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Yikes! whats wrong with my zebra danio?

7874 Views 12 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  frozenbarb
I just noticed this morning that my zebra danio looked really fat, I looked closer and his colors have semi faded but all his scales are really flared!

What does this mean?
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well crap! i wonder how this happened.

Could this of happened from my adding Bio-Coat into the tank?
My gourami had some cuts on him so i added some bio-coat I had, the right amount for my tank size. And only just this morning did the danio show signs of this problem. I added the bio-coat 2 days ago.

My water conditions are extremely healthy.


Treatment:
It is difficult to treat, but in some cases where the problem is due to bacteria, if detected early enough, it can be treated. This is why you should closely examine the fish's environment for a bacterial problem, and deal with the source of the problem as a part of treatment and preventative.

By the time the scales begin to raise, however, it is very fatal to the fish. Salt baths can help to draw the fluid out of the fish. A variety of medications can be purchased that treat dropsy, which sometimes occurs due to an internal bacterial problem. Medications for external bacterial problems only will not be effective for this problem.

Gouramies and Cyprinids are highly susceptible to this disorder.

This information is good however the treatment info is terrible. I can't tell if anything is wrong with the bacteria. And oh... let me just throw my fish into some saltwater without knowing how much salt to water ratio to use, ill just use the entire can of salt yea? psshh (sorry, having a bad day due to registerfly.com's retardedness)
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hmmf, im not going to spend money to save this fish that was accidently sold to me as a feeder guppy for my ghost knife.

Well, we'll see what happens. I placed him in a 10gal bucket with a filter running and a heater in it. Added cure-ick that helps for ick and other diseases. I also added a little bit of epsom salt.
Poor lil guy. There's some other info on dropsy here. Sure, it's targeted to carp, but better than nothing. http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/disease/symptom/byname.htm
I'm not sure how well this separate bucket tank is going to do without being cycled. I added a filter from my other tank to this filter... which in theory will only speed up the process. I doubt adding ammonia to this 'hospital tank' is any good at all, heh.
if its dropsy then then the fish will most likely die...ive never had a fish recover...nor have i ever heard of a fish recovering after it has bloated up
With a well established filter, I wouldn't be surprised if your bucket never shows any nitrite or ammonia, I've done it and my bucket has remained cycled for over a year with just an airstone and a used carbon insert.

I agree that dropsy isn't very promising for any fish, you'll be hard pressed at ever knowing what actually caused it let alone treat it. Maybe with a broad spectrum antibiotic at best but it's internal so unlikely that any fish will survive once the symptoms have progressed to the point of being visible to the human eye.
WAIT! If they are fat and swimming normal, they could be just fat from eating. Danios are fast swimmers and can be pigs. I used to have zebra danios and a few were very fat, not from dropsy, but from overeating. Being fast swimmers, they always get to the food. The best way to tell is to seperate them from the rest and put them on a diet, by feeding them very small portions very 2-3 days. Unfortunately, if you put them back, they would probably start eating allot again and become fat.
No, if the scales are flared up, it can only be dropsy. If you look from the top, it would look like a pinecone.

Unfortunately, yes, a fish RARELY ever recovers from dropsy. Sorry, but it will likely die within the next few weeks. The important thing is to keep it separate from the other fish, and to check your water to make sure it is in good shape. I dont really know what triggers dropsy, but it happens.
well crap! i wonder how this happened.
Unfortunately, dropsy can happen from time to time. Damaged internal organs, presence of internal parasites, bad food quality, bad water quality and many other factors will allow this to happen. There is very little chance that the afflicted fish will recover.

Sorry to hear your situation.
I wouldn't medicate until you're sure of the symptom. Sometimes people medicate out of panic and do more worse than good.

But you haven't stated if the scales are protruding out? If so, then yes, could be dropsy. If not, then just fat.
color faded due to the scales popping out.. i heard some stories

but try a salt dip. i heard from people it may work
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