# Red eye tetra with dropsy?



## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

Hey everyone, I've returned... kinda? lol.

Anyhoo.... I noticed wh en I came home from work today one of my red eye tetras is swimming at the very surface of the water.. back and forth pretty rapidly with his tail end upward and his face kinda shovelling.... if that makes any sense.. it seems like he can't really swim down .. he's just kinda stuck at the top. my first thought was dropsy..but i've never had a fish with that, and the pictures i've seen online are pretty extreme.... and don't affect tetras normally it seems. It's a 30 gallon tank and I haven't been able to do a water change for a few weeks. used to feed them twice a day, now i feed them once in the morning... cause they are quite plump.  Yes, I know I need to do a tank cleaning.


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## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

Can't figure out how to edit my posts..... 

anyway, the fish is still kinda shovelling through the water... but he's more in the middle of the tank now...


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I won't speculate on the disease; when I've had a fish unable to swim normally they generally die within a day or two. As it is isolated (only the one fish) I prefer to let it be rather than running the risk of causing more problems by dosing the tank with various meds in an effort (which would probably be fruitless anyway) to restore it. An alternative would be to remove it to a "sick" tank but then again what does one use to treat something that could be any number of things?

But I will comment on your lack of regular water changes. As I and others on this forum frequently write, regular (weekly without fail) partial water changes of 30-50% goes a very long way in preventing many diseases. This fish could have contracted this solely due to deteriorating water conditions. After several weeks without a pwc, the nitrate level is probably quite high, and some fish are more sensitive to this than others. Also, the fish are swimming around in their own wastes, not all of which get converted by bacteria, and this causes stress and problems with the internal immune system. It may be too late for this fish, but regular pwc will in my view lessen the opportunity for a repeat.


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## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

Yes, like I said, I know I need to do them more. Time has gotten away from me lately. He is just fine now... maybe he was constipated. Poor guy... I know how it feels. LOL.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Hey, welcome back Solace! Glad your tetra made a recovery. Now that you're back and have time to play on the computer you have time to do a water change. Whoo Hoo ;-) (sorry, I just couldn't resist)


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## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

Crap... that's true. I'll do it when I have a day off though coming up... I worked all day today and I don't feel like fighting with it, lol.


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