Betta bloated with dropsy but still has appetite

So I have a male betta which is almost 3 old betta koi marble, but through his age the colors drastically changed.

Tank details:
30 littre tank
Sponge filters
Occupants: small Anemo Shrimps and 1 zebra nitre snail.
2 pieces of wood, one of them is anubia nana while other is a moss.. forgot the name of it though.

Tank water quality: I use test strips so it's not as accurate
No3 = It's slightly below 25
No2 = 2 (too high)
GH = >21 (also too high)
KH = 6
PH = 6,8
CL = It's hard to tell but it's darker. Placed 3ml of sodium thiosulfate to reduce it
Yesterday i did water change but I see things are too high and used EasyBalance by Netra. Gonna check tomorrow how it remains.

Now into the problem, It happened around 1-2 January.
I've noticed the sudden bloat the next day. I fastened him for 4-5 days as i might have overfed him. He had white stringy white poop which took him around 2 or 3 days to get out one. I'v checked if the stringy poop moves in a still container, nope.

After he pooped i saw clear signs of dropsy and I already knew he didn't had much long to live for. But what confuses me is that he has appetite, still fights and doesn't have bloated eyes. Just the stomach bloat.
I've bought some frozen Daphia and Artemita food, Daphia he struggles but Artemita he has easier eating. He doesn't spit out his food.

So I have a male betta which is almost 3 old betta koi marble, but through his age the colors drastically changed.

Tank details:
30 littre tank
Sponge filters
Occupants: small Anemo Shrimps and 1 zebra nitre snail.
2 pieces of wood, one of them is anubia nana while other is a moss.. forgot the name of it though.

Tank water quality: I use test strips so it's not as accurate
No3 = It's slightly below 25
No2 = 2 (too high)
GH = >21 (also too high)
KH = 6
PH = 6,8
CL = It's hard to tell but it's darker. Placed 3ml of sodium thiosulfate to reduce it
Yesterday i did water change but I see things are too high and used EasyBalance by Netra. Gonna check tomorrow how it remains.

Now into the problem, It happened around 1-2 January.
I've noticed the sudden bloat the next day. I fastened him for 4-5 days as i might have overfed him. He had white stringy white poop which took him around 2 or 3 days to get out one. I'v checked if the stringy poop moves in a still container, nope.

After he pooped i saw clear signs of dropsy and I already knew he didn't had much long to live for. But what confuses me is that he has appetite, still fights and doesn't have bloated eyes. Just the stomach bloat.
I've bought some frozen Daphia and Artemita food, Daphia he struggles but Artemita he has easier eating. He doesn't spit out his food.

I've been giving him sea salt, which was a bad idea per checking the internet. And we had only mineral salt so i've been giving him around 8 ml of mineral salt each day. Later on bought some aquarium salt and been giving him 30ml of it. Sadly we don't have seperate tank at home so i cannot place him anywhere else. But we only have a small container to make him easy to swim up. We don't have Epsom salt at home, but I'm ordering it.

Forgot to add it.

 

Hi ShockingLogic,

So sorry for your little betta boy. Three years is about the average life span of bettas, at least these days. So he is truly a senior citizen.

The first betta that I ever had that got dropsy continued to eat up until I euthanized him. He couldn't breathe, but he loved his food! Every betta is different, and it seems that yours may still have a little fight left in him.

Bettas can live up to three weeks or even a month or more sometimes when they experience dropsy. It all depends on how fast the fluid builds up and how bad the organ damage is.

At this point, I would say to just keep him comfortable. Lower the water level of the tank if you can so he can come up for air and not have to fight to swim. It's good to have something for him to lay on towards the top of the tank so he doesn't have to swim too far, too. A large leaf plant works, or maybe one of those betta beds/leaves that you can stick on the side of the tank with a suction cup may work, too.

Keep his water super clean and warm. The aquarium salt can help with his osmoregulation...breathing and gas exchange. But sooner or later, the fluid build up and the fact that he is experiencing organ failure will catch up to him, unfortunately.

The epsom salt may help a little, but after a point, it too, is ineffective.

If he gets to the point where he is not moving, can't breathe, laying on the bottom of the tank, and not eating, then there is no real quality of life at that point, and it may be better to euthanize him. If you can get some clove oil, that is one of the most humane ways to euthanzie.

I am so sorry he is in such a state.

I hope that by some miracle, he bounces back!!!

 

Hi ShockingLogic,

So sorry for your little betta boy. Three years is about the average life span of bettas, at least these days. So he is truly a senior citizen.

The first betta that I ever had that got dropsy continued to eat up until I euthanized him. He couldn't breathe, but he loved his food! Every betta is different, and it seems that yours may still have a little fight left in him.

Bettas can live up to three weeks or even a month or more sometimes when they experience dropsy. It all depends on how fast the fluid builds up and how bad the organ damage is.

At this point, I would say to just keep him comfortable. Lower the water level of the tank if you can so he can come up for air and not have to fight to swim. It's good to have something for him to lay on towards the top of the tank so he doesn't have to swim too far, too. A large leaf plant works, or maybe one of those betta beds/leaves that you can stick on the side of the tank with a suction cup may work, too.

Keep his water super clean and warm. The aquarium salt can help with his osmoregulation...breathing and gas exchange. But sooner or later, the fluid build up and the fact that he is experiencing organ failure will catch up to him, unfortunately.

The epsom salt may help a little, but after a point, it too, is ineffective.

If he gets to the point where he is not moving, can't breathe, laying on the bottom of the tank, and not eating, then there is no real quality of life at that point, and it may be better to euthanize him. If you can get some clove oil, that is one of the most humane ways to euthanzie.

