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Home      Reply		Viewed: 354 -- Replies: 19
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Posted	hmmmm
16-01-2008 20:24 by Mathew	so the past two weeks, my livebearers have been dying at the rate of one every two days. Appears as though they have dropsy. The 'dying' one would lie on the bottom of the tank, breathing heavily and scales sticking out like something special. So i've been treating the tank with eSHa 2000 Fungus, Finrot and bacteria treatment (according to the box, it does more). So today i notcied some little white critters on the front of my aquarium. they're barely visible, (how i noticed them in the first place is beyond me). Also, there's some other sort of critter in the tank too. It's like a stem, with petruding parts to it, almost like a hand O_o And it sort of stretches out. Is this fluke? I'm totaly lost as to whats going on in my tank. And could they be the cuase of the deaths? *drumroll*
16-01-2008 20:47 by mwilde	What livebearers are they?
16-01-2008 20:53 by Mathew	i have guppies and endlers, only the guppies seem to be dying though
16-01-2008 21:31 by robert.pope	Hello Mathew sory to hear the loss of your fish ! I FIND THIS WEB PAGE VERY HELPFULL have a little look at Figure 9. could this be what you have in your tank???? http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA041 credit to the (UF/IFAS ) University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
16-01-2008 21:41 by mwilde	A good treatment for guppies is salt. Add salt and up the temp of the water for a few days.
16-01-2008 22:52 by Oscar52	sorry its not you selling them
16-01-2008 22:52 by Oscar52	not a good advert for your guppies your selling on ebay!!!!!
16-01-2008 23:53 by mwilde	Me? Just to clarify my guppies are perfectly healthy. But let me point out that who ever you are, and how ever good you are at fish keeping now and again you might have some problems. I would never sell any unhealthy fish, and have never done so. Im not sure if you were refering to me, but this can be damaging to people reputation.
17-01-2008 13:34 by D.R.	Good point Robert Pope, although those ciliates would be hard to see without some sort of magnification. It could be a combination of things, perhaps some gill flukes, bacterial secondary infection. You should really have a skin scrapping or POST MORTEM done. I submitted an article to fancyguppies.co.uk about guppy disease, which has the same characteristics as what your fish are suffering. The article is Guppy Disease...one to avoid There are other guppy health articles from other people on there. Regarding the stem like things, they sound like Hydra to me, copper kills them off, they would only pose a threat at very high population numbers.
17-01-2008 22:06 by Fry Lover	lol, some paranoia floating about here, well said mwilde but i dont think he was referring to you. He said he got it wrong. MATHEW - what other fish in the tank except the guppies and endlers? If its just the guppies having trouble i would be real tempted to move them all out, even the healthy ones. Have you got a spare tank of any kind? Or perhaps, also test your water parameters, although if other fish are okay probably isnt that, but guppies can be extremely weak, water params could be off, and its only the guppies suffering I stand to be corrected by D.R but as far as i know dropsy isnt usually particularly contagious, indicating water problems could be a factor in...... not a cause in itself but a factor.... Just wanted to throw the water quality thing into the arguement without sounding patronising. Water quality can be the difference between a fish fighting off or succumbing to a bacterial infection
17-01-2008 22:15 by telboy	i always thought dropsy was contagious
17-01-2008 22:20 by Fry Lover	i am not 100% Uncle i always thought it was just a sign of a general invasion of bacteria weakening a fish and leading to the kidneys or internal organs breaking down, so if a healthy fish comes into contact or even nips at a dead body, its usually not contagious i did a search just now, first link that come up was this, but DR will know, i used to swap e-mails with D.R when i was Lexter, helped me with my live-bearers http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hddropsy.htm read bottom bit, its only one link though
17-01-2008 22:24 by Fry Lover	it does say to try and avoid cannabalism though, thats one of the reasons i dont let fish die in my main tanks if i can help it, they come out when sick unless its something where the whole tank needs treating like white-spot
18-01-2008 00:13 by robert.pope	D.R. is a great guy ! he helped me when my fancy goldfish were croking it we are now enjoying the fry from the original fish
18-01-2008 09:10 by D.R.	Thanks for the comments peeps, but equally anyone who submitted a reply to the OP from Mathew deserves the same credit. Some useful pointers since my post, yes dropsy can be passed on from fish to fish, As FL said a separate tank is a good investment. Dropsy can be caused by many factors, viral, bacterial, physiological disfunction of the kidney. So without a Post Mortem or at least a skin scrapping Mathew cant rule anything out just yet. If it was purely bacterial which I dont think it is, although I do think its a contributing factor, then the strain of bacteria would have a tendency to be selective in fish type, eg those fish that are genetically related. As the others have said, check the additional things like water parameters, they are easily overlooked. I do suggest you check out fancyguppies.co.uk regarding guppy disease. Its very common and often goes without having any full explanation.
18-01-2008 22:14 by robert.pope	Hows the fish now Mathew?
20-01-2008 13:57 by robert.pope	Mathew try to visit and comment on progress please as alot of people have contributed to trying to sort your problem . feedback is a must all the best robert
21-01-2008 17:34 by Mathew	I do apologise, i've been extremely busy and haven't had the chance to come online. FRY LOVER in answer to your question, i have Scissortails and a pair of apistogramma cacatuoides in my tank, other than the guppies. And I do not have a spare tank, if I did I would just put all the troubled fish in there. A few days ago I noticed that my male cockatoo had one of the strange parasite (or whatever it is) attached to its fin, so I went to a local pet shop and talked to him about it. He advised that I buy interpret number 12, Anti Crustacean Parasite. It seemed to work, after a few days the fish stopped flicking and all seemed fine and dandy. But I noticed yesterday that all guppies and Endlers are now at the water surface, the males aren't even interested in the females, so that’s a sure sign that there’s something wrong, either that or they lead a secret life I’ve yet to know about. They aren’t gasping for air or anything, they’re just there and are not eating any food that I put in. Before all this trouble started, I bought some frozen food, six packets for a tenner..sounds reasonable. It was a make I had never bought before, so I didn't know much about it. And I also read online that over feeding guppies bloodworm can cause dropsy?? So the answer could lie with this diet, perhaps. I stated that yesterday i noticed that the guppies were acting odd, top of the tank etc...Well I also fed them a little of that food yesterday morning. I’m not sure what’s going on here. I’m getting numerous different answers from numerous different people, which is too be expected really, but still confusing. D.R- how does one go about getting a skin scraping done?
21-01-2008 19:23 by robert.pope	sory mathew if i sounded a little sharp in my previous message (only trying to help to resolve problem) Skin/scraping A good aquatic store should be able to do this Mathew. failing that some vets (vets may charge ) In the past i bagged a fish and took it into the store. best to phone first to make sure they can do this ! take a water sample to the store ! if its a good store they will do a water test for you. good luck Rob
22-01-2008 13:44 by D.R.	Have you checked the water parameters first. Anti Crustacean is potent stuff, I used it before and wasnt impressed, it affected my livebearers. I didnt have a parasite problem but used it to get rid of Ostracods in the tank, they keep the algae at bey but do over populate the tank. I used it at rec dose, WAS A VERY HARSH TREATMENT. Caused corrosion of the fins and tips of mouths in platies and swords Do a water change no more than 30% per day for the next 5 days. Do not feed either. A skin scrapping is only worthwhile with a microscope. There are registered labs that can do PM's you might have to contact your local vet for pointers in the right direction. Again they will charge a fee, even for small fish. I wouldnt treat for the next 7-10 days, let things settle down. Then consider a scrapping at the LFS

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