I think its dropsy?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
M

mamapuff

Candiru
MFK Member
Mar 16, 2009
888
2
48
Austin, Texas
I noticed my little BN pleco this morning when he was making his rounds on the front of the tank. He seems really bloated, (he's very fat to begin with) but his scales are poking outwards. I see scratch marks on his belly, and under is cheeks.

Now what freaked me out.

He has what looks like clear bubble algae popping out from all over. I'm pretty sure I caught this too late. He's always munching on stuff so I never see the whole him, just his butt or nose.

I ran back home at lunch, tested the water. PH 7.4 as usual, Nitrates 20 ppm, nitrites 0, ammonia 0. He's stick sucking away at the same spot too. So I chased him down, (fast little guy) and put him in a q tank and treated with the Jungle Labs Parasite clear with Prazi for now, as that's all I had on hand that contained Prazi.

What should I turn up the temp to? I keep the tanks at 80. What else do I need to do?

Any help would be great. Here's the shot I got of him, I will have to get a better one tonight after work. I know its kind of blurry. I took that of him last night, when I just thought he was fat and scraped up. Today is when the bubbles on his body showed up.

pleco.JPG
 
Anyone?

Oh well. He seems a little more "deflated" this morning. His sides are not nearly as round, pokey, and bloated looking as yesterday, but the bubbles and the redness is still there. He's just staying on the bottom of the tank, but when I touch him, he stays sucked on, so hopefully that's a good sign.

I am not feeding him during treatment, is that the correct thing to do?
 
I would add epsom salts, it will draw out any fluid, and also flush his stomach as it works like a laxative..
Do a waterchange 24 hours after adding the epsom salt..
(buy it at a supermarket or chemist, about $3 )
 
I agree with Luohanfan for what it's worth. I don't think I'd bother with the Parasite meds mainly because I doubt that's the problem and there's no sense dosing with something just for the heck of it. But Epsom is used for bloat and that's what it looks like.
 
I feel really stupid for not noticing this.

I did a water change on him and he was looking 200% better. All swelling had gone down, no more pine cone look, and the bubbles were gone. Even the redness had faded. He was moving around much more, sucking on the sides of the q tank.

Well Monday morning I noticed how pretty he looked. He had his top fin raised, his tail spread out and very clear eyes, sitting at the bottom.

Monday night I noticed he was still in that same position. I poked him and he was stiff. Dead.

Kinda disheartening honestly. He was my favorite BN, and my first. Do they normally have two sets of bristles, one on each side of their face (including the set on their nose)?
 
Thanks guys. I just never saw these bristles in the 2 years I have had him. Do they only open up post mortem? These things were huge compared to his other bristles. I still have him, and he looks the same. Let me um.. thaw him.. and see if I can get a good pic to show what I mean. Even my husband was like WTF are those?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom