Dropsy or pregnant?

Im wondering has anyone got experience of guppies and that they get very fat and Im afraid she may have dropsy? She is large and round, her tail slightly drooping but when I look at her from overhead it appears her scales are slighty jutting out. (I was checking for Dropsy as she seemed to get quite big in just over a week or so). She may also be due to give birth and her gravid spot is visible. Her behaviour is fine and normal. Can anyone help me out here, Im cautious as I dont know if she is pregnant or not. When I view her from the front of the tank she seems perfectly normal. When I take the lid off she seems to have a slight jutting out of the scales,perhaps like a cone ?

Can anyone help me out here? I have a male guppy that is fine.

Gavin

Anyone able to help me out here please ? She is now at the top of the tank and not up to much. Her scales have becomore more spikey and I feel its dropsy now more than her being full of fry. What shall I do ?

Symptoms
This disease is characterised by a swollen or hollow abdomen (Ascites). A concentration of fluid in the body tissues and cavities causes the fish's abdomen to become swollen and appear bloated. Swollen areas may exhibit a 'pine-cone' appearance caused by the fish's scales sticking out. You can best see this by viewing your fish from the top. Fish may also stop feeding, appear off-colour, become listless and/or lethargic, have sunken eyes, and hang at the top or stay at the bottom of the aquarium.

The condition affects the fish's internal organs, ceasing proper function.

Gouramies, Cyprinids (barbs, danios, etc), guppies, betta and goldfish are prone to this disease.


A Gold Fish with Fish Dropsy in containment. Notice the pinecone appearance
Causes
Dropsy is fairly easy to diagnose non-specifically, however, it is much harder to diagnose the cause. The main cause is bacterial infection. The causative agent may be introduced through food or dirty water. Edema second to kidney failure or ascites due to liver or heart failure are other possible causes.


Treatment
Dropsy is not very contagious; however, if a fish is diagnosed with dropsy, it is important to remove it from the aquarium as soon as possible. If there are multiple fish, treat the afflicted fish in a specially established \"sick tank\" (Quarantine). Dropsy can spread from the ill fish, possibly causing stress among the other fish in the tank community. This extra stress may make the others vulnerable to dropsy or other forms of disease.

Treatment may consist of antibiotics targeting the causative agent. They work best in the very early stages of dropsy. A more hands-on approach is to raise the aquarium's temperature a few degrees - slightly higher than usual. Adding Epsom salts (Magnesium sulfate) to the water at (a rate of 20 mg/L) helps to encourage the fish to expel unnecessary damaging fluids.


Prognosis
Prognosis of fish dropsy is not good. By the time fish has swollen up enough that the scales begin to raise, the internal damage may be too extensive to repair. Most cases of dropsy are fatal. However, if the fish is placed in a quarantine tank and treated with a broad spectrum antibiotic or a bacterial remedy from any aquatic sales shop, then the fish can make a full recovery in less than a week.


Prevention
Maintaining water quality is always extremely important. It should always be checked first, because it is often the cause of disease in aquarium fish. Frequent water changes can work to prevent the spread of disease by \"watering down\" the concentration of disease agents, and by reducing stress on the tank occupants.

All tanks need a 10-25% water change on a weekly basis. The best method of changing water is siphoning the water from the bottom, removing debris and fecal matter from the gravel.

Always feed fish from reliable sources and use high quality food. Varying diet is also important.

hope this help's

Thanks Whitetail, hate to say it but it looks like she isnt going to recover from this one.Still for a first time tropical fish owner, after 5 months and no loses to date, not a bad return I guess.The water tests fine and I did a water change yesterday,she was more lively then. On the plus side I guess I do have 7 fry in the hatchery in the tank so I guess all is not lost?!
I'll keep you all updated.

Gavin

Well as expect she passed away this afternoon...just sank to the bottom eventually or at least thats how I found her this evening. Well I guess 1 loss in 5 months of tropical fish keeping isnt a bad return to be fair. And on the bright side I have a 7 fry in the hatchery and 160 litre tank I bought yesterday also to play with so for every cloud there is a silver lining!