Bloated damsel with raised scales

[ACBlinky]

I'm really hoping someone can help, I'm at a total loss. My South Seas damsel is very sick. I noticed this morning that she was hiding -- not at all her usual behaviour, especially if I approach the tank -- and on closer inspection I saw that she was very bloated (all over) and has raised scales over her entire body.

Every other fish in the tank looks fine. Her tankmates are a yellow tang, Lamarck's swallowtail angel, Talbot's damsel, ocellaris clown, midas blenny, orange spot goby & pistol shrimp, Brazilian gramma and a coral beauty angel.

Water tests show nothing unusual - pH 8.0, KH 3meq/L, Ca ~390ppm, NH3, NO2, NO3 & PO4 all undetectable. Temperature is stable at 79F.

I've only changed one thing in the past few days: I've been raising molly fry, and last night was the first time I tried adding any to the reef. The mollies are healthy, and have been in brackish water for a good six weeks or more (since about a week after I bought them; they were in FW at the LFS) -- essentially quarantined in hypo. They show no sign of parasitic, bacterial or fungal infection.

I'm not even sure the damsel ate any of the fry, I just thought I'd mention it in case it's significant. Is there anything I can do for this poor fish? The only way to catch her would be to drain or tear down the reef. I have a badly injured shoulder, and this would be an incredibly difficult undertaking. I am willing to do it if her condition is likely to spread to her tankmates, but if she's already too far gone to save and won't infect the others I'd prefer not to disrupt the system.

 

[ACBlinky]

I euthanized her this afternoon. Strangely, thought she was incredibly bloated, every scale was raised, and her instinct to flee was completely gone, she was still brightly coloured and breathing fairly normally. She wasn't lying on the substrate, head-standing or dragging her tail; other than being so bloated and being relatively unaware of her surroundings, she looked completely normal. No sores, bleeding, torn fins, cloudiness, spots, streaks or other obvious signs of illness/injury.

I'd still like to know what caused this -- if anyone has any idea, even a guess that will point me in a direction I can research, I'd like to hear it. I'm worried about the rest of the fish in my tank, even though they all look fine right now.

 

[Spracklcat]

Ok, I'll bite

This sounds like dropsy to me. Dropsy is sort of a catch-all name used to describe abdominal bloating, which in fish often makes the scales stand out like a pine cone. I checked a few books (Noga, Untergasser), and they both list multiple possible causes--bacterial, viral, parasitic. If it makes you feel better, at that stage it was highly unlikely that treatment would have helped.

Interesting too--I read somewhere (forgive the lack of reference) theorizing that in some cases dropsy can be caused by kidney failure (which can be caused by bacteria, viruses, etc) Essentially, the kidneys are responsible for excreting, and when they go, all the excess fluid builds up. As I recall they didn't think that was the cause of the bloat in every case, just a possible in some.

The books did recommend treating the rest of the fish though--strongly recommended. Furan-2 would be a good choice here.

Good luck--

 

[stingythingy45]

Just adding one other thing.
I've recently read where running a tank at low S.G. for a long time can cause fish to have kidney failure.Not saying at all that you do this ACBlinky,but some hobbiest do this to thwart off Ich.

 

[ACBlinky]

Thank you both for the reply. Spracklcat, I really appreciate you looking things up for me, that was very kind
I keep the tank at 1.025 (very stable, there's an ATO system on the tank) and this fish has never been in hypo in the almost three years she's been with me. I've only ever hypo'd fish (for ich treatment) for six weeks maximum, as I've also heard that it can be damaging.

One thing I forgot to ask -- this fish was with me nearly three years, she was one of my first marine purchases. She was fairly large (for a small damsel) when I bought her, so I'm guessing she was probably four or five years old when she died. I have no idea how long-lived damsels are, but if she was old(er), is it possible that made her susceptible to disease and/or organ failure?

All the other fish are fine so far, but I'm keeping a VERY close eye on them. Spracklcat -- is Furan-2 something I could use in the display? To remove the entire population to quarantine facilities would be nearly impossible -- not that I wouldn't be willing, but it would be a MAJOR undertaking.

 

[Spracklcat]

No, you would have to remove the fish.

 

[ACBlinky]

Thank you for the reply, again
So far everyone looks just fine, eating well, full colour, no signs of disease or strange behaviour - if ANYTHING seems amiss in the next few days I guess I'll start arranging hospital treatment for the rest of the fish; I really hope it doesn't come to that!

 

[Spracklcat]

me too