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Hey there,
My oldest male guppy has a bad case of dropsy. I have used Jungle Brands Fungus Clear, which should treat dropsy. I have only used 1 dose, but havent noticed any improvement. He is getting old, but is a strong strong fish. He is eating great, pooping, and still romancing the ladies as usual. Should I try a second dose of the Jungle stuff, or should I try something else? I did a water change to take out the Fungus clear stuff after 4 days as instructed, and then added some melafix and some salt to the water.
Tank is a 25g well aged, and has good water conditions, Ammonia Zero, Nitrites Zero, Nitrates >20ppm, PH 7.2, water hardness 180-200 ppm.
All the other fish are fine. I do not want to stress this fish out, as he is my best breeder, so I would want to treat the main tank to avoid removing him. If he dies that is OK as he is Old, I would prefer he dies in the tank he is in, with his "friends" around him, but would like to try something else that might help him.
I am not sure what fish meds I have around, but will look.
Any advice? I know dropsy is very hard to treat, but am not without a desire to at least try to ease any suffering of this fish.


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Dropsy is not a disease in itself, but an accumulation of fluid within the fish which occurs during systemic organ failure. If he really does have dropsy, then his litle body is packing up, basically.

Have you seen the pineconing? If so, then it is almost certainly dropsy. The only treatment I know that has been effective is dosing with Epsom salts, you would have to google it though, I dont know the dosages. If you are using aquarium salt, stop, asthe salt encourages more fluid to leak into the body cavity.

Keep him warm, carry on feeding him if he'll eat and watch out for the other fish having a go at him if he starts getting weak - dropsy is often associalted with septicaemia, so once you see the blood streaking on the fins, IMO, it's time to let him go.

ON the flipside, if you dont see the "pinecone" then he could just have constipation. If you dont see pineconing, try feeding a shelled pea, squished up a bit, and see if that helps.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

Oh no, he definetely has dropsy. He is as pinecone as he could get.
I will look up the epsom salts.
Thanks.

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Fungus clear doesn't treat Dropsy.

For an old guppy it's probably best to remove from tank and euthanize immediately as your fish is definately suffering. Epson salt treatment for dropsy is usually a treatment for goldfish, not tropicals. It finished off my Krib when I tried it.. If you're trying it, get him into a hospital tank don't expose all your fish to the Epsom salt.

Maracyn II is supposed to treat dropsy. I'd try that over the epson salt. Be prepared to treat for a long time as there is no fast cure... Once a fish has advanced dropsy the chance of recovery is very low. If you are going to try I wish your fish the best of luck though. Some forms of Dropsy are contagious so you need a hospital tank with a heater.

The Amazon Nut...

once again dropsy is not a disease, it is a condition. It can be compared to Oedema in humans. It is a symptom of renal failure, as the kidneys can nolonger process waste water. Renal failure in fish is normally a sign of systemic organ failure anyway, as by the time you detect the renal failure, other organs will be shutting down. The fluid puts excess strain on the circulatory system, causing it to break down, the digestive system breaks down, the bouyancy system breaks down. All in all, advanced dropsy is a sign of untreatable organ failure.

Maracyn II is an antibiotic, it may treat the underlying cause of the condition, but it cannot restart the organ systems or repair the damage done.

I would agree that euthanasia is really the only couse of action now I hate to admit it, but I favour the brick technique, however there are other techniqes out there. A couple of Alka Selzer in water and add the fish is a technique which works too.

Dose with an antibiotic just to be certain that the bacteria which may have caused the renal failure is eradicated.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

Have to agree I'm afraid that once dropsy appears then theres not much hope for the poor affected fish - even if a cause could be found it is unlikely it could be treatable by this stage

We do call Dropsy a disease...

Be it bacterial or viral most, if not all, fish will perish no matter what is done to treat.

"Gentamycin" is the antibiotic of choice for Dropsy, but in the final stages, like your guppy, it probably would have no effect.

Some consider the malady contageous and I would agree there's a good chance that it is indeed contageous.

Do the fish a favor and destroy it before extreme suffering becomes a reality.

--garyroland.

Its ok, he passed away yesterday. I think he was just old and his organs packed it in. That happens to everything when it grows old!
He was only like this for a couple of days, then seemed to die peacefully in his sleep.
Thanks for your help though guys.


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Sorry to hear of your loss Sneaky.

The Amazon Nut...

Sorry about your loss, but it sounds like he lived the good life.

How old was old? And, was he a fancy or a common guppy?

I'm curious because I have a green cobra that is going on 2 years of age. He's fat because he eats all day long. When I'm not feeding him he just pics away at all the algae until he's ready to bust. He has no lady friends(my choice), but he and another male guppy practice their poses all day at each other and try romancing the harlequins).

Pete -

Sorry to hear of your loss. It also gives me little hope for my "miracle fish" - Kyle, who is almost 2 1/2 years old. He has been living in a 6 gallon aquarium for quite some time with his daughters & sons.

This past weekend, four of my 8 guppies died - but with every outbreak, Kyle has survived. He - and the other 3 survivors - were recently moved to a 10 gallon tank - and with the new lighting, I noticed Kyle seems to have ballooned.

Now, I notice the "pineconing" (as it's called) - with his scales sticking out at the bottom. I've just noticed that today - so I guess he doesn't have much longer to go

How old *was* your fishy, by the way?

Be careful with 4 guppy deaths too it could be a contagious dropsy a smaller fish like a guppy might die from it without even pineconing..

Dropsy sucks and it's my 'least favorite' disease to have in the tank.

The Amazon Nut...