Well, dropsy doesn't always pinecone their scales. But, if he hasn't pooped in awhile, might be constipuation. You can try the boiled green pea (cook any green pea (canned, frozen, de-podded fresh) until it gets to the squishy stage, cool it, then sort of squeeze it between your fingers until the soft inside squishes out of the cover, give the soft squish part to your fish) but some fish won't eat peas. You can try offering live food (daphnia are excellent, live brine shrimp are good) to get some fiber into them. Also not feeding him for a few days (they can live for quite a while without food so don't worry) also helps. That Epsom salt treatment might work. Feeding him only pellets probably will only increase the incidence of constipation--unless you soak the pellets first to get more liquid into his digestive system.
