There is some good news- dropsy itself is not contagious. That being said, fish that are affected by the disease should be placed into a quarantine tank. It is just a matter of precaution and also helps you more easily focus your attention on the sick fish.

Furthermore, a fish that is already compromised won’t have to deal with further tank issues (such as ammonia or nitrite).

Here are the steps to follow so you can safely is olate the sick fish

1. Get the hospital or quarantine tank ready to go. Keep the tank bare bones; it just needs a filter and a heater. Try to keep the quarantine tank the same temp as your original tank.

2. Now, make a salt bath. Do this by adding just 2.5 teaspoons of Epsom salts per ten gallons of water to the hospital tank. The idea here is that the magnesium sulfate found in the Epsom salts will pull the excess water out of the body of the fish, which could help bring swelling down.

3. Make sure you have antibacterial fish food available for the goldfish. You can buy this at a local fish store or make up a batch of your own by taking a 1% mixture of fish food plus tetracycline or chloromycetin, both of which are antibiotics.

4. Keep feeding the fish the antibiotic food and watch their progress for 7 to 10 days.

After 10 days, if you notice no signs of health-improving or the dropsy gets worse, it is likely that the fish is not affected by a bacterial infection. If your antibiotics do not heal and the salt bath is not effective, there is likely nothing more that can be done.

Chances are dropsy cannot be cured if all steps are taken and no improvement happens.

However, you can check with a vet to see if there are other solutions or consult with the employees at a local fish shop.

Is Dropsy Fatal?

Yes, the unfortunate truth is that the condition of dropsy in fish is fatal. The mortality rate of dropsy is quite high.

The best thing for you to do as a fish owner is to prevent dropsy before it begins. The way to do this is by making sure the tank is nice and clean at all times.

You should arm yourself with an arsenal of cleaning products and fish tank supplies so that you are always prepared to clean at a moment’s notice if you see things get a bit messy. Goldfish are messy fish and need frequent cleanings. You should schedule the cleanings each week to occur at the same time, so you are always consistent, and you make it a habit.

Some good ways to keep your fish tank clean and neat include using a gravel vacuum, which sucks up the fecal matter, plant bits, and uneaten food, and using algae killer or scraping away the algae in the tank. Buy filters in bulk and make sure to take apart your filter once a month to clean it thoroughly.

You can also clean off aquarium décor in a safe way by cleaning them one at a time. Clean a different one each week. You can do this using a bleach solution of 4 tsp of bleach to 2 gallons of water.

Soak the décor in the bleach mix for 2 minutes and then rinse it with water for 5 minutes. Use a bristle brush to get rid of any dirt. Then place the décor in a bucket filled with a dechlorinating mixture and soak for 15 minutes before putting it back into the tank.

Recap 

In summary, the good news is that dropsy is not something you have to worry about if you can do one simple thing:maintain optimal water quality. That’s all you have to do!

And with daily water checks, appropriate feeding, and weekly tank cleanings, the appearance of dropsy will likely never happen to your fishy friends.

That being said, you should never say never. Make sure to have some medications on hand as well as a quarantine tank available in the event that you have to treat a sick fish.

Best of luck, and enjoy your fish even more by checking out other helpful articles on our website.

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