I am so sorry he is in such a state.

I hope that by some miracle, he bounces back!!!

Yea I had an suspicious this might be the case. Since organ failure can be the culprit too due the age at this point. What sucks it was within a day he became bloated, not as extreme as in the pictures but very close.

He does have a almond leaf in the container so he can lean on it if he wants too. I had to move it as i was taking a picture. The little container is on top of the tank with help of suction cup so he remains on top. I have tree-like wodo with moss on it and it's quite tall. So I cannot lower it too much otherwise the moss would dry up.

I will then continue the aquarium salt to help him breathe, I do have an air pump too. Should I also turn it on for him with the aquarium salt? I don't know if too much air in the water can cause something else.

As for the euthanizing, I will keep on the look out on his behaviour. For now he still tries to swim as happily as he can. If he stops eating then I will euthanize him as the last days will be horrible for him at this point.

 

If he is in the main tank, then I would not use an air stone. I would only use it if he is in a hospital set up with no filter. If you use the air stone, it doesn't have to be on all of the time. I would say run it for an hour, and then turn it off for a while. It's just to help oxygenate the water. The good thing about bettas is that they are labyrinth fish and can get air from the surface.

I would not use aquarium salt in the main tank because of the shrimp. I think that the nerite can take a small amount of salt, but I'm not sure about the shrimp.

Sounds like you have everything covered. Bettas can get ill very quickly, unfortunately, and it can happen over night. It's good that he is still eating and swimming! I hope he bounces back soon!

Sending good thoughts your way!!!!

 

If he is in the main tank, then I would not use an air stone. I would only use it if he is in a hospital set up with no filter. If you use the air stone, it doesn't have to be on all of the time. I would say run it for an hour, and then turn it off for a while. It's just to help oxygenate the water. The good thing about bettas is that they are labyrinth fish and can get air from the surface.

I would not use aquarium salt in the main tank because of the shrimp. I think that the nerite can take a small amount of salt, but I'm not sure about the shrimp.

Sounds like you have everything covered. Bettas can get ill very quickly, unfortunately, and it can happen over night. It's good that he is still eating and swimming! I hope he bounces back soon!

Sending good thoughts your way!!!!

Yea i've noticed my shrimps started dying recently due the aquarium salt. I would need to stop adding the salt as I believe I lost like almost 10 shrimps. It's not bad, we have a 100 littre tank with a lot of shrimps so i can take couple of them if too much died.

As for the air stone, i will keep it on for an hour or so each day then. Mine is quite loud and i had for two nights on. Barely got a wink of sleep due to it haha...

 

So I have a male betta which is almost 3 old betta koi marble, but through his age the colors drastically changed.

Tank details:
30 littre tank
Sponge filters
Occupants: small Anemo Shrimps and 1 zebra nitre snail.
2 pieces of wood, one of them is anubia nana while other is a moss.. forgot the name of it though.

Tank water quality: I use test strips so it's not as accurate
No3 = It's slightly below 25
No2 = 2 (too high)
GH = >21 (also too high)
KH = 6
PH = 6,8
CL = It's hard to tell but it's darker. Placed 3ml of sodium thiosulfate to reduce it
Yesterday i did water change but I see things are too high and used EasyBalance by Netra. Gonna check tomorrow how it remains.

Now into the problem, It happened around 1-2 January.
I've noticed the sudden bloat the next day. I fastened him for 4-5 days as i might have overfed him. He had white stringy white poop which took him around 2 or 3 days to get out one. I'v checked if the stringy poop moves in a still container, nope.

After he pooped i saw clear signs of dropsy and I already knew he didn't had much long to live for. But what confuses me is that he has appetite, still fights and doesn't have bloated eyes. Just the stomach bloat.
I've bought some frozen Daphia and Artemita food, Daphia he struggles but Artemita he has easier eating. He doesn't spit out his food.

I've been giving him sea salt, which was a bad idea per checking the internet. And we had only mineral salt so i've been giving him around 8 ml of mineral salt each day. Later on bought some aquarium salt and been giving him 30ml of it. Sadly we don't have seperate tank at home so i cannot place him anywhere else. But we only have a small container to make him easy to swim up. We don't have Epsom salt at home, but I'm ordering it.

Forgot to add it.

I will have to euthanize him, his breathing got faster and has trouble breathing at times but still has the appetite. And I just cannot stand him watching him suffer while he's clinging for life.

His poops still remain white and no matter how much I'm trying to help him out, I think i'm prolonging his suffering. I've tried salts, rich foods, fastening but it's most likely fluid build-up beyond my control or organ failure.

I bought clove oil and will do the euthanizing tomorrow. God this hurts to type, can't believe almost 3 years went by and I have to say goodbye to my desk friend.

 

You did the best you could for him. Take comfort knowing that.

I'm sorry for your loss. It's never easy to say good bye, but he had a good life with someone that cared and really that's what counts!

Sending you virtual *hug*

 

Very sorry for your loss!!!! It does hurt...every time!!!

You gave him a great life!

 

He finally fell asleep, took him 2 hours as he was refusing to sleep.

It hurted seeing him resist, I know he wanted to live. I know he was saying he can manage, but seeing him stuck at the bottom of the tank because of the bloat. I just can't see him being happy.

He used to be such active fish, always aggressive when it goes to eating and well trained too. He always found a way to amuse himself or i would give him attention and he would do this dance.

I hope he can now swim forever in his dreams and being happy.

Thank you for your advices and support.

 

S.I.P. beautiful boy!!!!