Do you suspect dropsy in goldfish that are in your tank right now? If you think they have dropsy, pay close attention.
We will tell you all you need to know about this goldfish affliction. It’s quite common, so don’t fret- we can help get your fish feeling better again.
It is important to note that the term “dropsy” is not a medical one. Vets do not consider the condition to be a disease. Instead, the term dropsy is a reference to the many symptoms a goldfish will display.
Dropsy results as the product of a bacterial infection of the fish’s kidneys. The kidneys, which are infected, hold water. This retained water leads to swollen kidneys and disrupts homeostasis in the goldfish, specifically osmoregulation.
Osmoregulation is how a goldfish keeps its internal fluids in balance with external water. Late stages of dropsy will have goldfish with such a swollen belly that the scales may fan outward.
Goldfish that are severely sick will not eat, look incredibly unhappy, and might even have trouble swimming, although some fish just swim along as though nothing is wrong.
Dropsy is actually an old medical term no longer used except for when referring to fish. Nowadays, we might call such an affliction ascites or edema. All these terms mean the same thing; it refers to the swelling of soft tissue within a body cavity, such as the abdomen.
You will notice your goldfish or aquarium fish have dropsy when you look at them and see their bellies are swollen well beyond an average size. The belly seems to drop down, which may be why fish keepers still use the old term to describe how their fish is looking. It may even look like the fish is bloated.
Dropsy in your aquarium or goldfish is actually a reference to a group of symptoms that arise as part of an infection from bacteria that is present in every aquarium. As a result, fish may be exposed to the bacteria that causes dropsy, but healthy fish do not become affected by the disease. Fish are only prone to developing dropsy when their immune system is compromised, thanks to stress.
The bacteria in question is known as the Aeromonas bacteria. It is a gram-negative bacterium that you find in almost all aquariums everywhere.
These are called gram-negative because, unlike other bacteria, they don’t adapt to a particular stain when tested using the Gram Stain method of IDing species of bacterias.
Once again, you only need to worry about this if the fish already have poorly functioning immune systems.
In a nutshell, keep an eye on the following factors:
As the dropsy infection gets worse, lesions on the skin may show up, followed by a belly that fills up with fluid and damage to internal organs. The fish will die if not treated.
It is actually quite likely the fish will pass away even if you act quickly- the mortality rate of this particular disease is high. Still, you should do all you can to save your goldfish.
If caught early on, you can treat dropsy, and it is more likely the fish will live. However, the symptoms can vary greatly, so you should know all of them as that will make it easier to treat because you can notice it sooner.
These symptoms do not happen overnight; instead, they develop and progress as the disease gets worse and worse.
You will not be able to see these symptoms in your goldfish, but this is what happens internally to dropsy affected goldie.
Other diseases your goldfish may suffer from include swim bladder disease, fin rot, and constipation.)
The treatment of dropsy is not easy. Some fish gurus recommend that the fish actually be put to sleep as a means of preventing the spread of the disease to other healthy fish within the tank.
In some cases, Popeye may happen, and if this is the case, things aren’t looking good for the fish tank.
However, if you are able to detect the disease early on, and the fish are quarantined with an adequate course of treatment, you very well might be able to save your affected fish.
The idea behind a proper treatment plan is to correct the major underlying issues and provide support for the fish that isn’t feeling well.
The ways to treat dropsy are not always going to work; we want to make that abundantly clear. If the fish has reached the pinecone stage of the disease, chances are it is too late. However, don’t give up and try your best.
Thankfully, preventing dropsy is not so difficult when it comes to fish care. It simply takes some prevention on the part of the owner. Your biggest method of preventing dropsy is going to be reducing the stress your goldfish feel.
More often than not, stress comes about as a result of poor water quality. Here’s what you can do to keep water quality in good shape.
Nitrites, on the other hand, come from fish excrement. If you have live plants, the decaying of the plants can cause this, also. Filters that are dirty may also lead to nitrite spikes.
