Bad Health Problem

[snake007]

Now every single one of my mollies has dropsy - they all got it after giving birth.
Why is this, the only fish that doesnt have dropsy is the danios and convicts

 

[OldMan47]

Dropsy is a description of symptoms, much like pneumonia describes anyone with a swelling of the membranes of the lungs. Dropsy also is a simple tag name for a fish showing pineconing. It does not describe a cause or a true disease. Any disease that results in the general symptom of pineconing is called dropsy. Unfortunately, unless you can determine the underlying problem, any of the typical treatments may or may not work for you, in a seemingly random fashion. If you happen to have the same real problem as someone has had in the past that they have cured, you will succeed in curing your fish by following their approach. If you don't happen to have the same underlying problem, you will probably fail. This is why dropsy is considered so hard to cure. Each case may or may not respond, in a seemingly random fashion, to a given action that you take, because the symptom is regarded as if it was the disease.

 

[fishyfeet]

i thought it was caused by poor water quality? have you tested your water, did you cycle the tank before adding fish

 

[snake007]

i thought it was caused by poor water quality? have you tested your water, did you cycle the tank before adding fish

yes everything is spot on and yes i cycled it for 2months

 

[OldMan47]

The symptoms can be the result of many things including water quality. As I said, everyone has had success from time to time by doing something but determining exactly what to do each time is chancy. With that said, my only frequently used health tonic for fish is a massive water change. Even when things test good, I do the change and it often helps.

 

[snake007]

The symptoms can be the result of many things including water quality. As I said, everyone has had success from time to time by doing something but determining exactly what to do each time is chancy. With that said, my only frequently used health tonic for fish is a massive water change. Even when things test good, I do the change and it often helps.

how big of a water change?

 

[OldMan47]

I do well over a 50% change.