Dropsy and Your Fish

What is dropsy? It is a disease that fish can get and once the disease has taken hold of a fish it is almost always fatal. This disease is also known as pine cone disease.When a fish gets dropsy the scales puff up and stand proud of the body of the fish almost like a pine cone hence the nick name fo this disease. The eyes of the fish can also bulge the disease is caused by a bacterial infection in the kidneys of the fish.

Dropsy can be brought on by trauma through sudden temperature changes in the water or poor water quality. The bacterial infection can also come from parasites. The trouble is that it is pretty much a fatal disease.  Although there have been many treatments tried for this disease it remains that they are not successful and even the cases that treatment has been successful, it is doubtful as to whether the condition was dropsy in the first place.

The problem is that by the time you may realise that a fish has this condition through its pine cone appearance, it is to late to save the fish and it is probably best to remove the fish before it deteriorates to a point that it could contaminate the water and cause problems for the other fish. You will then need to make sure you do a water test for any high levels of harmful ammonia’s or nitrates.

It is always a good idea to do regular tests to your ponds water. This way you can keep your pond water at its best and give your fish the environment they deserve.

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