Symptoms:

• Swollen stomach
• Scales sticking out, when viewed from the top, fish will look like a pinecone
• Lethargy
• Reddening of vent area
• long pale feces

What is it?

Dropsy itself is not a disease but the visible signs of internal organ failure. When the kidneys shut down, the fish absorbs too much water which causes swelling and the scales to stick out at a 90 degree angle.

How did it get there?

The fish may have had an internal bacterial or viral infection that attacked its organs first. While dropsy itself is not contagious, the bacteria that caused it in the first place is! You should isolate any fish with dropsy.

Treatment

Unfortunately by the time the pineconeing of scales is noticed, it is too late. Fish with dropsy tend to only live another week or two, although cases of fish lasting a few months have been observed. The feeding of antibacterial food could help ease your fish's pain. Sorry to hear about your fish :(

Prevention

• Dropsy was somewhat linked to the feeding of live foods especially black worms. While you should vary your betta's diet with plenty of live foods, it may be safer to avoid black worms.