Dropsy strikes

[Seahorse]

Some of you may have read my swollen tummy topic. I figured Blackbeard was severely constipated. I never even thought of dropsy, because I keep my tanks so immaculate. They are filtered, cycled and I do regular water changes! But he is now pineconing.

Can snails carry it? I put a snail in around the same time he got it. I guess it is just a coincidence, right? I hope so, because the other snail is in the 20 gallon with my female

He has a partner in the tank (it is divided) and I pulled him out and put him in different water. He looks fine, but it is probably just delayed. Chances are he will get it too?

Blackbeard is acting like normal too, building bubble nests and flaring and greeting me and just acting like himself. This is my first time dealing with it.

Edit: I want to add that he was a Walmart betta and looked full grown when I got him 2 years ago. So he is probably very old

 

[50000_tears]

unusual when i find a dropsy fish they are layin on the bottom gaspingv

 

[Seahorse]

Yeah, he has been so happy like his normal little self the last few days, like nothing was wrong. The lighting in that tank is dimmer so I never took a close enough look. I figured he was fine because of the big nests...

 

[Seahorse]

It is really disturbing for me to look at him

Okay so far his tank partner Mordecai is looking okay. I will give it a few more days, but how quickly should it set in if he has it? A day, two days? When I am I in the "clear" essentially?

I have sand in this tank. And than there is the filter media...

Okay so scrub filter, replace with new media and new sand... clean tank and ornaments with a little bit of bleach, and rinse a lot over and over right? So I guess re-cycle *sigh* and by the time I do this I should know if Mordecai is okay?

Also I have a couple live plants in the tank and a snail. What do I do with those?

 

[50000_tears]

get him out ..isolate the sick one

 

[Seahorse]

Well of course I did, a long time ago. He's been in new water for several hours now, and looks fine still.

*sigh*

Thanks for trying to help, I am glad someone responded. I really could use some reassurance about cleaning the tank and Mordecai, right now.

 

[Saucy]

If he looks fine, he does NOT have dropsy. Don't worry. He'd be just hanging there and there would be a lot of pineconing of his scales. A lot of trouble swimming and such. It could be an internal infection which you'd want to treat with some Kanacyn or other antibiotic. It could be that he's getting older... but I'm not sure. It doesn't sound like dropsy at all though from what I've read. If he's swimming around fine, eating and acting normal, I don't know what the problem really is.

Try just adding a little salt to his tank and see how he is. Does his tummy look white at all?

 

[Seahorse]

No no no, it is definitely dropsy! Huge swelling of abdomen, and VERY pineconed out, like I said in another post. But he is acting fine, so I don't get it!

I am worried about his partner though, who is the one that looks fine physically. If he isn't showing signs in say, 24 hours (and yes, he is isolated in new water), will he be fine?

 

[splashluff]

sorry about your boy. I hope Mordecai doesn't have it! If he does, you should start to notice swelling within 1-2 days. Have you fed them blackworms lately?

 

[Seahorse]

Thanks

They eat high quality pellets with the occasional frozen bloodworm as a treat.

 

[Joby]

Sorry to hear about your guy

Just to let you know about a female I have. Fleur is coming up to 2 years old now I reckon and started pine-coning 3 weeks and one day ago! She's had 2 doses and maracyn and maracyn II and also anit-internal meds from Interpet. She is slow now, doesn't swim much but still accepts food if at a reduced amount. I guess its just old age with her, but boy is she like the Good Year blimp!

Just thought I'd tell you so you don't give up hope, I've had other bettas with dropsy that have only lasted 2 days so i guess it depends what has caused it.

Good luck with him

 

[OrkyBetta]

Are you still having issues with dropsy? I can say that your feeding regimine might have caused the water retention, the dried foods like pellets, and high protien foods like bloodworms can cause bloat, and after a while bloat can retain water, thus why dropsy occurs (according to most people at least) Have you tried an epsom salt bath?

 

[BettaMomma]

Hi there.
I'm so sorry you're having these troubles with him.
It sounds like he obviously has dropsy.

Here are some facts about dropsy when considering what to do with/about his tankmate:

Dropsy in and of itself is not necessarily a "disease" persay so it's not *technically* contagious. Having said that, however... it's moreso a symptom of something, meaning that whatever the underlying cause of it is COULD be contagious. There are several things that can cause the symptoms of dropsy, including internal infections, tumors, parasites, etc. The reason that dropsy has such a high mortality rate is because there are so many different things that are the underlying cause that it's very hard to pinpoint what the issue is to cure it before it is too late.

Although I have fortunately never had to deal with it in any of my fish, I have read up on it to help others, and to prepare in the event that someone in my crew winds up with it. From everything I have read, it's recommended to treat with Maracyn and Maracyn 2 to cover both gram pos and gram neg bacteria - to cover everything. Colloidal silver is also very well known for helping treat dropsy.

I ordered a bottle of it a while back, and I'll NEVER be without it again. If you're interested, here's a link where you can order it online:
http/www.n-ergetics.com/ecart/Scripts/pr...p?idProduct=251

If I were in your shoes, I would probably give your tank a thorough scrubbing, like you said - but I think I would skip the bleach. I'd take the little guy out and soak the tank in some extremely hot water with lots of salt for a good long while, ornaments, fake plants and all. I'd not use any bleach at this point.

Then, I'd get Mordecai back into the sparkly clean water and watch him like a HAWK for signs of anything - parasites, so rubbing or scratching on anything, puffy eyes or belly, shredding fins, ANYTHING - and if you see anything, i wouldn't hesitate to treat him. You should feel pretty safe if, after a couple of weeks, he has not developed anything - but you never know. Like I said, look him over really well over the next few weeks.

Now, for the dropsy itself - (you might already know this, but just thought I'd put it here for reference in case anyone else might be curious too) you can use epsom salt to sooth his puffy organs. The problem that dropsy causes is it stops organs from allowing fluids to be removed from the body, hence the puffiness and eventual pineconing. 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons seems to be the dosage of choice.

Do not add regular aquarium salt to the tank during dropsy. I know this has been a controversial suggestion, but after lots of reading it seems like fish have problems excreting sodium from their bodies to begin with due to kidney issues in dropsy, so don't add it so as to not complicate the problem.

Sorry this is so long. Good luck to you with both of your boys!