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I am writing to ask for any information that could help me in figuring out what my cory (Wibble) died of It was horrible and I took it in to my hands to end his life yesterday. I feel really awful but I hated seeing him in so much discomfort.

About three weeks ago Wibble started to bloat (which i'm aware points to dropsy?) I continued to treat the tank as I had been treating the tank previously as one of my other corys (Watson) bloated but died due to this bloating business. With Watson,though, it only took a couple of days before he passed away(
Because Wibble couldn't get any bigger he became to show blisters. They were soft to the touch like water blisters. Yesterday his breathing was getting worse and more blisters had started to show,so much so i could see some redness.

I'm wondering if anyone could tell me if they have experienced this before and if they could tell me anything about it and if there is anything i can do extra in teh future should i come across this again.

My nitrate, nitite & ammonia levels are at zero. My Ph is 7.6 - 7.8

I am so glad i found this website and people who share my love of fish.

Mary xx

Usually those are signs of a bacterial infection. Could also be parasites though. With parasites they generally have clear or white droppings that are often extra long. How long did you have the fish before they looked sick? What is your tank maintenance routine? Water changes, gravel vacs, filter cleaning, etc...

Nitrate is rarely zero, in fact a healthy tank usually has a nitrate reading thusly showing that ammonia and nitrite are being neutralised. Only in the most huge, profusely planted, least densely stocked,and chemically controlled tanks does nitrate ever show less than one part per million.Quite simply getting nitrate to zero is beyond most fishkeepers abilities and budget. It might be worth trying a different test kit.

A bacterial infection is likely, many bacterial infections and indeed the meds used to combat them can cause renal damage and the resultant dropsy. Time to take a fresh look at your procedures and products and get to the bottom of the mystery, or list any detail you can think of here. The reasons for your fishy deaths might well reveal themselves.

Well i bought another expenisve test kit and still it says my nitrate is zero. I'm not going to keep buying them to make sure each one is working! Erm I do partial water changes every week along with a vacuum of the gravel. Check the filter then too. I had the fish for at least six months before they sadly departed. The only thing i can think to put the deaths to is the power cut we had one very early morning.
Fish seem to be doing ok now - so far so good. Fingers crossed. xxxxxxxxxxxxx

My nitrate reading is always zero, or so close to zero, that I can't tell the reading from the color chart. So, I had some doubt about my test kit. I bought the water sample to two nearby LFS. Test result was the same - no nitrate.

My tanks are moderately planted, and I do weekly 25% water change. Also, I feed the fish lightly.