Dropsy – Also known as Bloat or Pinecone Disease

What is Dropsy?

Dropsy is a fish version of oedema in humans. It causes fluid build-up/retention within the fish.

While dropsy can be serious to the health of the fish this is a symptom as opposed to an ailment.

It can indicate underlying conditions such as bacterial/parasitic or even liver malfunctions.

How to identify and diagnosis.

There are numerous symptoms of dropsy. However, a diagnosis of dropsy is unfortunately not a good diagnosis and ultimately your fish require treatment as soon as possible.

Symptoms include:

  • Bloating, swelling of the belly.
  • Eyes swelling and protruding out of their sockets. This is not always the case, but it can occur.
  • A pinecone appearance, this is where the scales of the fish stick out and are not flush and inline with skin.
  • The fish can have a loss of colour, begin to look paler especially around the gills.
  • Clamped fins
  • The spine may begin to curve due to water retention.
  • The faeces of the fish may appear to also have a paler colour.
  • The fish may have a swollen bum.
  • The fish may have difficulty swimming and appear to have little to no energy.
  • Lack of appetite.
  • Production of copious amounts of mucous.
  • Fits/seizures.
  • Anaemia
  • Sudden death.

Whilst these symptoms can indicate dropsy, they may also often be confused with other common illnesses such as swim bladder and constipation.

As with many fish ailments, water testing is the first step to diagnosing what may be affecting the fish from within the pond environment.

The fish will possibly require a mucous scrape to determine if the underlying cause is potentially parasitic.

In the case of suspected dropsy, it is highly recommended that you seek expert advice as this condition does not have the most positive prognosis.

Unfortunately, dropsy can be fatal in as little as a few hours and more often than not it is fatal. It is crucial that to give your fish the best chance of survival that treatment is sought as early as possible, however even with treatment dropsy can be incredibly difficult to treat and still cause death.

Causes

Most cases of dropsy in your pond are caused by a bacteria called Aeromonas. This bacterium lives freely within your pond and tends to only affect fish with weakened immune systems. The primary cause of dropsy is most often linked to stress. This in turn causes a decrease in the effectiveness of the immune system.

In addition to the stress and the Aeromonas bacteria. Dropsy can also be triggered by the lack of effective kidney function.

How contagious is it?

Unknown

Due to dropsy being classified as a symptom rather than an illness, it is only known to be contagious or not dependent on whether the underlying cause of the dropsy has been identified or not.

How to treat?

Given that dropsy is a symptom rather than being able to treat the illness directly it is advised to address the symptoms first. The water in the pond after analysis will be able to be balanced to help boost all your fishes’ immune systems, in addition to this isolating the affected fish into a separate tank is advised.

It can be helpful to bathe the fish in slightly salted water to help alleviate some of the symptoms.

Dependent on the underlying cause of the dropsy it is best to seek advice to treat both the underlying cause and the dropsy simultaneously this may include feeding the affected fish an antibacterial food which contains antibiotics to help aid the recovery of the fish.

Prevention

Obtaining the most ideal environment will help to prevent stress which is a contributing factor.

  • Obtaining and maintaining optimum water quality.
  • Regular pond maintenance.
  • Feeding the fish correctly with a well-balanced and nutritious feed.
  • Do not overcrowd the pond with livestock.
  • Maintain the water temperature as best as possible.
  • Monitor the fish behaviour for any changes.

If ever in doubt, please get in touch for further advice and information.