Cardinal tetra dropsy?

[Julii]

Hi all

This evening I was sat watching my tank when I noticed one of the cardinal tetra looked like a pinecone and is incredibly swollen. A few of the other tetra look to be swollen too but their scales aren't sticking out. I have been quite busy for a week so I haven't been paying as much attention to the tank as much as I normally do.

Is this dropsy? What's the best way to deal with it as my local vets don't deal with fish so I asked all of the vets in my town and none of them deal with fish. Sorry about the poor quality photos, I had to zoom right in to get a photo as it is hiding at the back of the tank. I think out of the 7 tetra only one of them isn't swollen! I'm worried about it spreading to the Corydoras in the tank too.

 

[Cazza]

My Cardinals were exactly the same a couple of months ago. One developed symptoms, quickly followed by another. Sorry to say, but I felt I had to act quickly and euthanized them both, followed by a water change. All of the other fish were fine and the tank healthy ever since. Not nice having to deal with it this way, but much better than it spreading through the other Cardinals and possibly to the other fish in the tank.

 

[PARAGUAY]

It's unlikely the two fish shown will recover, possibly caused by intrnal bacterial infection, if it looks like your remaining fish have symptoms you could try something like esha2000, try some daily waterchanges for now