Scale Protrusions?

[dancexonxwater]

One of my adult male platys has become sick. His tale is very droopy and on the back half of his body only his scales are slightly protruding. To me, it doesn't seem like he is bloated...so I guess that means it can't be dropsy unless its a very early stage? What could this be? Is it contagious? Causes?

Any feedback is always helpful, Thanks.

Stats:
10 gallon freshwater aquarium
heater present: 78 F
three adult platys (two male, one female)
One baby platy (aprox. 4 weeks old)
water quality normal

those are the best pictures i could get, though i know they're not that great. you can see a little bit of what i'm talking about, though.

 

[loraxchick]

looks like dropsy from the pics, especially his wonky bent tail. you could try internal bac med. and epsom salt baths to draw out the fluid (1 Tbsp/5 gal), but dropsy is usually fatal no matter the treatment given. it would not be infectious unless the other fish pick at his body post mordem. sorry to say
all the best

 

[dancexonxwater]

=/ that's what im afraid of.

I almost forgot, though... about three weeks ago he had a bubble like spot on his head? I found him laying upside down on the bottom of the tank, though he got right up afterwards. I assumed he was trying to get whatever was on his head off of it. I thought it might hav ebeen some type of parasite, but the fish store just reccomended i buy a heater, so i did. The spot went away in about a day (before the heater). But when he had that spot..his tail was also droopy. I don't know if these things are related. After he was sick i treated the tank with prevent-ich for a week and all the fish seemed pretty happy after that..until aprox two days ago when he started looking like the pictures above.

 

[loraxchick]

other than an epsom salt bath (at 1 tbsp./5 gal), get an internal bac med and get it quick. dropsy is more of a symptom of an underlying disorder than a disorder outright. can be casued by organ failure(100% not treatable) to bac infection. poor little guy. but not necessarily 100% communicable to the rest of the fish,
can you isolate him/her? that may be best. keep good water and fingers crossed. only dangerous to other fish if he dies and they eat him(and is of pathogen origin and not from, say, organ failure).
cheers

 

[dancexonxwater]

I can isolate him. Thank you for all the help! Hopefully all will go well.