Banjo Catfish Suddenly Bloated..."Dropsy"?

HI all.......I was here about a month ago getting help from you guys. Here's the thread

After my ordeal, I was left with 5 harlequin rasboras, 3 little orange tetras, and a banjo catfish. I treated my tetras for fungal/bacterial from Nov 11th to No 17th with primafix. Since the ordeal, I have been performing 2-30% waterr changes weekly. My current water parameters: Amonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-5. My Ph is a constant 7.6. Temp is 82 degrees (I was originally treating for ich).

My banjo has a swollen belly, much like my last guppy that died a few weeks ago. Noticed it last night. Is it dropsy? What I have on hand to deal with this....................a 2.5 empty cycled betta tank (at 78 degrees, can't adjust this temp), Kanaplex, primafix, & melafix. The banjo eats API bottom feeder food. What is my recourse here and why do I keep having issues? I have a 36 gallon tank and change out 10 gallons twice a week and clean the gravel each change. I maintain good water conditions and check them all the time.

How should I treat the banjo catfish?

 

Hi, can you post a picture of the catfish? Also, what do you feed them and what is your feeding schedule?

 

I feed the rasboras and tetras twice a day, API tropical flakes. I drop in just enough for them to eat right away, with very little falling to bottom.

I feed the banjo API bottom feeder food. I drop the banjo's food in right before I turn the light off at night. That is when he is active. He's very lazy and spends his day in his cave. When I drop the food in and turn off the light, he immediately swims out and swims the bottom of the tank. Maybe I drop in too many pellets and he's eating too much? I added the bottom feeder food a few weeks ago and limit the flakes. I've had him for about 5 months.

btw, I typed my above post in haste..........was getting ready for Thanksgiving. To clarify, I have been performing 20-30% water changes twice a week since I had a bad run with ICH and my fish developed a secondary bacterial/fungal infection after the heat treatment.

Maybe I'm paranoid, because the bad run I had at the end of Oct (see link to thread above). Here's a pic of him..........

 

Any updates?

 

He seems to be just fine. He's just a fat boy..... I think I might have been over feeding him, possibly? At night, I drop the API bottom feeder pellets in and turn off the light and watch him "come to life" to eat. He's so lazy, it's the only time I get to see him in action and I think I was over feeding him.............he's the only bottom feeder I have.

The main tank has been healthy and happy for the last couple of months. I added a powder blue dwarf gourami and 5 female cherry barbs to the main tank end of Dec/early January, and a week ago added a long finned ancistrus. I also have a functioning QT/hospital tank now. Water changes are only once a week now.

So, all is well...........thanks for asking!

 

Thank you for the update. I added a banjo to a tank earlier in the week. Now I know what they look like stuffed.