Dropsy & Associated Issues

[Chris the Fish]

Hello fellow fish nerds.  I have a question which I am hoping will lead to a discussion that other people might find useful.

I am a bit of a livebearer nerd and I have a tank of guppies, platys, and a swordtail F and molly M.  I also have a team of corys and kuhli loaches.  They are all housed in a very well planted 55g with a relatively deep substrate bed, lots of hiding spaces (hard + soft scape), and many, many airstones.  All has been well since the move, though I have noticed it may have made my traditionally relatively peaceful Kribensis female somewhat more aggressive.  I have noticed since a few nipped fins on my guppies, though everyone else seems fast enough to dodge her.  One guppy in particular got a bad nip last week, and I am noticing what looks like some early stage dropsy, given that his scales on his belly look to be starting to pinecone.  His belly doesn't seem too swollen yet, though on balance I would say its a bit fuller than the others.

I have a quarantine / hospital tank set up.  I am wondering whether people think that I should (a) remove the likely-dropsy hit guppy and try to treat him or (b) relocate my Krib to this tank for a period of time to prevent remove the stress from the main tank, and prevent any other of my guppies from falling ill.  I should mention that I really don't want to have to re-home my Krib unless absolutely necessary because I adore her and I've had her for almost four years now, so I'm trying to find a solution that allows me to keep her and to keep my guppies safe.  Also, another tank probably isn't an option unless I want my significant other to kick me out! :)

Any and all advice welcome!  Hopefully this can also help others who may be experiencing other issues with semi-aggressive fish and / or dropsy.  Thanks everyone!

[Colu]

I would quarantine the sick fish and treat with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons and maracyn pineconeing is caused by fluid buildup caused by organs  struggling  it can spread to other fish over a long period of time

[Chris the Fish]

Thanks Colu - My one concern though is that by taking the one guppy out, I am dealing with a symptom rather than the cause.  I.e. if I take him out, it is likely that others will end up with a similar issue b/c the Krib is nipping their tails and causing stress.  I feel fairly confident that the early-stage dropsy is as a result of the fin-nip from a week and a bit ago, and being that dropsy in and of itself isn't contagious, I'm thinking that perhaps the best course is to remove the cause of stress, taking the other guppies out of the line of fire and so reducing the risk to them, and also giving the sick guppy a chance to potentially recover (although I do acknowledge that dropsy is often fatal in any case).  Thoughts?

[Mr_Manifesto]

Unless you find a way to calm your Krib down this problem isn't going to go away.  Obviously it won't be dropsy every time, but you have an element that is stressful and deadly to the others in the tank.  If you keep the Krib in the tank, you'll stress the other guppies out and they will probably eventually die from the stress.  I think your logic is sound and rehoming the Krib is the best option.