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M4rtin,
Let me ask a couple of questions:
1. How long was the fish in transport???
2. Was it exposed to other fish at the show?
3. Have you checked the condition of the gills?
4. What is fortun??
5. Can you give us a more accurate time line of events?
Here is my initial thought and then from your answers, maybe we can pin this down.. I am thinking that this is "environmental" dropsy, caused by the stress of transport and/or being at the show. If the time line is short, chances are that this is not bacterial unless the fish was harboring a bacterial infection before the show and the stress pushed it over the line.
I have not used sabbactisun but know what it is. If you think it works, continue it use as it appears to be quite harmless as a natural herb type product. I don't know what fortun is.
Anytime I see dropsy symptoms, I recommend that a salt bath be done at .6% for 30 minutes (two tablespoons of salt per gallon of water in a separate container) if the fish is strong and eating. If the fish is weaker, start the bath at .3% and work up to .6% as the fish will take it. The salt bath will kick start the osmotic process if indeed this is the problem and the swelling should recede within 24 hours. If not, try it again. Of course, pristine water quality is required and heat the fish up to 78 deg F if you can.
We know that bad water and high stress can cause "environmental" dropsy and what has happened is that the fish has lost its osmotic balance and starts to retain fluid. It is always difficult to tell what is actually causing the dropsy symptoms (bacteria, viral, parasitic, or environmental) so we need to start excluding those that we can and the salt bath treatment starts that process.
One of the key indicators of bacterial and sometimes viral dropsy is the condition of the gills. If the gills are uniformly pale and in otherwise good condition (not tattered), we can point to an anemic condition and this leads us to organ damage, either the kidneys or liver, or both. And once we are here, the chances of saving the fish are pretty remote as the damage to these organs is done and they do not regenerate or heal.
So, I think this might be a good place to start.
REC
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