Betta with possible dropsy? (Unsure-help)

[Fishstery]

So I have made a previous post about my betta Kyo flashing. I have noticed he was flashing especially after water changes for the past 2 weeks. I tried paraguard with no resolve, and after posting here about it I decided to try prazipro. The prazi seemed to do the trick, as I was suspecting gill flukes, and he was great for the week after that. This morning I turned on his lights and noticed he was sitting at the bottom of the tank. Today was water change day, and for the most part he hasn't left the bottom of the tank now. He flashed like crazy during the water change, but will come up for air and food. His abdomen is slightly bloated, however no pineconing. Just lack of activity, slight clamping, flashing after WC, and slight bloating. Im worried now that the gill flukes may have caused dropsy as a secondary bacterial infection from stress? I'm at a loss of what to do now, I did a 1/4 recommended dose of melafix (let me say again that I did a QUARTER dose of the bottle directions) and ONLY because this is all I have on hand for any type of bacterial disease. Unfortunately my kanaplex is way past expired, which I didnt notice until now. There is a small local fish store near my house so hopefully when I call tomorrow they have some type of API general cure or the like, although this is my least favorite store even more than petsmart so its a long shot that they would have a useful medication there. I have attached some close pics, which show his bloat. Can anyone help me diagnose this? Still unsure if it even is bacterial or if the flukes could cause bloat. I know he isn't constipated as yesterday was a fast day and I only fed him 2 micro pellets this morning.
Temp is 80, ammonia and nitrite 0ppm nitrate less than 5ppm.

 

[grac3]

can you get a picture from the top?

 

[Fishstery]

It took him a few seconds to want to swim up to me but he did, and wanted food although I didn't feed him. He also unclamped his fins while he was swimming, so I may just be mistaking his clamping for him just resting. He went straight back to sitting at the bottom when he realized he wasn't getting fed.

 

[Ghostly]

if he does have it it is still in the earlier stages..
give him epson salt bathes daily it will help with the swelling that is happing (make sure to use unscented epson salt ) and do lots of water changes it is common for them to stop eating if he does stop flavour his food in garlic juice works amazing to get them eating and is overall just good to feed every one in a while

good luck!

 

[grac3]

you could feed him daphnia for the bloating

 

[Fishstery]

Kyo still doesn't look any better this morning, however he doesn't look worse either. He's still just sitting at the bottom with slight bloating. I called the little fish store down the road and they actually have general cure, which is for parasites but it does note that it helps with swollen abdomen (I believe in the case that it is internal parasites causing the bloat). If they have furan-2 or a anti bacterial i will pick that up as well, but then that begs the question---do I try general cure, or an antibacterial first? I'm still unsure of what illness Kyo has. Dropsy should have progressed quicker than this. Since I saw signs of distress over a week ago, if it was dropsy he probably wouldn't be alive still. Im also thrown off because of his flashing, which is making me think that its a parasite and this bloat is some type of secondary reaction to the parasites. Anyone else that can chime in would be helpful. This one is a head scratcher
Update: good news is that I just came back from the store and was able to get kanaplex, general cure, and furan-2. Figured it would be good to reup my med stock anyways. Im thinking about starting with kanaplex since it is specifically made for dropsy and also wont negative affect my BB like the furan will, but if someone could maybe give me a second opinion that would be helpful.
Another update. Since no one replied to me I went ahead and set up an emergency hospital tank for kyo. I had 2 empty 5 gallons sitting around. So I filled one of them with 2 gallons of water, and pulled the heater from his display tank and some frogbit. Unfortunately I dont have an airstone but I dont think he needs one since he is a labyrinth breather. I decided to double up kanaplex and the furan to treat full-spectrum for bacteria. He looks quite unhappy right now. I did notice before I pulled him that he's starting to pinecone ever so slightly on his stomach, but he did eat some pellets before I moved him which is good. I will be doing daily water changes with prime and redosing meds daily for the next week and hopefully he will turn around. Hes so beautiful and hopefully can pull through.

 

[Fishstery]

