be soon enough. Today, I'm doing a WC & feeding him Metro/TC-medicated food.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by RTR »

Maracyn is erythromycin. Maracyn2 will destroy the biofilter. The two together are a no-no for a sick fish. Dropsy plus toxic metabolites would be a painful exit.

The Epsom salts raises the osmolarity of the water which in theory can relieve the stress on the fish. The ideal would be to match the osmolarity (for practical purposes the TDS) of the water to that of the fish normal internal osmolarity or a tad over that value. But I do not know that number/value.
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by Pufferpunk »

He was getting stuck to the overflow. I feel there is no chance for recovery. He is now bathing in Clove Oil.

Good-by Francis, you were a beautiful fish... ='o{

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You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by kcartwright856 »

I am so, so sorry PP.

Rest well, Francis.
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by bertie 83 »

Sorry to hear this pp
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by Pufferpunk »

He was always so happy to see me--did his cute, sexy wiggle-wiggle dance!
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by eieio »

Very Sorry PP :(
you both fought very hard
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by J-P »

yes, sad indeed. Sorry for your loss.
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by Flutter »

So sorry for your loss :(
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by sgtmyers88 »

Ugh this totally sucks! :( I am so sorry.
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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by Pufferpunk »

Thanks for your condolences everybody. Even got a couple of phone calls about him today.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: Francis has Dropsy

Post by RTR »

Real cures for dropsy are rare, but at least you did the best you could for him.
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