What to look for

Question
I am the same person that wrote you about my platy that had dropsy.  She is gone now so i just wanted to say thank you so much for answering my question!  Now I would like to know what to look for before a platy gets into the pincone stage of dropsy.  I am worried about the health of my other platys.

Answer
Hi Amy,
I'm sorry, I expected that though. It can be hard to catch this disease before it gets to the "no-hope" point. But you can try to catch it in the early stages. Most cases includes the fish in question stops eating, usually a day or two before the swelling starts. It may also hang back at feeding times and stop associating with other fish in the aquarium a day or two before that. So, there often is time to see a change in behavior but you must have a very keen eye in observing your fish.

And the very minute that you may suspect dropsy may be lurking. You can try treating the fish with antibacterial medications and/or salt baths.

As long as you insure your maintenance schedule is adequate for your aquarium, including plenty of frequent water changes, filter maintenance and siphoning of the substrate all are very important of course. Dirty environmental conditions is often the biggest cause of fish disease. Add good maintenance to a varied diet and compatible tankmates and you should never have to deal with dropsy...

Best wishes as always!
Karen~