Dropsy fish disease

Dropsy fish disease

1. General description

The bacteria which cause this disease commonly are in each type reservoirs – in aquarium also. These bacteria normally aren't harmful to fish. So why the fish are sick? They are sick because their immunity rapid decreased by wrong diet (monotony diet without vitamins and microelements or indigestible diet), rapid changes of water parameters (especially wrong water temperature), bad water quality (faulty nitrogen cycle – accumulation of ammonia or nitrites, accumulation chlorine, chloroamines, oxygen-poor water), too much fish, stress. The bacteria attack internal organs of the fish: the liver, intestines etc. which reduce. Damaged kidneys doesn't filter blood so the fluids accumulate in the body. The disease causes inflammatory reaction of the body and it progress leads to death.

2. Type of the disease

This is a bacterial disease.

3. Cause of the disease

Causes of this disease are Pseudomonas punctata bacteria.

4. Favorable circumstances for development of the disease

• bad water conditions – faulty the nitrogen cycle
• rapid changes of the water parameters
• overfeeding fish
• inadequate and monotony diet
• weakness fish
• stress
• age of the fish – older fish can be sick more often

5. Common symptoms of the disease

• bloated the body – especially around the belly
• protruding scales around the belly
• ulcerated skin – flat, whitish, subcutaneous bubbles which cause discoloration of the skin
• bulging eyes
• frayed fins
• open gill covers
• filiform, mucous, jelly like excrement
• swimming problems because of deformations
• hiding, swimming just below the water surface or just above the bottom
• loss of appetite
• apathy

6. Types of the treatment

1. Long-term antibiotic baths:

• oxytetracycline – 20-100mg per every litre, bath should last 5 days; if it will be necessary, we should repeat action;
• tetracycline – 40-100mg per every litre, bath should last 5 days; if it will be necessary, we should repeat action;
• minocycline – 250mg per every 40 litres, we change whole water in aquarium after 1 day. Then we repeat the same dose and the bath should last next 2 days. We never repeat these actions again;
• ampicillin and cloxacillin

7. Comments about this disease

We must find primary cause of this disease because the bacteria attack only weak fish with poor immunity. We don't have any evidences that this disease is contagious unless it is secondary infection. In other words fish suffer from dropsy because they earlier became ill from other illness e.g.: parasitic or viral disease. We should commit an act euthanasia fish when we note an exudate with them.

8. Prevention

• we shouldn't do rapid changes of water parameters – water temperature and pH
• we systematic check water quality – we control level of ammonia and nitrites, chlorine, chloroamines, oxygen in the water
• we use varied diet enriched in vitamins and microelements
• we never overfeeding fish – we feed fish only this amount of the food which they may eat by a few minutes
• we never keep too much fish in the aquarium
• we should reduce stressful situations – we shouldn't do rapid partial water changes, we should only keep fish with similar temperament, we shouldn't use chemicals if it isn't necessary, shoal fish we should keep in large groups, shy fish need hideouts among plants, etc.

9. Links with additional informations