African Dwarf Frog dead - Why?

[Leor Amikam]

I have three dwarf African Frogs. One died - Before his untimely demise, is
abdomen became very distended, looking like he ate a balloon! Then he
started having trouble staying on the bottom of the tank, floating to the
top. What is the cause of this? Some disease, can my other frogs gets this,
is it treatable?

Thanks,
Leor Amikam

[Matthew Clark]

Leor,

I cannot specifically address your problem without more info, but I
can offer some general suggestions. Any kind of distended abdomen
usually originated internally -- a parasitic/bacterial infection, a
common form of which is known as dropsy. Dropsy and other similar
conditions are usually untreatable and most often fatal. The expansion
of the abdomen often constricts the swim bladder, leading to the
swimming difficulties you noticed. The good news is that dropsy and
similar conditions are not communicable by normative means; you need
to worry about other fish getting infected if they have fed on the
corpses of infected fish. However, poor water quality can predispose
fish to dropsy etc.

I would suggest running basic water quality tests, paying special
attention to ammonia, nitrite, and especially nitrate levels. If you
need help testing water/interpreting the results, you can seek mroe
help here. If you find any of these levels to be in excess, you will
need to make a series of small water changes (and perhaps do more is
ammonia or nitrite in is excess). This will help prevent dropsy, etc.
from reoccuring in your tank.

With dropsy, an ounce of prevention is worht a pound of cure, and the
best way to prevent this is through regular (25% once every 2 weeks)
partial water changes.

Post again with further questions.

Matthew Clark

"Leor Amikam" > wrote in message news:<QZJHb.675409$HS4.4794379@attbi_s01>...
> I have three dwarf African Frogs. One died - Before his untimely demise, is
> abdomen became very distended, looking like he ate a balloon! Then he
> started having trouble staying on the bottom of the tank, floating to the
> top. What is the cause of this? Some disease, can my other frogs gets this,
> is it treatable?
>
> Thanks,
> Leor Amikam

[Leor Amikam]

Thanks for the info. My water seems to be fine. I check it regularly. I
got some anti-biotic from the pet store to try out. Let's see what
happens..

"Matthew Clark" > wrote in message
om...
> Leor,
>
> I cannot specifically address your problem without more info, but I
> can offer some general suggestions. Any kind of distended abdomen
> usually originated internally -- a parasitic/bacterial infection, a
> common form of which is known as dropsy. Dropsy and other similar
> conditions are usually untreatable and most often fatal. The expansion
> of the abdomen often constricts the swim bladder, leading to the
> swimming difficulties you noticed. The good news is that dropsy and
> similar conditions are not communicable by normative means; you need
> to worry about other fish getting infected if they have fed on the
> corpses of infected fish. However, poor water quality can predispose
> fish to dropsy etc.
>
> I would suggest running basic water quality tests, paying special
> attention to ammonia, nitrite, and especially nitrate levels. If you
> need help testing water/interpreting the results, you can seek mroe
> help here. If you find any of these levels to be in excess, you will
> need to make a series of small water changes (and perhaps do more is
> ammonia or nitrite in is excess). This will help prevent dropsy, etc.
> from reoccuring in your tank.
>
> With dropsy, an ounce of prevention is worht a pound of cure, and the
> best way to prevent this is through regular (25% once every 2 weeks)
> partial water changes.
>
> Post again with further questions.
>
> Matthew Clark
>
> "Leor Amikam" > wrote in message
news:<QZJHb.675409$HS4.4794379@attbi_s01>...
> > I have three dwarf African Frogs. One died - Before his untimely
demise, is
> > abdomen became very distended, looking like he ate a balloon! Then he
> > started having trouble staying on the bottom of the tank, floating to
the
> > top. What is the cause of this? Some disease, can my other frogs gets
this,
> > is it treatable?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Leor Amikam