Dropsy?

twreefer · Jun 1, 2016

I have a Blue Hippo Tang that (thanks to @Humblefish) survived a bout of ich by successfully going thru Tank Transfer Method around the first half of January. His skin continues to look beautiful and pristine. However, now he has suddenly developed a bloated belly, that seems to have a bigger bulge off to his right side. It is definitely impacting his ability to use that fin, and he is rubbing the area. There seems to be no external issues. Is this dropsy, bacterial infection, or something else?

He will be a big problem getting out of the tank. When he had ich six months ago I had to pull out the 15 lb rock he was hiding in and shake it over a bucket!

He seems to look worse in person than my bad pics depict. Thanks for input!

Humblefish · Jun 1, 2016

A few possibilities here: Internal infection, gas bubble/swim bladder issue or it could just be constipation. However, it does appear to be something more serious than just constipation. Nevertheless, I would start out by trying these three things:

Dose Epsom salt (1 tablespoon per 5 gals) to help relieve his bladder.
Start feeding him peeled boiled peas, the fiber may help to "push things out".
Start soaking his food in Kanaplex, using Seachem Focus to bind the medication to food. This will a) Treat an internal infection if one is present b) Diarrhea is a common side effect for kanamycin.

If the above doesn't work, you may need to attempt to lance a gas bubble out

: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/venting-a-swim-bladder-black-cap-basslet.219954/

Humblefish · Jun 1, 2016

BTW, do you feed this fish red nori? I had a PBT that would get all bloated like that anytime she ate red nori. Never did figure out if it was constipating her or if she was having an allergic reaction to it.

twreefer · Jun 1, 2016

He gets a lot of the regular black/brown nori. Not sure if that's considered red or not. It's the only thing my naso will eat, so it goes in the tank every day. But he has eaten that for the ~9 months I've had him w/o issue. I've always felt he was a bit of a pig, as he eats EVERYTHING I feed the tank. Maybe he needs more competition for the food. Can they have an overeating disorder? I've watched him swim around and he doesn't use that right fin at all, it just stays rigid. He will move it, but sparingly.

Any cons to Epsom salt? I'm guessing it's only going to help my reef with more magnesium but I'll eventually have to export the sulfate?

I have some frozen black-eyed peas I can try. I can attest to a strong fiber presence in those that work wonders on the human digestive tract.

->:mad:->

->

melypr1985 · Jun 1, 2016

Not sure about the black eye peas, but I can say that the epsom salt is safe to use in the tank. I've never seen a bad reaction with it. I've also thought of a few fish having an eating disorder and being too fat. But mostly we love a fat fish. This is a little more than that though... have you seen that eddie murphy movie, "The Nutty Professor"?

Humblefish · Jun 1, 2016

twreefer said:
Any cons to Epsom salt? I'm guessing it's only going to help my reef with more magnesium but I'll eventually have to export the sulfate?

Regular water changes should prevent sulfate levels from building up. Many use Epsom salt as half of their "two part" solution for raising magnesium.

twreefer said:
I have some frozen black-eyed peas I can try. I can attest to a strong fiber presence in those that work wonders on the human digestive tract. ->:mad:->->

Whatever gets the job done.