There should be NO nitrite at all in your fish tank. Nitrites lead to suffocation, and this is why we see fish at the surface gasping for air. Keep the tank clean with a gravel vacuum and keep algae cleaned up. Perform regular water changes. A nitrite test kit will keep you in the know.
If all your fish in the tank are feeling stressed out, the whole tank can become infected. Or you might just see a couple of the fish fall ill. It is important to monitor the tank closely every day to keep the fish healthy and catch it fast.
Now let’s talk about some ways that fish become stressed out.
A short-term stress exposure is NOT going to hurt the fish long term. For example, one stressful scenario is not going to kill a fish. However, if a fish is continuously exposed to stress, the immune system will be negatively impacted.
It may seem like a complicated task to keep goldfish stress free, but thankfully it is not. Just make sure to do regular water tests. Keep the tank in a quiet place and keep only as many fish as your tank can handle.
There is some good news- dropsy itself is not contagious. That being said, fish that are affected by the disease should be placed into a quarantine tank. It is just a matter of precaution and also helps you more easily focus your attention on the sick fish.
Furthermore, a fish that is already compromised won’t have to deal with further tank issues (such as ammonia or nitrite).
Here are the steps to follow so you can safely isolate the sick fish
2. Now, make a salt bath. Do this by adding just 2.5 teaspoons of Epsom salts per ten gallons of water to the hospital tank. The idea here is that the magnesium sulfate found in the Epsom salts will pull the excess water out of the body of the fish, which could help bring swelling down.
3. Make sure you have antibacterial fish food available for the goldfish. You can buy this at a local fish store or make up a batch of your own by taking a 1% mixture of fish food plus tetracycline or chloromycetin, both of which are antibiotics.
4. Keep feeding the fish the antibiotic food and watch their progress for 7 to 10 days.
After 10 days, if you notice no signs of health-improving or the dropsy gets worse, it is likely that the fish is not affected by a bacterial infection. If your antibiotics do not heal and the salt bath is not effective, there is likely nothing more that can be done.
Chances are dropsy cannot be cured if all steps are taken and no improvement happens.
However, you can check with a vet to see if there are other solutions or consult with the employees at a local fish shop.
Yes, the unfortunate truth is that the condition of dropsy in fish is fatal. The mortality rate of dropsy is quite high.
The best thing for you to do as a fish owner is to prevent dropsy before it begins. The way to do this is by making sure the tank is nice and clean at all times.
You should arm yourself with an arsenal of cleaning products and fish tank supplies so that you are always prepared to clean at a moment’s notice if you see things get a bit messy. Goldfish are messy fish and need frequent cleanings. You should schedule the cleanings each week to occur at the same time, so you are always consistent, and you make it a habit.
Some good ways to keep your fish tank clean and neat include using a gravel vacuum, which sucks up the fecal matter, plant bits, and uneaten food, and using algae killer or scraping away the algae in the tank. Buy filters in bulk and make sure to take apart your filter once a month to clean it thoroughly.
You can also clean off aquarium décor in a safe way by cleaning them one at a time. Clean a different one each week. You can do this using a bleach solution of 4 tsp of bleach to 2 gallons of water.
Soak the décor in the bleach mix for 2 minutes and then rinse it with water for 5 minutes. Use a bristle brush to get rid of any dirt. Then place the décor in a bucket filled with a dechlorinating mixture and soak for 15 minutes before putting it back into the tank.
In summary, the good news is that dropsy is not something you have to worry about if you can do one simple thing: maintain optimal water quality. That’s all you have to do!
And with daily water checks, appropriate feeding, and weekly tank cleanings, the appearance of dropsy will likely never happen to your fishy friends.
That being said, you should never say never. Make sure to have some medications on hand as well as a quarantine tank available in the event that you have to treat a sick fish.
Best of luck, and enjoy your fish even more by checking out other helpful articles on our website.
If you liked this article, make sure you check out the rest of the website! And if you have any more questions, you can ask them in the Q&A Section!
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