Guppy has dropsy! Help!

[FishGirl115]

My guppy has dropsy. Pine cone scales, bulging eyes, bloated, won't eat. He isn't moving. Just sitting at bottom of isolation container struggling to breathe. Help! I don't have test strips, don't have antibiotics. I've been giving him epsom salt baths, but they don't seem to help. You can really see pinecone scales in pic

 

[Deku-Cory]

Sadly, once a fish gets to the point where their scales are sticking out, it means they are in organ failure, and there is almost no chance they will recover. Even aquatic vets usually euthanize fish that have dropsy.

I'm very sorry. I've been a part of the threads you've posted, and I know how hard you've tried to save this guy. But with any living creature, they sometimes just get too sick to ever recover, no matter what treatments they are given. This guy was already very sick when you got him, there was nothing you could have done to fix him. No one, not even the most knowledgeable fishkeepers or vets would be able to save him.

The kindest thing to do is to euthanize him and end his pain. If you have clove oil on hand, that's the best method. But if you don't, he's small enough that the ice bath method should work, but that method is controversial.

 

[FishGirl115]

Alright. Thanks for your help.

 

[FishGirl115]

He just passed.