FishProfiles.com Message Forums

So here is my situation, I have a brave little platy that has dropsy. None of my other fish are sick and I don't want to treat all of them again with meds when she is the only one who needs it. So I will be doing a water change tomorrow and thought that maybe I could use the tank water from my 72G and set up a hospital tank for her.

I have a 5 or 10 gallon tank which would be better?? I will have to go buy a filter tomorrow.

I guess I should set it up like a normal tank with gravol and plants.

My established tank has 0 nitrates and 0 ammonia.

Will this work or will it be too much for her??

Thanks!!!

The 10g will be better. I wouldn't put any gravel or plants in it. Meds will most likely kill the plants. Put some caves in it so that any fish in there will feel secure.
Get a filter and if possible put a sponge or a part of a sponge from your main tank and put it in the hospital tank. You can also put some gravel from your main tank in a stocking or a mesh bag and sit it in the hospital tank, so it will have some bacteria.

0 NitrAtes is really not good. Especially if you have live plants. I would try to get it to 10-20ppm. NitrItes is the one you don't want.

*Kristin*

Mia,

Either 5 or 10 gallon will work for your hospital tank. Key is to know the true volume of the tank so that you can accurately medicate the tank. Use a gallon jug to fill the tank. Measure how many gallons will bring the water close to the top. Insert any hardscape to make your fish feel secure. Mark the water level with tape or indelible marker. This will be your fill point with your aquarium water.

As GG said, no plants or gravel. Just something to make the fish comfortable such as plastic plants or driftwood made from resin. Do not buy a filter that has carbon as part of the filter cartridge. Carbon will remove medications from the water.

BTW, I assume that you meant zero ammonia and nitrItes not nitrates. Most common test kits have ammonia and nitrIte tests. The nitrAte test is an "add-on" test.

The following is from Animal-world.com:

Dropsy

Symptoms: Bloating of the body, protruding scales.

Dropsy is caused from a bacterial infection of the kidneys, causing fluid accumulation or renal failure. The fluids in the body build up and cause the fish to bloat up and the scales to protrude. It appears to only cause trouble in weakened fish and possibly from unkempt aquarium conditions.
An effective treatment is to add an antibiotic to the food. With flake food, use about 1% of antibiotic and carefully mix it in. If you keep the fish hungry they should eagerly eat the mixture before the antibiotic dissipates. Antibiotics usually come in 250 mg capsules. If added to 25 grams of flake food, one capsule should be enough to treat dozens of fish. A good antibiotic is chloromycetin (chloramphenicol). Or use tetracycline. If you feed your fish frozen foods or chopped foods, try to use the same ratio with mixing. As a last resort add at most 10 mg per liter of water. Also, if unkempt conditions are the suspected cause, correct it.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

10 gallon tank

just a little bit of gravel dont waste your money on enough for the whole tank just enough for a small area. And no live plants but go ahead and use some plastic plants they work well and will give your fish something to hide behind.

You can use your displays tank water in the hospital but i wouldnt suggest using all of ur display tanks water to fill the 10 gal. maybe 10 display water and 90% fresh water

And remember all tanks need to be cycled! Cycle the tank before u put the fih in becuz ur fish will die if you dont cycle ur tank fist.



>>>----> <----<<<

pnh

The 10 gallon will be better to give some space for the Platy to move around. Get a small piece of bogwood or a hiding cave for it and some plastic plants. You can use small clumps of gravel from your other tanks to hold the fake plants down. Good Luck treating the dropsy, but I'm sorry to say that most people don't have much luck.

I am sad to say that my poor Sparky passed away Thanks to everyone who gave me advise.

Im sorry to hear that. But it wouldn't have been anything to do with you, because dropsy is almost uncurable.