Help! Betta dying

[Barry Tetra]

He’s about to die.

Water parameters:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 12

Cause?
is he pineconing, dropsy or old age? (He’s about 10 months)

but it looks like pineconing to me, thoughts anyone?

@PheonixKingZ @Deanasue @EllRog @AdoraBelle Dearheart

 

[Bub]

He has dropsy as well as fin rot. Unfortunately I would recommend euthanasia, as dropsy is incredibly hard to correct even in the best of cases. This looks to be pretty far along already. Old age shouldn't really be a problem if you've only had him 10 months, unless he was old when you got him. But as I mentioned, this is dropsy.

 

[EllRog]

He certainly looks it, to me, from the photographs. Sorry to see this @Barry Tetra

My eldest betta, Vinny, was exactly the same a couple weeks back. I euthanized him when he got to this point. It's not a nice time, hope you're okay

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I have no idea, but it looks very bad. He does look pineconed, but he looks skinny to me rather than bloated, the way fish with dropsy usually look. How long has he been ill?

Agree that it's not old age. He's too young for that, and old age doesn't look like that. Old fish tend to slow down and act a bit more lethargic, fins droop a little more, they slow down like most mammals do, they don't abruptly get very ill looking.

 

[Barry Tetra]

I have no idea, but it looks very bad. He does look pineconed, but he looks skinny to me rather than bloated, the way fish with dropsy usually look. How long has he been ill?

Agree that it's not old age. He's too young for that, and old age doesn't look like that. Old fish tend to slow down and act a bit more lethargic, fins droop a little more, they slow down like most mammals do, they don't abruptly get very ill looking.

It’s weird cause yesterday He was still swim around, eating food
Can it caused by food quality?

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

It’s weird cause yesterday He was still swim around, eating food
Can it caused by food quality?

I don't know, since I don't know exactly what's wrong with him, I'm sorry Hopefully @Colin_T will be around today and can give you better advice.

He was normal yesterday? Or was he already sickly, but still eating and mobile? When was the last water change? Is it possible the tank was contaminated with something like air freshener? Or put your hands in the tank with perfume/cologne or some other contaminant on them?

 

[Bub]

The fish doesn't need to bloat up in order for it to be dropsy. That is something that often happens, but I've seen quite a few cases of dropsy where they stay skinny, and sometimes bloat up towards the end. This is definitely dropsy.

Improper nutrition and a dirty tank are often some of the causes.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Definitely dropsy, the pineconing gives it away every time. I would honestly euthanize him, sorry @Barry Tetra...

 

[PheonixKingZ]

It’s weird cause yesterday He was still swim around, eating food
Can it caused by food quality?

It could be, what we’re you feeding him? As @Bub said, it can be caused by improper nutrition (Aka cheap/bad food) or dirty water/tanks.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Might be sand; I move him from sand tank yesterday because I feel like sand is hard to clean and it’s not play sand too...its those building sand

 

[tamara3232]

Your fish definitely has dropsy. I believe dropsy is caused when the fish’s kidneys stop working; often because of some contaminant in the water, an infection, or bad water quality/ammonia buildup. Dropsy is almost never curable unfortunately. You could try giving him an epsom salt bath, but depending on what caused the kidney problems in the first place, it is most likely too late. Sorry

 

[FishGuest5123]

It could have started with sand but at this point, it’s irreversible. Euthanize him with some clove oil. I hate when I have to do that but the fish is suffering. Terrible pain internally. . Add the clove oil slowly so he can drift off to sleep. Then dose him stronger. I’m so sorry.