Dropsy Question

[guppymommy]

I have a female who's scales are slightly protruding on the bottom. You can't see them protruding unless you look really close. I had a male that died of dropsy, and it was obvious that he had dropsy as his scales were protruding all over. I'm not sure if my female has dropsy as she isn't acting like the male did, nor does she look as "pine-conish" as the male did. As I mentioned, the prodtruding scales are only on the underside of her belly. Is this the early stages of dropsy?

I took her out of the tank and treated her for dropsy (just in case it was), but there hasn't been any improvement or worsening. She's been the same for just over a week. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with it, but she did have fry shortly before the scales began to stick out. She is slightly swollen, and still looks pregnant even though she did have fry.

She is eating and swimming around fine. So what's going on with her? Is she fine and should be returned to the tank? Or is she ill and needs to continue to be isolated or even euthanized. Please help!!

 

[guppymommy]

Here are some pictures of her:

Like I said, you can't really see the scales poking out unless you look really close and the pictures don't show it well. The second photo shows it best . . . though it is still hard to see the scales protruding.

 

[Kairi]

she just looks really pregnant to me....

 

[guppymommy]

Is that possible though? She just dropped fry about a week ago.

 

[ruffmeister]

looks ok, just keep an eye out

 

[guppymommy]

Is it not dropsy then? Can I put her back in the main tank.

 

[Kairi]

i had a molly give birth a few days ago (i caught her fry) and i swear she's huge again. i've got to catch the boys to give the ladies a break. and yes it's possible- i would assume- especially if you have males in the tank too.

 

[guppymommy]

Wow! Did your Molly have scales sticking out on her underside too? Is this just an effect of pregnancy?

 

[hot_hazza3]

Mine is doing the same she is pregnant too and shes poppin outwards at the moment, oh also by your pics she deff looks preggers to me
good luck!!!
"H"

 

[Bloo]

She's certainly pregnant, but looking at the 2nd and third picture I'd say she almost certainly has dropsy too Dropsy is not contagious though - and is usually related to certain organ failures due to water quality issues. I often only effects one fish, while all others are fine (which will lead me to think the weaker fish aren't strong enough to cope with water quality problems). If indeed it is dropsy and she's pregnant, there is little to nothing you can do.

 

[Annastasia]

Some fish will pinecone if they are extremely pregnant, and then go back to normal when they have fry. But you said she just had fry, and then got this, which leads to believe it might be dropsy. Just keep an eye on her.

 

[Kairi]

guppy mommy- no, her scales are normal, but she's a pretty big fish too.

 

[guppymommy]

Well, I'll keep her separated and watch her. Her scales are still slightly poking out underneath. She's not getting any worse, and that's why I wasn't sure if it was dropsy. I thought the condition would have worsened by now. She did just have fry so I wasn't sure why she would still be so fat.

I'll treat her for dropsy again and see what happens. I do a 25% water change at least once a week and keep a close eye on my water quality, so if she does have dropsy, I'm not sure why she got it.

I purchased the male from the pet store and he died from dropsy a few days later, so I suspect he may have already been ill before I got him. But I've had this female for about a month now and she's been healthy as far as I know. It's a mystery to me! I hope I can solve it to prevent it happeining again.