My betta (who I have posted about before for recurring problems) has just developed a very swollen stomach. I thought at first it was constipation so didn't feed him for a day or two but it's looking very big now. He is lethargic but still eating. Can someone take a look at the photo? I'll do my water parameters tomorrow and post them with this thread but don't know whether to treat, leave, euthanise?
Lump underneath dropsy?
- Thread starter lynhagan
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CaptainBarnicles
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what a stunner! Dropsy is easy to identify by the 'pinecone' appearance. The scales stick out away from the body of the fish...your boy is smooth and is beautifully vivid in colour
Bettas are extremely easy to overfeed, 3-4 little pellets will do them nicely in one sitting. He would appreciate a varied diet too, you could try some frozen foods like brine shrimp and blood worm, again, just a few per meal time. Maybe you already do?
Is it not dropsy then? I've just ordered Kanaplex from the States! H is eating and swimming but it's huge the lump and it's been over a week. He was nothing like that before. Shall I feed him green peas and or fast him? He has had recurring fin rot in the past on his back tail.i bought plants with mini snails that I keep finding empty shells for. Will it go own and shall I use the anit optics when they arrive if it still hasn't gone(10 may arrival)?
Sorry for the many bad spelling errors..phone keyboard is dodgy
CaptainBarnicles
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From your photos, he definitely does not have dropsy...this fish had dropsy, see how the scales stick out away from the body?
Dropsy isn't an illness, rather the result of organ failure and unfortunately there's nothing you can do about it but euthanise.
Has your fish changed in the last couple of days? What do you predominantly feed him? He does look bloated from the photos, it can be common in bettas because they're often mistakenly overfed and/or the wrong type of food....they can also get constipated
Dropsy isn't an illness, rather the result of organ failure and unfortunately there's nothing you can do about it but euthanise.
Has your fish changed in the last couple of days? What do you predominantly feed him? He does look bloated from the photos, it can be common in bettas because they're often mistakenly overfed and/or the wrong type of food....they can also get constipated
Hi, thanks for your advice which I followed. I fasted him, bought daphnia and gave him Kanaplex in case it was anything nasty. The bloat has not gone down at all (though after the last tank clean, there was a lot of poo including a white stringy line). He is not well at all, barely moving at the bottom, bloated but swims over to get food. I think I can try fasting again, or treat for an internal bacterial infection. People mention Epsom salts but I think opinion is divided. Feel like I am going to lose him, he came sick from the pet shop and was subject to my learning curves.
I keep finding white shells of mini snails that came in on a plant - I'm wondering if they are polluting the water somehow. Can't get rid of them but managed to keep the numbers down every tank clean.
can I get the advice of Colin_T and Byron also here please?
I keep finding white shells of mini snails that came in on a plant - I'm wondering if they are polluting the water somehow. Can't get rid of them but managed to keep the numbers down every tank clean.
can I get the advice of Colin_T and Byron also here please?
They will need to see current photos.
Also include up to date test results.
Hi - not sure how to tag people in this so I can get urgent help
He is just getting more and more swollen, it looks like he is going to burst.
I gave him antibiotics (Kanaplex) two weeks ago but it has made no difference. I think his scales are starting to look extended from above but only around the abdomen where the swelling is.
Feeding him daphnia and brine shrimp, and fasted him for two days at the beginning of the week. There is a hell of a lot of poo when I clear the tank out (40% every week of a 9-gallon tank but I fill it less at the minute in case he has trouble swimming.
I'm hearing rumours of Epsom salts but not sure about that or if its parasites or the dreaded dropsy?
Parameters
Nitrite 0 nitrate 10-20 71.6kh 161 gh 5mg oxygen (which is low?)
He is just getting more and more swollen, it looks like he is going to burst.
I gave him antibiotics (Kanaplex) two weeks ago but it has made no difference. I think his scales are starting to look extended from above but only around the abdomen where the swelling is.
Feeding him daphnia and brine shrimp, and fasted him for two days at the beginning of the week. There is a hell of a lot of poo when I clear the tank out (40% every week of a 9-gallon tank but I fill it less at the minute in case he has trouble swimming.
I'm hearing rumours of Epsom salts but not sure about that or if its parasites or the dreaded dropsy?
Parameters
Nitrite 0 nitrate 10-20 71.6kh 161 gh 5mg oxygen (which is low?)
Stop feeding him. He's been sucking snails out of their shells and eating them. Snails are great food for him, but combined with pellets, it's too much.
He may have a blockage, or his internal gut flora may have been walloped by the kanaplex. There is no treatment that won't just be an experiment causing stress. I would stop all feeding for 10 days of so and see if he rallies. Obesity in a Betta is within the body cavity around the organs, not under the skin as it with us mammals. I don't know if it's that, but it would affect the functioning of his internal organs and is fatal if allowed to continue.
It might also be a resistant infection that would have sailed through kanaplex. At this point, you have tried what there is, and you have to hope he rallies on his own.
He may have a blockage, or his internal gut flora may have been walloped by the kanaplex. There is no treatment that won't just be an experiment causing stress. I would stop all feeding for 10 days of so and see if he rallies. Obesity in a Betta is within the body cavity around the organs, not under the skin as it with us mammals. I don't know if it's that, but it would affect the functioning of his internal organs and is fatal if allowed to continue.
It might also be a resistant infection that would have sailed through kanaplex. At this point, you have tried what there is, and you have to hope he rallies on his own.
I do wonder, I kept finding tiny empty shells in the bottom of the tank. They came in on a floating plant and the owner of the business said they were good for the tank but I tried to get rid of them when they started to proliferate. Never could though. He was this bloated before the Kanaplex. As long as it is ok to fast him for that long, I will give it a go. I agree that I have tried what there is and can think of nothing else. I do notice his scales are starting to protrude on the bottom of his belly which may be pine-coning or it could just be the swelling pushing them out. I got him sick from a pet shop and feel like I have just been battling since then. Total learning curve.
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