Dropsy is a somewhat mysterious disease that is fatal and that can be hard to cure. The disease is caused by bacteria and (almost?) only attacks weakened fish. There are many reasons that can cause a fish to become weakened and most are within your control as an aquarist. The reasons include poor living conditions, incorrect living conditions, improper diet and incorrect company in the tank. By keeping your aquarium clean and well kept you can eliminate the risk of dropsy due to poor living conditions. By researching the requirements of your fish and setting up the aquarium accordingly you can eliminate the risk for dropsy due to incorrect living conditions. By feeding a varied diet suitable for your fish you can eliminate the risk for dropsy due to poor nutrition and by only keeping fish with similar needs and temperament together you can eliminate the risk of dropsy due to incorrect company. This does of course not eradicate the risk of dropsy completely, but it does significantly reduce the risk of dropsy.
Dropsy is as earlier mentioned a bacterial disease, it attacks the kidneys on weakened fish and cause renal failure or/and fluid accumulation. It is the fluid accumulation that causes the visible symptoms of this disease; bloated body and protruding scales.
It can as I said be hard to treat bloat and many infected fish dies which makes dropsy a dreaded disease. There are medicines against dropsy that you add to the water of your tank but those are seldom very effective and it is, as this is an internal disease, better to give the fish medicated food. Make a 1% mixture of an antibiotic such as chloromycetin (chloramphenicol) or tetracycline and fish food. Based on weight, 1% equals to add 100 mg antibiotics to 10g fish food, or 25g fish food with a standard 250mg tablet antibiotics. It can be good starve the fish before feeding them medicated food to make sure that they eat properly.
Didn't find the info you were looking for? Register for free and ask your question in our Aquarium forum !
Our knowledgeable staff usually responds to any question within 24 hours
Related Articles
Argulus - Summary of the fish disease argulus
Anchor Worms - Information on diagnosing and treating anchor worms.
Buying Healthy fish - An article about how to avoid diseases by buying healthy fish
Common fish diseases. - An introduction to the more common fish diseases your fish might get.
Chilodonella - Information on diagnosing and treating Chilodonella.
Constipation - Information on diagnosing and treating constipation in fish,
Costia - Information on diagnosing and treating costai.
Danger Signs With Your Fishes - How to recognise the the existence of ill health in a fish.
Ergasilus - Information on diagnosing and treating ergasilus
Eye Problems - Information on diagnosing and treating eye problems in fish.
Fish Necropsy - How to examine dead fish for evidence of external parasites or internal problems.
Fish Tuberculosis - Causes and symptoms of fish TB. Mycobacterium marinum. Possible treatment. There is some danger to humans when servicing
Flukes - Information on flukes and how to trat flukes.
Fungus in fish - Information on diagnosing and treating fungis in fish.
Ich: An Old Cure for an Old Disease - Information on diagnosing and treating anchor worms.Natural methods to cure ich
Glugea and Henneguya - Information on diagnosing and curing glugea and henneguya.
Hexamita - Information on diagnosing and treating hexamita.
Hole-in-the-Head Disease - Information on diagnosing and treating hole in the head.
Ichthyosporidium - Information on diagnosing and treating ichthyosporidium.
Injuries in fish - Information on how to care for injured fish
Leeches in aquariums - How to prevent and control leeches in your aquarium.
Lymphocystis - Information on diagnosing and treating lymphocystis.
Marine velvet - Information on diagnosing and treating the saltwater disease "marine velvet".
Nematodes - Information on diagnosing and treating nematodes.
Neon Tetra Disease - Information on diagnosing and treating neon tetra disease.
Parasites and Similar Problem Organisms - Various fish parasites, some normally free-swimming organisms, and various species of algae can become a problem.
Preventing diseases - An article about how you can prevent diseases among your fish.
Quarantine Aquarium - An introduction to Quarantine Aquariums.
Red Pest Disease - Information on diagnosing and treating red pest.
Scale Protrusion - Information on diagnosing scale protrusion and how to treat it.
Swim-bladder disease - Information on the different causes of swim bladder problems and how the problem can be treated.
Tail & Fin Rot - Information on diagnosing and treating tail an fin rot.
Treat Argulus - Summary of treating fish disease argulus
Treating White Spot Disease - Symptoms of Ich, its life cycle, and treatments using either malachite green or aquarium salt.
Treating Fish - An introduction to the art of treating fish that suffers from a disease.
Tumors in fish - Information on tumors in fish
Uronema marinum - Information on diagnosing and treating Uronema marinum.
Velvet - Information on diagnosing and treating velvet
