# Dropsy, Preggers or Just Fat?



## CyberBob

None of the other neons look like this. I do have a couple black neons that are fat, but nothing like this one. Sorry for the blurry pictures. I'm taking the best pix I can. 12mp and various settings.

Either she is about to explode with eggs or somehow got dropsy are my thoughts. I've had the neons for about a year now. It's strange that dropsy would just show up. I haven't added any new fish for weeks. Water conditions are the same also. I checked the levels, they are near perfect.




























Please Help if You Can


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## snyderguy

I would definitely say dropsy, looks like the scales are pineconing


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## Sorafish

Tetras only stay pregnant/have eggs in them for about 12 days. Has she been like this longer?
Does she have a normal appetite?
Also, if you can get it, a picture from above would better say if she is having scale protrusion. Though at this rate, I'd say your fish would have that either way, simply from how large it is!


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## bmlbytes

Wow. I haven't seen a neon tetra get that fat before. Definitely looks like more than holding eggs. I would say, expect for the worst, but maybe try to treat it. Dropsy isn't a disease, its a symptom. I would quarantine it if possible, and treat with anti-bacterial food. You can make an anti-bacterial food by mixing tetracycline in with the regular food. Tetracycline is a very commonly sold drug in most pet stores (sold as Maracyn TC and API T.C.).


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## CyberBob

Sorafish said:


> Tetras only stay pregnant/have eggs in them for about 12 days. Has she been like this longer?
> Does she have a normal appetite?
> Also, if you can get it, a picture from above would better say if she is having scale protrusion. Though at this rate, I'd say your fish would have that either way, simply from how large it is!


I only noticed it yesterday. But, I would imagine that I would have noticed it earlier if it had been 12 days. She is swimming and eating like normal. Except she is a lil slower and tends to point downwards. But, I would too with that much bloating hehe. Here are all the pictures I took. One of these is bound to help hehe:

Dropsy.zip - 86.3 Mb

I would take more pictures, but she is in the breeder with a mother molly that is currently giving birth. I keep catching a few and releasing them for the gouramis and angel to eat hehe. I can't keep them, I've made that mistake before.



snyderguy said:


> I would definitely say dropsy, looks like the scales are pineconing


I see no signs of definite pineconing (yet). Her scales are definetly stretched though.



bmlbytes said:


> Wow. I haven't seen a neon tetra get that fat before. Definitely looks like more than holding eggs. I would say, expect for the worst, but maybe try to treat it. Dropsy isn't a disease, its a symptom. I would quarantine it if possible, and treat with anti-bacterial food. You can make an anti-bacterial food by mixing tetracycline in with the regular food. Tetracycline is a very commonly sold drug in most pet stores (sold as Maracyn TC and API T.C.).


would lifeguard work? I always keep that on hand. There aren't many meds I can use with my scaleless fish and inverts.


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## bmlbytes

Lifeguard might work. I don't recognize the drug in it, but it is said to be an antibiotic. I don't know how you would get it in the food though. Maybe crush it up and mix it with the food. Maybe dissolve it in a cup of water first, then mix it with the food. I'm not sure. Maybe you could just use it the way it was meant to be used. *Shrugs*

If you could quarantine this fish to a separate tank, you could use whatever drug you wanted.


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## CyberBob

bmlbytes said:


> Lifeguard might work. I don't recognize the drug in it, but it is said to be an antibiotic. I don't know how you would get it in the food though. Maybe crush it up and mix it with the food. Maybe dissolve it in a cup of water first, then mix it with the food. I'm not sure. Maybe you could just use it the way it was meant to be used. *Shrugs*
> 
> If you could quarantine this fish to a separate tank, you could use whatever drug you wanted.


Unfortunetly my quartine tank now houses 3 frogs. It seemed silly to have an empty tank. It was empty for more then 9 months LOL. I could possibly rehouse them into the breeder thing you saw in the pictures.

I only keep melafix, lifeguard & kordon rid fungus on hand. But, I'll stop at my LFS on the way home tomorrow and see what they have along the lines of food. Then I could just put her in the breeder thingy and feed her seperate from everyone.

I have crushed lifeguard and let it dissolve in water, then soaked pellets in it before. That has worked in the past. But, this one mainly eats flakes :-\


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## CyberBob

I just noticed that her belly is translucent. I can see what looks like lil brown balls at the bottom and then lots of empty space above that. I can see all the way through her where he belly bulges the most. I just can't get a picture of it


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## CyberBob

I found these images using google.
She looks a lot like the ones I see here

Almost exactly, ecpet mine isn't a longfin. 









This is close. I can see her blue line curved like this one. But mine is even more curved I'd say


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## Fishpunk

I would get her out of the tank. And make sure you wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.


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## CyberBob

It might be wishful thinking, but I swear she looks thinner today.
I put some epsom salts in with her last night in case she was constipated.
I gave her a salt bath this morning with aquarium salts.
I also gave her a lil minced garlic and melafix.
It could be that she was just gorged on baby mollies.
I'll keep everyone posted on any changes.


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## CyberBob

Fishpunk said:


> I would get her out of the tank. And make sure you wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.


Unfortunetly, I could only put her in other tanks with fish in them.
I'd rather keep any disease local to just one tank.
This way I can also treat the whole tank to hopefully prevent it from spreading.

by the way, is that a BB goby in your avatar? Looks like a goby for sure. he's so cute hehe


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## Sorafish

Possibility that those brown things you see could be eggs turned cysts. I'm not entirely sure that fish can have that issue, but its pretty common in humans. Anyone heard of it in fish?