I'm a bit upset that no one will reply to my thread, as I always do my best to help others on here it seems that it doesn't work when im on the other end of things. Not that anyone seems to care, but kyo made it through the night. His pineconing is most definitely noticeable, however i would say still mild. His bloat is also mild compared to most other dropsy cases i see which gives me hope that maybe I caught it early enough. He also seems to be feeling better than yesterday, he has been moving about his hospital tank and greeted me when I checked on him after getting home from work. He is swimming around fine and isn't clamping his fins. He was most definitely hungry and had no problem coming up to the surface to beg for food. I fed him but sparingly since I'm not running any type of filter in the hospital tank. I'm going to do a 90% WC daily with appropriate redosing of meds. I bought Epsom salt just in case I feel the need to do a bath, but im going to refrain unless his bloat swells up really bad. I'm already treating the dropsy quite aggressively and I dont want to compromise him any more by stressing him out with moving him around. My only issue is im having a hard time regulating the temperature in this tank with the heater I have. It never had issues in the 3.5 gal but unfortunately jts a bit small for 5 gallon dimensions, even with only 2 gallons of water in it. The temperature is 83 in there with the heater set to 86 which isn't terrible, and im keeping the tank wrapped in a towel to make sure the heater doesn't have to work too hard, however my old school thermometer says the tank is 76. I find that hard to believe as the tank water is definitely much warmer to the touch that 76. My honey gourami tank is 82 and this feels similar.
Edit: I just finished the water change a little bit ago. Redosed the meds to where they should be on a day two course of both anti bacterials. Measuring medication from here on out will be tricky to get it right since I'm removing water every day and then having to calculate and also eyeball the dosing especially for furan. Hopefully it will go OK. I tested for ammonia to see how much waste he is making every 24 hours, luckily ammonia wasn't right at 0ppm but didn't register .25 so it is just trace. I siphoned out all but a half gallon (pretty much as low as I could get it to where kyo could still be fully sumberged) and then overdosed with prime a hair to cover any trace ammonia that was left in that half gallon. I will update every day, mainly just for my own records at this point since there isn't anyone following on here.

 

[grac3]

hello! im sorry i had turned off notifs for a day

i think you should try one salt bath so that when/if you need to, he wont be so stressed since he's already done this before. i found this

really helpful

maybe give him a little more water now

 

[Fishstery]

hello! im sorry i had turned off notifs for a day

i think you should try one salt bath so that when/if you need to, he wont be so stressed since he's already done this before. i found this

really helpful

maybe give him a little more water now

Thank you for the video and response. Kyo was looking a little worse for wear this morning, he's more bloated than yesterday and also he was floating when I turned the lights on to check for him. It startled him and be started flashing. Can anyone tell me if they've observed flashing with dropsy? He still can manage to swim but its slowly getting worse. Im going to try an epsom bath later, or does anyone know if it would be useful to just dose the actual QT tank with it and then after 10 minutes just do a water change? Like are you able to consistently keep a small dose of epsom in the water safely? I've never used any kinds of dips or baths for treatment before.

 

[Fishstery]

Another update: today is day 3 of dropsy treatment. Kyo was still active when I checked on him this morning, still slightly pineconed and I noticed he was slightly more bloated but not much. When I checked on him after getting home from work, he was swimming fine and doesn't have his fins clamped at all. He happily ate 2 pellets and seems to be slightly active which is good. Since his bloat got a little worse I decided I am going to do daily epsom baths for 15min while I do his water changes. It was his first go with a bath but he handled it extremely well. I had him in for approximately 12 minutes, 1Tblsp per gallon epsom. I watched him like a hawk and he swam around in the bowl and came up for air once. After returning to his hospital tank, he glass surfed and wasn't lethargic at all. Currently he is just hanging out mid tank level which is also good that he isn't just laying at the bottom. He wasn't gasping or breathing heavily so I will continue with daily baths working my way up to the full 15min since he responded well. He seems a little stressed but definitely still lively and hanging in there, however I noticed now that the poor thing has developed hole in head, I assume as a secondary infection from whatever nasty thing took over him, which you can see the white pinholes in his red scales in the picture. I'm hoping the kanaplex and furan will treat this while also treating the dropsy, since hole in head treatment is a course of antibacterial meds anyways. My plan is keep him on the full course of kanaplex and furan, which would be a full 6 days with daily epsom baths. Depending on how he's doing by the 6th day I will either give him a 2 day break from meds and then do another complete 6 day treatment, or i will extend the treatment to 10 consective days.

 

[grac3]

i wouldnt put the salt back in the tank since long term exposure to it is bad for them. i dont even think he has dropsy or if he does it's really just the start of it. i cant see bloating from the side and his scales dont look spiky to me.

i guess just keep treating him and hopefully he'll recover

 

[Fishstery]

I will post a picture of his pineconing later. He is most definitely pineconed and im 100% sure he has dropsy, although the cause of it is a mystery to me. I haven't had him very long but my tank was fully cycled with weekly water changes and testing so I know it wasn't a parameter issue. With his flashing I would guess either a parasite that his immune system didn't respond well to, or he became susceptible because of the stress from shipping from Texas to Pa and then trying to get acclimated to my water. Ive only had him a little over a month and he was displaying flashing from the first day. The pineconing and bloating haven't gotten any better after last night's epsom bath, but the good news is it hasn't gotten any worse either. At the very least the medicine and epsom are preventing it from getting worse but im still worried about long term with him. He was alert and swimming this morning, I've been keeping his tank halfway covered with a towel to prevent stress and also to help the heater keep the temperature stable, and when I moved the towel and checked him with a flashlight he zipped around for a second. Tonight it will be another 12-15 minute bath, 90% WC and redose of the meds. Ive been feeding him 2 pellets a day to keep the waste in the hospital tank low but he would willingly eat more if I offered it to him so that also gives me hope.

