# older male molly sick?



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

One of my male mollies is looking very odd. I know he is an older fish as i have had him for about a year and he was large when i got him. Hes looking a little off and today i have notised that his scales seem to be bumpy. Any ideas? I resently had a platie die the other week. She had the same look... but i thought she just got beat up.


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## guppyart (Jan 22, 2005)

sounds like it has dropsy if the scales look bumpy.
here is some info on it for you.
I hope it helps.

Symptoms

This disease is characterised by a swollen or hollow abdomen (Ascites). A concentration of fluid in the body tissues and cavities causes the fish's abdomen to become swollen and appear bloated. Swollen areas may exhibit a 'pine-cone' appearance caused by the fishes scales sticking out. You can best see this by viewing your fish from the top. Fish may also stop feeding, appear off-colour, become listless and/or lethargic, have sunken eyes, and hang at the top or stay at the bottom of the aquarium.

The condition affects the fish's internal organs, ceasing proper function.

Gouramies, Cyprinids (barbs, danios, etc), betta and goldfish are prone to this disease.

Dropsy is fairly easy to diagnose non-specifically, however, it is much harder to diagnose the cause. The main cause is bacterial infection. The causative agent may be introduced through food or dirty water. Edema second to kidney failure or ascites due to liver or heart failure are other possible causes.

Treatment

Dropsy is not very contagious; however, if a fish is diagnosed with dropsy, it is important to remove it from the aquarium as soon as possible. If there are multiple fish, treat the afflicted fish in a specially established "sick tank" (Quarantine). Dropsy can spread from the ill fish, possibly causing stress among the other fish in the tank community. This extra stress may make the others vulnerable to dropsy or other forms of disease.


Treatment may consist of antibiotics targeting the causative agent. They work best in the very early stages of dropsy. A more hands-on approach is to raise the aquarium's temperature a few degrees- slightly higher than usual. Adding Epsom salts to the water at (a rate of 20 mg/L)helps to encourage the fish to expel unnecessary damaging fluids.

Prognosis

Prognosis of fish dropsy is not good. By the time fish has swollen up enough that the scales begin to raise, the internal damage may be too extensive to repair. Most cases of dropsy are fatal.

Prevention

Maintaining water quality is always extremely important. It should always be checked first, because it is often the cause of disease in aquarium fish. Frequent water changes can work to prevent the spread of disease by "watering down" the concentration of disease agents, and by reducing stress on the tank occupants.

All tanks need a 10-25% water change on a weekly basis. The best method of changing water is siphoning the water from the bottom, removing debris and fecal matter from the gravel.

Always feed fish from reliable sources and use high quality food. Varying diet is also important.


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

well the temp is at 80 alredy. I will add the salt, but i cant seperate the fish i dont have any sick tanks.


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

Could also be from water conditions. Done anything differant lately Morgan with your tank? If you could the params the would help alot.


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## swimmers (Jan 18, 2005)

When a fish has dropsy I believe adding salt causes them to bloat more, at least that has been my experiance.


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

well mollys like a little salt any ways so its not going to hurt anything. Hunter i have not done anything diferently... Maby more fish in an alredy over stoked fish tank..... but nothing i have not alredy delt with. I just cant understand it. He's my oldest fish two  

Hunter get on Yahoo we hardy talk any more!!


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Well im thinkign it has to be an internal problem as my male platy just died... his scales looked fine....


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