Causes of Dropsy in Black Moors?

Question

I have a 6-year-old black moor. He’s in a 15 litre, filtered tank with living plants, a grow light, one small fantail, and a sea snail.

I saw he had white spots on his gills, so I treated the tank for ich.
Turns out the spots are just a sign that it’s mating season, so the treatment was an unnecessary stress to the fish.

The medication dyed the gravel of the tank so I replaced it, and gave the tank a cleanout. I replaced the plants, added the snail, and removed some (not all) of the green algae for aesthetic reasons.

Everything was fine for a day or two, (still is with the small fish) but now my Black Moor has dropsy. (Bloated, pineconeing)
His tail, and fins are also ragged, but I caught him fighting with the other fish, so I’m pretty sure it’s war wounds.

He’s only slightly sluggish, (the ambient temperature around the tank has risen from 22deg C to 27deg C, which might account for it) and he’s still eating very well.

Could the dropsy be linked to stress, or mating?

I’m aware the 27deg C is to high for the ambient temperature, but that’s as cool as we can get our house, even with the A/C on full pelt.
The water is cooler than the ambient, probably 22ish. (Someone used the thermometer to measure the temperature of their dashboard and killed it, guesses only I’m afraid.)

The fins/tail have chunks missing down the bottom, and have split up the finer parts of the fins/tail. (He’s a veiltail, and his tail is about 1.5 times the length of his body, he’s torn is a few times in the past.)

DEFINATLY not an apple snail, giant snails freak me out, it’s a Ramshorn.

Answer 1

Dropsy is caused by poor water conditions.
15 litres is much too small for one goldfish, let alone two goldfind and a snail. One goldfish needs about 15 gallons of water, which is 60 litres - if you wanted to keep both of them, you would need 60 litres each - so a minimum of 120 litre tank. The snail itself is fine in a 15 litre (unless its an apple snail - those get to be the size of a baseball), but along with two goldfish, it's just adding up to way too much fish/snail poop which is, basically, toxic ammonia.

When you replaced the gravel and cleaned the tank (which you should never do unless it's completely necessary), you killed off the beneficial bacterial populations which converted the toxic ammonia into far less toxic nitrates.

The tail and fin damage is actually problem finrot (the fins will looks frayed - as opposed to just have having chunks bitten off by another fish).

The temperature, at 27C, is also MUCH too high for a goldfish - what is the temperature of the water itself ,though? It would need to be about 21C for the goldfish to be happy.

Dropsy is difficult to cure and most fish who contract die within a week, sometimes a month, maybe two. Your best chance is to get a larger tank, cycle it properly, and put your goldfish in there.



Edit: You should get a new thermometer, it is important to know the temperature of your fish tank. If it is too warm then you have to act and rectify the situation, or your fish will suffer. Get an AC unit for that particular room. Move the tank to a cooler area. Periodically add a little bit of cold water to the tank.
Regardless, it's not the temp that's killing him, it's the small size of the tank. I suggest you buying a testing kit and test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, and you'll see what I mean.

Answer 2

it sound like dropsy treat it quickly it can kill quick so hurry and get the right medication from your local pet store