Dropsy in Hamilton

[Airyshone]

Hi there, i have a curious problem. I had two fish for the last year, a shub and a mocha fantail. They had had quite a bit of trouble with fin rot over the summer, but were on the mend so i moved them from my parents house in tauranga to hamilton. Now the trouble began. They were fine for almost a month, then all of a sudden one morning they both have dropsy. Inevitably they died.

I cleaned the tank top to bottom, let it dry out for two weeks, then got two new fish, a shub fantail and a red comet. This time i wasn't going to let them get dropsy so i invested in a good quality filter. However, i discovered yesterday that the shub fantail has dropsy, i immediately removed him from the tank. And this morning, the comet's scales started to stick out, although it hasn't increased in size.

I have only had these fish for a week and a half, and am puzzled as to what is causing it. The only thing i can think of is that there is something in the water that the filter isn't removing that is causing this.

Has anyone else had any trouble?

Just to be on the safe side, the next fish are getting bottled water from out of the hamilton region.

[craig]

hi,

alot of people think dropsy is food related,for the fish that have it now feed them peas and put some epson salts in their water. there is a few good site on the net glimmer goldfish is one,koi vet is another you will find out heaps of helpful info.

cheers shell.

[Tillie]

This is how i understand dropsy: (there is a lot of good literature on the net) Dropsy is a symptom, not a disease in itself. It indicates internal bacteria, and causes the fish to swell as it cannot expell the excess fluid building up inside them. Often the swelling causes internal injuries and therefore the fish cannot recover (hence the rarity that dropsy is curable). I had one fish that got dropsy, I treated it in a separate tank with an airsotne and melafix and tonic salt (although its recommended against using this type of salt because of the contents are of that which the fish already cannot expell)- Epsom salts are recommened.A nd he fot better and is fine now! Furan 2 has been suggested if it's mild dropsy. Dropsy can be curable but it is rare. Make sure if you have a fish with dropsy to isolate it, as if the fish dies in the tank with other fish the internal fluids will ooze and be contagious to other fish. if teh dropsy is quite bad, then it's best to euthanise the fish as it suffers and may even internally explode. DROPSY IS CAUSED BY: Poor water conditions and /or stress. Poor water conditions is the main culprit. Are you doing water changes and siphoning the gravel? You need to have had your tank cycled too - you can find info on here to do this. Good luck!! I hope this has helped