Don’t Let Dropsy Kill Your Fish

Dropsy can be fatal for your fish if you don’t detect it in the early stages.  The key to successfully treating fish dropsy is being aware of the early signs of the disease.  However there is a better solution.  You can prevent it.  Like most fish diseases, the solution to preventing fish dropsy is a good fish tank maintenance schedule.  Read on about how to detect and prevent fish Dropsy.

The Early Signs of Dropsy

Dropsy is a disease that works on your fishes internal organs.  This is why early detection is key, but also tough.  There really has to be a lot going on inside for your fish to start showing signs of the disease on the outside.  The most notable of the symptoms is the swollen abdomen.  Your fish can almost look pregnant at this stage.  Severely swollen fish might have scales that stick out sort of pine-cone like.

The early signs that you are looking for are listlessness, not eating, color changes, or if your fish is hanging around the top or bottom of the tank.  These are all common signs of stress for your fish.  If you notice anything like this going on, you need to take a closer look and figure out what you might be dealing with.  If the swollenness is noticed, it’s time to act fast to treat Dropsy.

How Do I Treat Dropsy?

Fish Dropsy is not known for being a very contagious disease.  While not likely, it still is possible to pass it other fish.  Because of this, it is suggested that you first get your sick fish into a quarantine tank.  Once your sick fish is separate from the general population you can begin an antibiotic treatment that targets internal bacteria.  It is also suggested that you add 1tsp of aquarium salt per gallon of your quarantine tanks water.  A salt bath can help draw out some of the internal fluids that have built up.  If you are successful in treating Dropsy you will see signs of improvement within a week or so.

What Causes Dropsy?

The primary cause of Dropsy is poor water quality.  Poor water quality leads to this internal bacterial infection.

How Do I Prevent Dropsy?

Without keeping up on frequent, regular water changes you are asking for trouble in the form of disease.  As they say, prevention is the best medicine.  Keep up on your regular tank maintenance and odds are you won’t have to deal with Dropsy.

What’s your experience with Dropsy?