Bettas by Jennifer Lapello
Dropsy
A Betta in the beginning stage of Dropsy. Note the protruding scales on the side of the fish, AKA "pineconing". Photograph by Jennifer Lapello.
A Betta in the more advanced stages of Dropsy. Protruding scales, a swollen abdomen, and a "sawtooth" appearance along the top of the fish are all evident. Photograph by Nathaniel Emers.
Symptoms: Pale, lethargic, loss of appetite, usually protruding scales all over body, causing a “pinecone” effect. usually
accompanied by abdominal swelling.
Cause: Highly debated. It is generally agreed upon that Dropsy is an internal
organ infection, and it is usually believed to be the kidney that is affected. However, people have different opinions on whether
it is bacterial or viral in nature, and some blame poor water conditions as well. To further complicate diagnosing the cause,
it has been shown that at least the likelihood of contracting Dropsy can be partially genetic in nature. It has been observed
(even in my own fish room) that if one member of a spawn contracts Dropsy, the other members seem to be more prone to it, even ater
being separated for months. It does not appear to be an infectious disease. Prolonged constipation can also lead to Dropsy,
although it is not known if the constipation causes the Dropsy, or if the fish becomes constipated in the first place due to the infection
that ultimately leads to Dropsy.
Treatment: Treatment of this disease is very difficult, and it almost always results in
death. Usually by the time you see symptoms, it is already too late. There are different ways that Dropsy presents itself.
The first way is when the fish may or may not lose its appetite and visibly pinecones slightly without rapid progression of swelling.
This is the most treatable form of it, in my experience. The second, and probably most common kind, is where the fish swells
grotesquely, seemingly in a matter of hours. These fish hardly ever show an interest in food and are usually dead within 24
hours. The third form I have seen is where the fish doesn’t pinecone much at all, but will usually act lethargic and refuse
food. They usually die very quickly from this form, and most people do not notice the protruding scales until after the fish
has already died.
I have successfully treated fish with Dropsy using extreme measures in the past. However, in every single
fish that was successfully treated, the Dropsy did eventually return, whether it be a month or six months down the road. For
that reason, I now euthanize any fish showing signs of Dropsy.
If you do want to attempt treatment, you can try to treat it aggressively
if you wish, since the fish will probably die anyway. I do not normally condone using mixtures of several medications.
In most diseases, you do much more harm than good with this type of practice! However, a mixture that worked for me in the past
was clean water with the following medications/additives: an antibiotic medication that treats gram-positive and gram-negative
bacteria, a few drops of Melafix, a few drops of the edible Ampicillin mixed into the water itself, since the fish will not eat this
medication (unless they are still eating other foods...then it can be used to saturate their food) and about a teaspoon of Epsom salt
per half gallon of water. All of the fish that were treated this way were placed inside a beanie which was then placed inside
a tank filled with about 4 inches of water with a 25W heater going, keeping the water at about 82-84 degrees. I kept them in
almost complete darkness during the course of treatment as well. But, as I stated before, every fish that I treated ended up
getting Dropsy again somewhere down the road. I honestly feel that a “successful” treatment is nothing more than getting the
symptoms to subside for an undetermined period of time. So, even if your fish begins looking healthy again, keep in mind that
there is most likely something still lingering beneath the surface, which may or may not be causing your fish stress and discomfort.
Prevention: Unknown. Always keeping your fish in clean water is a good precautionary measure, even with the cause
of this disease being somewhat of a mystery.