# Flaky scales?



## petoira

One of our zebra danios has some strange disease. It wasn't eating, looked thin and was hanging either at the bottom of the tank or up at the top, sometimes rubbing it's sides. From the top it appears that the scales are coming away from his sides. It looks really rough in texture. From the sides, it looks kind of grey and dull. I was wondering slime disease? I've had it in a breeding trap and sprinkled salt on it for a couple of days.

My fish dealer said today to treat the whole tank with salt, and it was probably some kind of bacteria in the gravel. He tested the water and said it was ok. I've put it back with the others since I'm treating the whole tank. He seemed a little more perky, but I don't see him eating still. The others seem fine. He mentioned dropsy. What is that? Any ideas?


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## <3~Pleco~<3

It does sound like dropsy. The scales pop out like pine cones.
You probably want to wait until someone more experienced can explain this to you better. I will probably just confuse you or say something wrong if I try and explain it.


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## Guest

normally sticking out scales (pine coning) is an indication of dropsy. does the danio look swollen like its pregenant? if so i suggest you boil some frozen peas, shell it and mush it a bit and drop it into the feeder box.


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## TheOldSalt

Pinecone scales are only a symptom with many possible causes, which can be kinda irksome. If the fish isn't swollen, then it's not dropsy ( edema ) but a nasty infection.


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## petoira

Thanks everyone. He certainly does look like a pinecone - poor thing! Apart from the peas, am I treating him ok? Do I need to get special treatment for him or will the salt be enough? I can't say that he is too swollen. He certainly doesn't look like the pregnant danio in there. Is dropsy a bacteria? Do they stop eating? Can they recover? Is it contagious? I also have baby danios a few days old in a breeding trap in there - will it affect them?


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## petoira

Also, if it's a nasty infection, how should he be treated?


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## betta0fish

it says in my book that you can treat it with parazan but i have no idea what that is. I do know that dropsy is hard to cure and your fish may never look normal. Although i have heard some people curing their fish completely


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## petoira

Thanks, I guess we'll just have to see. I've given the tank a good dose of salt, and tried the peas, but if he doesn't eat, I can't see that helping. I just hope it's not contagious.


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## <3~Pleco~<3

if it is drospy, then you dont have to worry about it spreading. It isn't contagious.


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## TheOldSalt

Yes it is! It's horribly contagious. ( or often can be, depending on the cause ) 
Get that fish out of that tank.


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## petoira

Thank you. I'll get him out straight away. Should I do another major water change or treat the water with anything to prevent spreading? I did a one third wc on Tuesday.


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## TheOldSalt

Well, if you don't know the exact cause, it's not a sure bet that it would do any good and be worth the bother.
Three water changes in a row should be enough to help if it will work. As for treating the tank, it's not worth it. Any medicine which could fix any dropsy causing infections would likely wipe out your filters anyway. Watch the other fish and see what happens. Maybe the others will remain okay.


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## <3~Pleco~<3

what?! since when is dropsy contagious to the other fish in the tank? Everything I have read about it says that it isn't lol


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## petoira

OK. Since I got him out, I looked up more about dropsy and realise it is only a symptom, and not the disease itself, that it is often caused by malfunction of the kidney. A few weeks ago, I treated the tank for some kind of mouth fungus and didn't read the label properly. I didn't dilute the solution before putting it in and had to do a few water changes. Anyway, I guess that is probably the cause of dropsy and the other fish are probably ok as they've not shown any other signs of illness. I'll leave the water as it was checked on Tuesday.


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## N0z

yep it sounds like dropsy and most people say it cant be cured :O


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