Dropsy: please help

[Cathsem]

My fish has been showing dropsy symptom since Monday evening: swollen body with raised scales and protuding eyes.
It eats and is still active.

I put it into a hospital tank with salt and started a Sera Baktopur treatment tonight (1 tablet and a half for 80 litres).

Is there anything else I can do to save my fish?

[suphi]

If all the scales are sticking out with total body swelling, it's usually terminal. Sorry. This is caused by end-organ failure (kidney/liver/heart) causing fluid accumulation because the body now lacks the mechanisms that normally excrete fluids and toxic chemicals.

In human, we can prolong life (or death, if you will) with use of dialysis and/or certain medications to remove extra fluid depending on specific finding/diagnosis. In fish, the understanding and technology is not as advanced and it's pretty much time to say goodbye.

The bigger question is...what's causing this?

[Virginia ranchu]

I recently rescued two ranchu from my pond that were both showing the same symptoms, and I was able to save them. I suggest very clean water with good aeration, stop feeding, raise the temperature and discontinue medication. If the fish is not starving, then I think food is only going to put stress on the kidneys, and potentially cause more bloating. Salt is a general anti-parasite treatment, but I think it may cause more osmotic stress in this situation.

good luck,

Rob

[flaringshutter]

If you are brave/experienced with fish anatomy, you can attempt to aspirate the abdomen with a syringe such as those used for insulin. Be sure it is sterile, sedate the fish and be sure you hit the body cavity, not the organs. It might take a few pricks, but if you can relieve the pressure by getting some of that fluid out you have a better chance of saving the fish.

[Cathsem]

Thank you for your answers.

Rob, I have already raised the temperature of the tank and put an air stone as well as a filter with a venturi system.
But I made the mistake of keeping feeding her and indeed the swelling got worse.
And I am afraid I didn't use the appropriate salt. :((
I'll make a big water change this afternoon.
I haven't found Epsom salt, which seems to be recommended by some aquarists, but in case I finally manage to get my hands on it, should I give it a try to help with the swelling?

No, Flaringshutter,I don't know enough about fish anatomy to be able to handle a draining. Ob is my first fish as well as my first goldfish. I have had her since July 2009. And I don't think I'm brave enough to give it a try without assistance.

Suphi, my vet agrees with you. He told me I should put my fish down if there was no improvement tomorrow.

The problem is that I don't know what is causing dropsy. All I can say is that Ob seemed to have difficulty in defecating last week. Her stools were long and whitish at times.

Anf if you have a look at the thread entitled "Lump behind the gill opercle", you'll see that my fish has had a skin tumor growing for quite a while.
Maybe there are others somewhere inside her body?

I guess that my rescued fish had too much of a bad start in the hands of her previous owner to live on a long term basis, although I do wonder whether I have been a good enough fish keeper.

At the moment, despite the bloating, my fish still swims in her tank and asks for food whenever she sees me.

[johnatoranchu]

There are two types of dropsy. One is bacterial and is usually caused through bad water conditions. It is curable along the lines Rob suggested - frequent water changes and salt (cooking salt) at 7 grams per litre of water. The other is caused through organ failure and as Suphi mentioned there is no cure. If there are no red blemishes or sores on the other inhabitants of the tank, it is reasonable to conclude that water conditions are OK and therefore organ failure is the most likely cause. Fish look ugly in this condition but they can live for some while, essentially until the organ/s fail completely. From your other notes, it doesn't sound as though this fish has much going for it. If it was mine I would destroy it immediately - sorry.
John