Sick/old Betta?

[xxIAmMexx]

I have had my male betta for over two years, and within the past week or so he hasn't been healthy. I'm assuming that he might have always had a swim bladder disorder considering he has always had alittle difficulty swimming to the surface. He would glady come up if he saw me walk into the room or it was feeding time though. Within the past week he tried to come up once, and other than that he hasn't even been interested in coming out of his cave. He hasn't eaten all week. I thought it might be old age starting to kick in since I did notice his eye sight with finding his food isn't what it used to be. Today he decided to wiggle out of his cave, and I noticed his scales were pineconing. They could have been that way before and I just didn't notice it though. I do regular gravel vacuuming, and lately pretty frequent water changes because I'm having an algea problem. He has a 10 gallon tank to himself, with a filter and a heater that stays between 78-80F. I just checked ammonia and nitrates and those are fine. PH is alittle high (7.6ish) but it has been since day one and it's never caused a problem. We don't have city water so there's no chlorine. My question is, do you think old age is getting the best of him and his body is just failing on him? Is he getting more susceptible to things? Or is there a definite problem on my part? And what's your reccomendation on helping save my poor betta?
Sorry for the length. I just wanted to include all the information I could.

 

[azulfire24]

pine coning is bad, means fish is very sick,, try asking wilder and give her a pic,,, meds like melifix for bacteria and a little aquarium salt couldnt hurt, or go ask in the emergency section,, get a pic too itts eaiser to see what wrong then guess

 

[Colin_T]

If the fish has become really fat and its scales are sticking out then it has an internal bacterial infection and will probably die. Internal problems are hard to treat and usually unsuccessful. You might be better off euthanasing him and flushing the tank out before getting any new fish.

 

[xxIAmMexx]

I did pick up both Maracyn and Maracyn-Two this evening. I read a few places that using the two in combination has worked successfully for a few cases of Dropsy. Would anyone here reccommend using both together? Or should I just stick with one. He's not severly pineconed, and really hardly looks swollen to me. He's still mostly sitting on the bottom of the tank, but today for the first time he has been moving around the bottom and trying to swim. He doesn't seem ready to give up yet, so neither am I. I did try getting a picture, but because of my algea problem (green water), and the fact that the fish hates the camera, my attempts failed.

 

[Colin_T]

Sorry, can't help with the medications becaue I have never used them.
If the fish only has a minor internal infection then try treating him. It might work and you will have saved his life

 

[blue_betta]

lower the water so its only a few inches deep, this way he will have less difficulty in coming to the surface. if he is strugling to swim, he may slowly drown as they need to breath at the surface regularly. keep his water clean and warm and try the meds.

you could try an epson salts bath to clean him out, if you look back thru some threads it tells you how to do it recently. ive never done it myself but some people could vouce for it.

 

[eb2]

I did pick up both Maracyn and Maracyn-Two this evening. I read a few places that using the two in combination has worked successfully for a few cases of Dropsy. Would anyone here reccommend using both together? Or should I just stick with one. He's not severly pineconed, and really hardly looks swollen to me. He's still mostly sitting on the bottom of the tank, but today for the first time he has been moving around the bottom and trying to swim. He doesn't seem ready to give up yet, so neither am I. I did try getting a picture, but because of my algea problem (green water), and the fact that the fish hates the camera, my attempts failed.

I gues most fish bacterias are Gram Negative and Marcyn 2 is a good choice for those, the insert with it tells which ones you can combine but I don't know that you need to, I think if it's the right med and the fish isnt too far gone, you see improvement right away..I 've used it recently on a rescued bottom sitting fish and the good news is it didnt trash my filter either

 

[xxIAmMexx]

Well, sadly it doesn't look like he's coming around. He has been much worse the past two days. The meds and the epson salt haven't seemed to have helped at all. I'll actually be surprised if he makes it through the night. He's still in his same tank with the water only a few inches, his heater, and some bubbles going to try and make him more comfortable. He also has some epson salt in the water. I'll be surprised if he makes it through the night, but for some reason he just keeps holding on. Just thought I would give everyone an update on things.

 

[guppy fan]

I'm sorry . I hope he makes it.