Dropsy - What to do?

[hovmoller]

I have a group of 20 cardinals and I think one of them has dropsy.

I don't know much about this condition but from this forum and Google I'm guessing this is what it is.

It has swollen abdomen, looks a bit like a pine cone from the scales sticking out and hangs around near the bottom. Still eating though so I take that as a sign there might still be hope.

Questions:

Is dropsy contageous?

Some suggest mixing antibiotics into food as treatment, but is this realistic/succesful?

Anyone with experience in this?

I tested water:

Temp 29, pH 6.8, Amonia 0, Nitrate very little (5mg/L)

Thanks!

[SamH]

Dropsy at this stage is incurable unfortunately. It would be best to put the sick fish out of its misery.

Sorry to hear this but I hope this helps.

[ryanjury]

Depending on what has caused it (a whole heap of things can cause dropsy like symptoms) it can sometimes be cured but the fish is never the same and it can cost more than the fish is worth.

Again it can be contagious but it would depend on what has caused the dropsy symptoms, maybe it is just a random organ failure on one fish and it isn't contagious, it is hard to tell. I would bounce the really sick one and keep up the water quality and just watch out for issues with the others.

[smidey]

i read an post about an african that got dropsy, the guy had a 3 foot tank with no fish so he put it in there thinking it would die & then forgot about it. he remembered it a few days later & it was perfectly healthy, looked as if there was never a problem. he put it down to good water quality, there was no lighting at all or tank mates.

[Bilbo]

Dropsy is really tough because it is really only the symptom and not a disease.

It can be caused by bacteria, parasites or a virus and some people claim it can even be caused by something as simple as a cold water water change. What ever the cause it is usually a failure in the kidneys or liver.

Don’t use normal salt because this will only make it worse but Epsom salts can help by reducing the swelling if you are wanting to try to cure it but I agree with everyone else that it should be put out of its misery.

Good water quality and correct paramaters for your fish is the best thing you can do to stop it.

[hovmoller]

Thank you for your comments..

I will send him off to fishy heaven, make sure the water is tip top and see how it goes..

[phoenix44]

One of the cardinals in my group of around 40 got dropsy. She was a big female too, but I just let her stay in there and disappear because you can't really catch any thing in my tank and then become natural fish food.

She was quite a hog and always fat. So i just left it at that. Somehow dropsy for me has always involved a fish over eating. Could be a kidney problem or what ever they speculate the cause to be.

[SamH]

Somehow dropsy for me has always involved a fish over eating.

I know my all of my Bettas that have died from dropsy have been overfed :oops: