Dropsy :(

As some of you may recall I put a post up requesting help for my pangasius shark who was all bloated and not eating. Well sadly he is not with us and Ill be surprised if my second one will last through the night

I have spent a ridiculous amount of money on all types of food to try get these fish to eat to no avail so after much researching I finally found the answer to what is wrong with my pangasius! Yes as the title suggests its DROPSY!! They have all the symtems......bloated, can only float(or sink), bulging of the eyes, lethargy and so on. So sad that they are doomed so glad to at least know what is wrong with them. Sadly it seems it is almost impossible to find the cause as there are so many possibilities and no real true cure.

Is this a common problem or has any one else experienced alot of dropsy?

 

Hi @CharlieB.

Dropsy is a b..ch to cure!!! I've lost some expensive Betta's due to Dropsy. I've managed to pull one of my females through. I isolated her in a separate container and added a little bit of rock salt to it. She did not eat for 2 weeks. After about a week I added pennecillin to the water (250g). Two days later I did a 80% water change and added BaktoPur to the water. Use as directed. A week later I fed her one BS at a time. To my surprise she started eating, but had to use prongs and put infront of her mouth. Week after that she started to jump up when I fed her. I put her back in the community tank a couple of days later and I'm happy to say she is doing well. I had a male with dropsy to... he died two days later. It is very difficult to cure dropsy. Stress is a huge factor in my oppinion as well as water conditions. But any ways, sorry to hear about the death of your fish. Dropsy is not very contagious, unless the other fish feed of it or takes bites at it if it's still alive. Good luck.