Dropsy

[Mirepoix]

Hey. So it turns out that my treament of Consipation really didn't do much b/c sushi has Dropsy. His scales are slightly raised now. Is there any last minute things i could try? over the past year and a half i have kinda gotten attatached to this guy... Ideas? How long will he probably last? is it best to just let him die or would "putting him to sleep" be better for him?

He still has appetite, he can swim fine, but when he lays on the gravel he is on one side, and his fins aren't clamped. He still even will flare at his reflection... what do i do? how could he have gotten this? i feel like a failure :(

[Kittles]

As far as I know, dropsy is not a curable disease and how it's contracted is unknown. However, some fish that do come down with it are capable of living quite a long time, so euthanasia should be out of the picture. Hopefully yours is one of the more resilient ones, right? Even if not, a year and a half seems like quite a time - you can never be sure how old they are upon purchasing them (unless they're fry or clearly infantile).

Regardless, I'm sorry this has happened. I've noticed my fish has been a little pudgy lately, so I've been fasting him in hope that it'll diminish. I've also been watching his scales, but I think I've become a little obsessive and may be visualizing problems that don't really exist!

[Oldfishlady]

Dropsy is a symptom and often caused or seen in fish that have kidney damage from long term salt use, poor water quality, bacterial infection etc...
Usually once dropsy occurs not many fish recovery regardless of treatment.
As long as the fish is not suffering let nature take its course, however, when a fish is suffering it is in the best interest to humanly euthanize them
What treatment have you tried?

[Mirepoix]

I have tried the salt baths (1 tsp epson salt to 1 gallon), the pea, water changes and maracyn (sp?) i only have the original or whatever, not the maracyn 2, since no where i live carries it

[Oldfishlady]

It sounds like you have done all that can be done, one question....what kind of water changes did you do with the treatments? Since I rarely if ever use antibiotic I am not sure of the difference in the meds you used from 1 an 2..