I finally managed to fish out a comet/goldfish mix from my pond that I noticed has been bloated and has the pinecone thing going on...my question is what do I do with it now?? are the other fish potentially going to come down with it? and is it any relation to the leeches that have turned up this year?? help! I haven't had any other trouble with the pond until this year-having issues keeping it clean even with several filter cleanings (and it was FILTHY)...any advice would be appreciated!!
newbie here with a dropsy question
- Thread starter auste3boys
- Start date
Dropsy is a symptom not a disease. The causes can vary, but actual dropsy, is caused by a rapid swelling so the scales stick out (Pine Cone). While many root causes the actual swelling is normally from a bacteria infection.
If the swelling happens slowly over months or years the scales generally don't stick out. Most commonly a fluid balance problem which can't be fixed because it's a genetic issue. These fish have been severely inbred so genetic problems are common.
Treatment is not really wise imo. Treatment means finding the root cause first and that's really hard. Most people start torturing by throwing every cure people dream up at the fish. Fixes nothing 100% of the time and often kills the fish.
The absolute best thing you can do is learn about pH buffering, ammonia, nitrite and keep the pond as clean as possible and feed the fish good food. The better the water the better able the fish are able to deal with these issues on their own.
If the swelling happens slowly over months or years the scales generally don't stick out. Most commonly a fluid balance problem which can't be fixed because it's a genetic issue. These fish have been severely inbred so genetic problems are common.
Treatment is not really wise imo. Treatment means finding the root cause first and that's really hard. Most people start torturing by throwing every cure people dream up at the fish. Fixes nothing 100% of the time and often kills the fish.
The absolute best thing you can do is learn about pH buffering, ammonia, nitrite and keep the pond as clean as possible and feed the fish good food. The better the water the better able the fish are able to deal with these issues on their own.
thank you...that is the way I was leaning...planning on dumping 25% of the water-cleaning it up and replacing with fresh-hoping my koi don't come down with it-I have raised them since they were about 4 inches long-they are now about 10-12 inches long! I guess the sick one will have to go...