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Hi all. I have a pair of blue dwarf gouramis in a 10 gal planted tank with a single molly and a rubbernose pleco. This evening when I looked in for their feeding I noticed their eyes seem to be protruding more than normal. the wife says thats the way they always look but I disagree, maybe I'm wrong, but I think I look in there more than she does. Water parameters are all fine with ph at 7.4, ammonia and nitrite at 0 but the nitrate was a little high at 20 ppm. I thought this odd as I just did a water change yesterday (20%). So I did another 30%change and repaired the filter. (It was clogged a little and running slow) Not sure what else I should do. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

I would watch them closely. Look carefully for any signs of open sores on the gourami's as they are susceptible. It never hurts to dose the tank with something like Melafix or Pimafix, if in doubt.

From my experience that sounds like it's an internal infection and to be honest the news isn't good.

I have a very pristine tank and I did lose a few blue rams that way. Even with weekly water changes and all the bad stuff testing zero these fish still come down with this.

In addition to the eyes does the rest of the fish look bloated as well.

My Scapes

The only reason I sugtest watching is that I too have fish that kind of appear to have bloated eyes and kind of not. If there is certain evidence of bloated eyes, especially with a bloated body, then you are likely looking at dropsy. Infections can cause it, as can other things.

If anything you may want to get some of the new Jungle Anti-Bacteria food to keep on hand if the eye situation looks more definite.

Have you been using the anti-bacteria food for a while. Does it seem to make a difference.

The only problem I have are some of the more sensitive fish (like Rams) getting infectations after a few months. All my other fish seem to be fine for the long run.

My Scapes

Thanks all. I did a large water change and they appear a little better today. I am also using the jungle anti bacterial food. No, no bloat, no sores or anything. The only symptom is the bulging eyes

Well, you could be catching something early, if the water quality is in line.

I replaced the filter with a penguin 100 bio wheel, which is working very well. Also I started with the jungle labs anti bacterial food. Thinking about mela fix or pima fix. Does the penguin filter cartridge come w/o carbon? It looked like a self contained unit to me.

If you just changed your filter, have you used some seeded media to make sure you didn't end up with a minicycle. For example, I have a Penguin 170 on my 20 long and I'm considering a Millenium. I'll put the millenium foam block into the reservoir of my Penguin to seed. Then I'll elimnate the Penguin after about 3-4 weeks and move the block back to the correct filter.

Did the filter change after I noticed the pop eyes, and test every day or so (when somethng seems amiss). just dosed with mela fix. I noteced the filter running poorly so I omitted the gravel vac this time to make sure plenty of bacteria in the tank. gonna see what happens. Hope the little guys pull thru

Last edited by divertran at 28-Mar-2005 11:22
btw, thanks

Last edited by divertran at 28-Mar-2005 11:23

Please check ammonia and nitrite daily right now. It's always a risk when changing a filter. What you might consider is when you slit the cartridge to get the carbon out (which is what I do), or even if you want to leave it in, put some surface gravel into the cartridge. This puts seeded media right into the filter flow.

mmmmmm, good idea, thanks. just curious, how often do you change the filter?
oops, I mean the cartridge, lol

Last edited by divertran at 29-Mar-2005 01:41

My Penguin 170 has been running for over 2 years.

I'm only contemplating a change because I need less splash in my 20 long in order to retain co2 needed by plants.

OK, pretty sure its dropsy, caught it in the very early stages I think, abdomens are sterting to swell just a bit. Dosed with mela fix, giving the anti bacterial food. anything elseI should do, besides check water every day?


Last edited by divertran at 30-Mar-2005 00:30

Keep feeding the antibacterial food and make sure he is eating as much as he can within several minutes, twice daily.

Keep in mind, dropsy can be caused by many factors, and not all our within our control. Tumors, cancer, internal issues we can't see, etc. It is the fish's ability to eliminate water that is disrupted, by either a failing heart or failing kidneys. Bacterial, viral infections or parasitic infestations can all be drivers, as well as that mentioned above.

It is not good to have salt in a tank with a fish exhibiting dropsy. If you have salt in there, begin partial 10% water changes, same temp to dilute it. Do several per day if you can.

What might buy you time is to add Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate) at 1 level teaspoon per 5 gallons. As with all things, I would predissolve and add gradually throughout the day and watch for reaction. It's best done in a q-tine tank rather than exposing all fish. It can be found in any pharmacy where they have first aid stuff. People use it as laxatives and as something to soak sore muscles in. You can read more at the bottom under Optional here:

http://groups.msn.com/TheBettaObsession/illnessandcurepart3.msnw

I'm not sure how it would affect the plants or the pleco. Remember, he will absorb more of anything put into the tank due to lack of scales. You can use up to 3 gallons of your tank water in a rubbermaid bin, transfer the fish with that water and slowly add more of the same temp (within 1-1.5F to prevent stress) over a couple hours to replace what is needed in the bin. Of course, you can replace the 3 gallons in the main tank, but once again, it is most optimal to not alter the overall temp more than 1-1.5F. I stick some 1 gallon water jugs in a few inches of hot water for 2-3 minutes to warm them. For my smaller tanks, I always have a bunch of water jugs with water aging in them. It is less stressful on the fish than water straight out of the tap. Airstone is needed in the bin, and a fake plant helps to prevent stress. Keeping it warm is a challenge without a heater. I would stick a submersible to a plate on the bottom. Visitherm makes nice 25w heaters, but they are pricey at around $20. I buy such things when I have spare change for emergencies.

I also keep a few of these air-pump driven box filters on hand for emergency situations. Put seeded surface gravel in the bottom, followed by filter floss. If you have a seeded sponge in your main filter or cartridge, squeeze water from it into the floss or rub the floss against the cartridge to get some of the juice. Then you have an instantly cycled filter for a small bioload. You can always add activated carbon later to pull out meds.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3918&N=2004+113426

Are they eating the medicated food or spitting it out?

Last edited by Cory_Di at 30-Mar-2005 07:25

Last edited by Cory_Di at 30-Mar-2005 07:26

OK, the pleco is a striped rubbernose, L187b (I think), and he does have armor plates on him, although not around his big ol head. But I could easily transfer him and the molly to the 29 gal tank. was thinking of doing that anyways. Yes, they are eating it. At first they were just sucking it in and then spitting it out as the pieces are quite large and then waiting for them to soften up in the water. Now Icrush the pellets up into smaller bite sized pieces and they really seem to appreciate that as they gobble it right up. They do look a little better this morning tho, keeping fingers crossed.