A little (okay, not so little) blurb I found regarding dropsy on another website...
Once thought bacterial issue, dropsy has been researched, and enthusiasts have concluded that many different things cause dropsy.. it is not *just* bacterial, every case of dropsy is caused by different things, which ends up making it hard, and impossible to treat.. i have so far had 3 fish survive dropsy by either treating them with Fungus Clear, or not treating them at all.. all the fish that survived dropsy had things in common, all the survivors swam around and acted like everything is normal, and all the survivors ate enthusiasticly.. all the survivors scales went down, but got skinny, and contracted secondary infections, all the survivors did not live past 6 months after going into remission... Dropsy is considered the mysterious disease, i have had bettas act completely normal with no protruding scales, found dead, with obvious signs on the body pointing to dropsy... then i have had other bettas slowly and slowly get bigger untill they look like one big round fish, the color lightens due to the fact the scales aren't connecting, and they seem to double, sometimes tripple in size before they die... all dropsy cases are different and often mysterious... and i am avidly researching and experimenting with my dropsy fish to find the cure.. Dropsy is seen alot more often in bettas who ingest live or frozen foods.. but even in my attempts to erriaticate all the live foods, and only feed freeze dried foods, dropsy still apears in my fish room, and often, more then one fish contracts it at a time, causing a dropsy outbreak, and since it is virtually incurable, its not a good thing to have... to my knowledge it isn't contagious, but i dont take my chances, i bleach jars, and seclude fish in communities that had outbreaks from my other bettas... i also conclude that dropsy *could* be in the genetics of a betta, yes i have had certain lines break out with dropsy left and right, and some strains maybe one betta or no bettas will break down with it.. like balding, cancer, alchohalism, and mental disorders can be genetic problems in people, dropsy could also be genetic.. so like people who are more at risk for cancer, take extra percautionaries with lines that seem to carry dropsy.. don't feed live or frozen foods, keep them secluded from the rest of the spawn, and your fish.. and keep a watchful eye on them.....