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## CyberBob

Here is a picture from above that I took just 5 minutes ago.
I wish I could figure out how to get a clear picture :?

I think I might see a lil pineconing now though 

She is in the shotglass because I was about to put her in the freezer.
She's starting to roll to her side and isn't swimming very well anymore.
But, it was feeding time and she didn't go running for the food like normal.
That's what made me decide to euthanize.

I've added clove oil to the shot glass already and she is nearly asleep.
I'm putting her in the freezer in about 10 minutes only because I don't have any grain alchohol.
If someone sees this within the next few minutes and is postive it isn't dropsy, please say sumtin and I'll take her right out.

Otherwise, it's the humane thing to do in this case it seems.


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## Fishpunk

My avatar is an Australian desert goby, though I have a BB tank also.


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## CyberBob

Fishpunk said:


> My avatar is an Australian desert goby, though I have a BB tank also.


FW, BW or SW? How Big?

I've been trying to find a FW/BW mudskipper type that doesn't need land.

Update on the neon: she's gone. I closely looked at her afterwards. She definetly had pineconing, but it was hard to see with her swimming around. Her skin was starting to cloud also. The stripe wasn't solid anymore either ... slightly broken line.


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## Fishpunk

My bumblebee gobies are in a 1.005 brackish five gallon tank. I don't know which of the 7 possible species they are.


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## bmlbytes

CyberBob said:


> I've been trying to find a FW/BW mudskipper type that doesn't need land.


The whole reason they are called mudskippers, is because they go up on land. I haven't heard of one that doesn't.

I've always wanted to try a vivarium with both land and water before, but every time I get a large enough tank, I fill it to the top with fish!:chair:


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## CyberBob

Fishpunk said:


> My bumblebee gobies are in a 1.005 brackish five gallon tank. I don't know which of the 7 possible species they are.


Mine are in a 1.005-1.007 BW tank also.
But, I meant the desert goby


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## CyberBob

bmlbytes said:


> The whole reason they are called mudskippers, is because they go up on land. I haven't heard of one that doesn't.
> 
> I've always wanted to try a vivarium with both land and water before, but every time I get a large enough tank, I fill it to the top with fish!:chair:


what I meant by mudskipper type was one that looks kinda like a mudskipper. Unfortunetly most of those are SW.
for example:








Watchman Goby









Mandarin Goby









Pink Spotted Shrimp Goby

Not this type of goby:








Knight Goby (Dancing Goby)

I found a West African FW Goby. He was already sold.
I can't seem to get my hands on another one.
They look like this:









This guy is cute too:









I love my dragon goby, he's a gentle giant. But, very very shy.
The BB gobies are a hoot to watch also.

Basically, I'm trying to find one that hops along the bottom more then it swims.
I want one with that bulldog face too 

The desert goby looks promising if it likes low BW


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## Fishpunk

The desert gobies are also in 1.005 (roughly, I don't measure it very carefully). They are extremely resilient creatures and can survive water temperatures as high as 100 and as low as 40F. Half my colony survived a toxin that wiped out several other species in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, they are annual fish, so you absolutely have to breed them if you want to keep them. Fortunately, they are a piece of cake to breed. Unfortunately, they are not so easy to find.

The fish are about 2 to 2-1/2 inches in total length. They need both meat and algae in their diet. Unlike the BBs they will eat flake.


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## CyberBob

Fishpunk said:


> The desert gobies are also in 1.005 (roughly, I don't measure it very carefully). They are extremely resilient creatures and can survive water temperatures as high as 100 and as low as 40F. Half my colony survived a toxin that wiped out several other species in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, they are annual fish, so you absolutely have to breed them if you want to keep them. Fortunately, they are a piece of cake to breed. Unfortunately, they are not so easy to find.
> 
> The fish are about 2 to 2-1/2 inches in total length. They need both meat and algae in their diet. Unlike the BBs they will eat flake.


my BBs eat tropical flakes. They actually come running for them when I feed the mollies. But, I do feed them shrimp pellets & algae wafers also.

the desert gobies sound perfect for my tank unless they would eat the BBs.
I'll ask around my LFS. Thanks


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## Fishpunk

I don't think the desert gobies would eat the BBs, but the BBs would certainly be harassed. My BBs live in a species tank so they never see other fish eating flake. They don't know what flakes are. In fact, mine spit out tubifex worms and some other frozen foods. They are very picky eaters.


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## CyberBob

Fishpunk said:


> I don't think the desert gobies would eat the BBs, but the BBs would certainly be harassed. My BBs live in a species tank so they never see other fish eating flake. They don't know what flakes are. In fact, mine spit out tubifex worms and some other frozen foods. They are very picky eaters.


I guess I'm just lucky. Mine love bloodworms and flakes mainly. But, they have eaten just about everything I've thrown in the tank so far. I think they even ate some molly fry. I know I saw one eating an algae wafer, that shocked me a bit.


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## Fishpunk

I put an endler fry in their tank last year and it grew to be an adult.


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## bmlbytes

BTW mandarin gobies do not hang out near the ground, and they aren't gobies.


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## CyberBob

bmlbytes said:


> BTW mandarin gobies do not hang out near the ground, and they aren't gobies.


I thought they seemed a bit overdressed for a goby


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