Dropsy Symptoms In Danio Zebra

[bettaingermany]

Hi there,

Just checked my tank when I came home and noticed the dominent female danio swimming slowly and not leading the pack. Took a closer look at her and see some light pineconing and a significant loss of color, she is a real dull silver now. I checked my stats and everything is normal. I lost a danio one month ago to dropsy and hoped that was the last of it. I am concerned it will spread and am ok euthanizing this fish. From everything I have read, dropsy is not curable. I have had her for 1 year but don't want it to spread to anyone else in the tank like my platties. Any opinions ? Thanks in advance for your help.

BING

 

[Colin_T]

you are right in thinking dropsy is untreatable. It is usually caused by an internal bacterial infection. The bacteria destroy the organs and they rupture causing massive bloating.
Danios only normally live for a couple of years so depending on how old she was when you got her she probably lived a long life.

I can give you some bad news now. If this problem continues and you lose a fish every month or so to the same problem, I would suspect fish tuberculosis. Fish TB is rife in Asia and that is where most aquarium fishes come from. The only way to be sure is to have a sick fish autopsied by a fish vet or fish health lab (usually associated with animal health labs).