DarylB924

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea I’m sad to report that he didn’t make it through the day yesterday. I tried to transition him to one of my spare 5 gallon tanks with a small adjustable top fin filter that I keep running on my 55 gallon so I can use it in times like this but within minutes of moving he was floating on the top. I added the medicines recommended by @Colu and gave him sometime. It was my error, I shouldn’t have waited until things progressed so bad. I’ve dealt with fin rot and Ich a few times but this was my first experience with something that progressed so quickly. Lesson learned! I also started feeding the others in my main tank with the prepared medicated food yesterday. The bloating in the second pristella seems to be going down. Might just be my imagination and wishful thinking. I’ll keep a close eye on em and keep ya posted! Thanks for your time and help everyone!

Thank you @Colu! I don’t think i am going to get this one to eat but I will make sure to treat the others. I am kicking myself for not having maracyn laying around. Emergency trip to the local fish store today. Hopefully it’s in stock!

Thank you @Chick-In-Of-TheSea for such a quick reply! I love that disease chart and video! I’ve done a lot of internet research and have not seen either of those. They are already bookmarked and saved for future reference. I do think you are right and it is dropsy. Since my post the pristella has lost its ability to stay upright and unfortunately i am unable to turn down the flow on my HOB filters. I have it in a net that is resting on the top of the tank so it is not being tossed around by the current. Some of the Others started nipping thinking it was food being dropped in the tank. I think I am going to have to euthanize it. Makes me so upset 😭 pristella tetras are my favorite and this one in particular was growing so well and had such personality.

Hi everyone! My name is Daryl. This is my first post to this forum and I’m sad to say to it’s out of desperation. I’m not sure if this is like other forums so I will start by describing in as much detail as I can. Apologies in advance for the lengthy post! I have a 55 gallon planted community tank containing Serpae tetras, neons, pristellas, 5 ghost shrimp, Nerite snail and a juvenile golden Asian algae eater. Tank has been set up since January. Filtration is HOB Auqeon quietflow 50 and a 30 that are loaded with bagged media, filter mesh and fine filter floss and modified tops to hold some lucky bamboo and golden pothos. Water parameters are all stable and have been holding consistent since end of cycle(75-76 degrees Fahrenheit, ph 7.6, ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrates 20-30 ppm, gh 7, kh 5) I use well water and this is what comes directly from the tap. I Do weekly water changes (% varies on how many nitrates the plants used but usually about %25) typical food going into the tank once a day is either Fluval bug bites, tetramin tropical flakes or frozen brine shrimp, and algae wafers, with occasional fresh cucumber and zucchini. 2 of my pristella tetras have shown some signs of bloating days ago so I switched to a light diet of shelled peas thinking maybe they were constipated because I didn’t see the “pine cone” dropsy symptoms. The 2 pristella tetras didn’t show signs of improvement and one stopped eating and separated itself entirely from the community yesterday. I woke this morning to find that the bloating went down significantly in the worst of the two but it looks to have internal bleeding and is gasping” for air. At the moment I only have api general cure, Ich-x and aquarium salt. I don’t think this is something that Ich x will solve. I don’t know about aquarium salt helping or if it’s safe for plants. (Varies Anubias, windelov Java fern, Asian water fern, Christmas and Java moss, rotala rotundafolia, AR rosefolia, mint Charlie, dwarf baby tears, Aponogetan ulvaceous, and water lilly) will general cure help this and be safe for all plants snails and inverts? Thanks to aquarium co op for all you guys do for the hobby and to anyone else who took the time to read all of this! Any suggestions are appreciated!