Have you ever found your favorite koi fish with a very bloated belly, even though the fish is not “pregnant” or even male, and is not a group of bloated fish? If you find symptoms like that in your fish and believe it is a deviation from its normal appearance, it is likely that the fish is suffering from Dropsy symptoms.
Dropsy is a symptom of a disease, not the disease itself. Dropsy symptoms are characterized by swelling in the body cavity of the fish. The swelling often causes the fish’s fins to stand up so that its appearance will resemble a pinecone.
Swelling occurs as a result of fluid or mucus accumulation in the body cavity. This symptom is often accompanied by symptoms of laziness to move, respiratory problems, and or reddish pale skin color.
The cause can be due to infection by viruses, aeromonas bacteria, myobacteria, or parasites such as Hexamita. Poor pond water conditions (such as due to nitrogen accumulation) can trigger dropsy symptoms. Naturally, dropsy-causing bacteria are often found in pond environments, but usually in normal and controlled amounts.
The change of these bacteria into pathogens can occur due to osmoregulatory problems in fish, or due to things such as:
Primary infection usually occurs through the mouth, namely koi fish intentionally or unintentionally eat the feces of other fish contaminated with pathogens or as a result of cannibalism of other infected fish.
Prevention and treatment efforts can be done as follows:
