Second Case Of Dropsy

Lots of word follow, sorry!

Last Monday I came back for lunch to find one of my CPDs looking a little pale and lurking at the top of the tank.  By the time I got back from work that evening ALL his scales were sticking out and there seemed to be a swelling on his side.

A quick Google and then a manic drive to the nearest well-stocked LFS before it closed to get what I needed.

THIS ARTICLE is the one I initially followed, setting up my future betta tank as a hospital with a nasty little filter from Pets at Home (the foam filters in the LFS were huge!).

On Day 2 I did a partial water change to remove uneaten food, keep water chemistry reasonable (I didn't trust the filter and it wasn't cycled) and cut down on the salt levels since opinions are split on it being a good idea.  I also (based on Sue's advice along with a few other places) gave him an Epsom bath.

He seemed to perk up and the lump reduced, but by the time I got back from work on Day 3 he was swimming upside-down and died shortly after.

Obviously (back when I first saw him) I did full tests on the water in the tank pH was 7.5 (normal) while Ammonia and Nitrite were at 0.  Then I did the Nitrate test and was horrified to see how high it was!  I assumed the Dropsy was caused by a combination of the high Nitrates and maybe stress if he'd been on the losing end of a few territorial disputes.

I think it got so high for a number of reasons:
a)  The siphon I had was too big for such a tiny tank so the substrate and filter cavities hadn't been "hoovered" when I changed the water 3 days before - first water change since stocking on the previous Saturday.
b) Overfeeding such tiny fish and shrimps.
c)  Some of the plants (especially the Spiralis at the back) were dying-back a bit and I hadn't trimmed the dead stuff out yet.

So, to combat this I did a 30% water change (with a good gravel and filter clean using my new small siphon), trimmed the dead stuff off the plants and cut back on the feeding.  I also imported some Frogbit from the other tank and added a sachet of JBL BioNitratEX (even though it takes about 3 weeks to become active) in order to try and keep things under control.

By Friday levels were up again (but not as high) so a 50% water change and some more husbandry followed.

Today I've come back from work to find one of the females pineconed.

I'm sorting out the hospital tank again but would appreciate any advice that's different to what I tried last time (even though consensus is that by this stage they are already too ill to save).

More importantly, is there anything I should be doing to try and prevent more casualties?
Water levels tonight are: pH 7.5, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate below 20ppm.  This seemed low, so I tried it a total of 3 times and also checked my tap water as a control (closer to 40ppm) so the test was working.

The unexpected thing through all this is that the shrimp have been absolutely fine despite all the advice saying they are very vulnerable to high nitrates,

Sue,

I've had them for 3 weeks and 2 days.
Tank is a 34L Fluval Flex, approx 34 x 30 x 30 (usable dimensions).
Just the shrimp.  Any snails I find go into the 120 for the Assassin snail.
Tap water is 14 Degrees German according to Anglia Water.

So, salt in the hospital tank or not?

Thanks.

Sorry to hear about your fish. 

Sorry to read about your fishy loses.  Sadly inbreeding and weak stock is a common issue with quite a few fish that are captive bred as Sue has pointed out.  I don't think you're being callous as for the price of CPD's you should expect a bit more.

Sorry to hear about your fish. 

Fingers crossed for the rest of your tank.

If it's any consolation dropsy is nearly always incurable. It isn't a disease but a symptom, being a build up of fluid in the body cavity (where it shouldn't be). There can be many causes but usually it means some kind of organ- or system-failure, and by the time it's noticed it's usually too late. It can be cured sometimes, for instance when caused by infection, but when the scales are sticking out there's not much chance.

With them being freshwater fish salt will only add to the stress.