Dropsy

Dropsy is caused by a bacterial infection. Dropsy is not contagious, but is nearly always fatal unless caught and treated in time. This is an insidious disease/infection that causes the fish to swell up, eyes bulge and the scales stick out like a pinecone. prior to this, they have a loss of appetite which is a clue that should not be overlooked.

A fish that pokes its nose into uncleaned muck in the bottom of your pond can get a bacteria infection that can lead to Dropsy. Koi often probe the bottom for food.

A week ago, I found a 2 year old Sanke that was in my upper pond to have Dropsy. I immediatley removed him and placed him into a hospital tank.

I began treatment with Melafix even though it is not the recommended medication. It is what I had on hand. As it turns out, Melafix is good for mild bacterial infections. I think it bought me some time.

After discovering that none of the local suppliers had all the recommended medications I made and inquirey to an expert and found out that Tetracycline, an antibiotic, is good for this.

Pet stores make a fortune out of selling this medication. I went to a local feed an grainstore that sells to people with livestock and bought a 100 capsule bottle for $18.00. this was 1/5th of what the fish stores get for the same product.

I digress; I began treatment with Tetracyclyine as the Sanke was upside down and on the bottom of the hospital tank. He looked like he was about to explode, his body was so large.

2 hours later, he was swimming upright, one day later the swelling was gone and his eyes were back to normal. Two days later, he was swimming normal and eating.

I treated him with the antibiotic for 3 days, doing 50% water changes every day. I also cleaned the filter and gravel.

Today is day 7 and he is doing very well, eating and gaining weight.

What I didn't tell you is that I lost 3 before seeing this one. Unfortunatley, I had so many water plants in that pond that I had lost my daily inspection of the koi.

Lessons learned

Plants are good, but don't lose sight of your koi.

Muck on the bottom can be deadly even though your water chemistry looks good above it.

Clean your ponds bottom and find a cheap source of Tetracycline because you only have a few hours after discovering dropsy before it is too late.

Dr. Dave

Do you have any pictures? I am curious as to what this looks like as I have a koi that is quite swollen also, but still has a ravenous appetite and acts normal. How can you tell if you have a koi with Dropsy or just a overweight fish?

You said you treated with tetracycline but you didn't say how you got it into the fish's system. I thought you had to inject this medication, but, your post says you bought capsules?

I think I good thread should be started outlining the koi keepers medicine kit that should also be on hand.

If he has an appetite then you should be able to rule out dropsy.

Here is a photo. Notice the bloated midsection, the scales and the eyes.

Yeah, he looks nothing like that, just overweight. You didn't say how you got the tetracycylne inside him though.............

Glad he recovered, from what I have read that is rare!

One capsule per 10 gallons. Treat up to 5 days with water changes.

check out this case of dropsy......poor thing !!


and the guy didnt even know it...obviously

It only took 3 seconds of watching this to ID Dropsy. This fish will be dead in 24 hours or less without treatment.

the video was posted a while back...that poor fish is long since dead... i was skimming thru videos oin you tube, saw it and remembered this thread so i posted it..

That's a great video to attach here, Koiguy. That pineconing is a sure sign of dropsy. Excellent find!

You will be happy to know that the Sanke that I posted the picture of is doing better than expected and is eating like crazy. His recovery has gone so well that you cannot see any signs of the former disfigureing.

I have decided to keep him in the 80 gallon for the winter along with 2 others that are from the same spawn 2 years ago.

That Utube video was great! If the owner had treated his Koi the same way I did, that fish would be alive today.

Maybe this weekend I will video tape him again and post the before and after videos. I am running out of time before my surgery to do all the things I need to do.