 

[grac3]

Oh maybe treat him for parasites too? It’s good that he’s eating and you should definitely reward him with some blood worms or brine shrimp

 

[Fishstery]

Oh maybe treat him for parasites too? It’s good that he’s eating and you should definitely reward him with some blood worms or brine shrimp

I ran a course of both paraguard and prazipro before he developed bloating and he was just flashing and it didn't do much. I think from the beginning it was a bacterial infection which caused the hole in head which is probably why he was flashing. I'd assume the dropsy was a secondary infection to the untreated head in hole. Im upset with myself that I didn't notice sooner, looking back in the pictures I took the day I got him i can notice where the pinhole lesions were just starting on his head. Its definitely hard to see on a betta until you take a magnified picture. I will most definitely give him lots of treats if he overcomes this, but for now I'm going to keep feeding him light since I don't have any filter in the hospital tank. I do the daily WCs but its impossible to get 100% of the water out and I dont want to make any more trace ammonia

 

[Fishstery]

Kyos update: day 4
This morning kyo was pretty much the same, although when I got home from work it seems like his bloat went down a smidge since his first epsom bath yesterday, it could just be wishful thinking, but seriously I think he looks a bit less puffy in the abdomen!! He mainly rests at the bottom of the tank but did swim around a bit when I disturbed him. It took him a minute to come up but he ate about 4 pellets today, so he's still eating guys!! I performed his water change and did 14 minutes in the epsom bath today, tomorrow will be the full 15. Again, he dealt with the bath very well, swam around in the container and came up for air once. My heart is really with this little guy, I know I'm doing all I can for him but he is such a fighter! He's back in the hospital tank with clean fresh water. Ammonia is still small trace amount which is good. Today was the last day for the first dose of furan, but the box instructs to do another course so today marks the first day of the second round of furan. Tomorrow would be the last day of the first round of kanaplex. He is still slightly pineconed, and I noticed his hole in head isnt getting any better. This is my first experience with hole in head, so I have no way to know how long it takes for the holes to heal up or what to expect the healing process to look like or how long it will take. Just staying hopeful that the medication is taking care of that issue as well as the dropsy. Still no fin clamping and for the first time today he didn't flash at all. Keep him in your hearts guys! I'm hoping I can pull him through this since the dropsy doesn't seem to be progressing at all since I first started treating him Sunday. Attached is the picture of his pineconing as of today.

 

[grac3]

oh i see the pineconing now. and dont be mad you're doing great! and i know he'll survive.

 

[Fishstery]

Update day 5:
Today kyo seems pretty much the same. Still slightly bloated and pineconed, although active, swimming fine, eating, and no clamping. Im still hopeful since his pineconing doesn't seem to be any worse since last Sunday. He is done with the first round of kanaplex, and has 2 more days on the furan to complete his first round. My original plan was to finish the furan and then just let him go for 2-3 days med free with daily epsom baths only, but im noticing not much of a difference in his hole in head. I think I might start a round of api general cure to treat the hole in head. That would mean 2 more days of furan, and 12 of the general cure with daily epsom baths. If I decide to not to the general cure right away, then it would be 2 days of furan, then 2-3 days with just clean fresh water changes daily with a 15 minute soak in the epsom. Ill be doing his bath and water change here in a minute. I'm not sure how long he will stay pineconed and not get any better

 

[Fishstery]

Day 6:
Last night the heater i had in the hospital tank failed, dropping the temperature to around 72 for a few hours until I woke up at 2am and checked to find that. Im worried the cold may have set back kyos progress, although time will tell. I hurriedly moved the tank upstairs and set it on a carpeted floor against an air duct and put a towel over it which thankfully kept the tank at 78 all day while I was at work. I went to petsmart and got a new heater, and while I was already there I got a small airstone. Ill be keeping a tight eye on the tank temp for the evening to see if this new heater gets the tank a good temp. Also hoping the airstone may help speed some things up for kyo. He just got done with his epsom bath, and I completely rinsed his tank out and redosed the last dose of furan and 2nd dose of general cure. After today he will be on general cure only until mid next week. It seems like his pineconing is either down just a tad, or it is the same as it has been. I keep hoping one day I will get home and his pineconing and bloat will be gone, but sadly his condition with that has been pretty much consistent although again it isn't getting any worse so hopefully that means his kidneys are still working. He was still alert and ate just fine today, and is swimming around his tank here and there. After the general cure, I will give him 2-3 days of no meds and epsom only (if his bloat doesn't go down by then) and then run another course of kanaplex, furan, and general cure. Fingers crossed it at least deals with whatever bacteria and parasite caused the dropsy and hole in head, since I'm pretty much treating with the "trifecta" method of using all gram positive and negative meds plus metro and prazi.

 

[grac3]

you're doing great the world needs more people like you

 

[Fishstery]

Day 7: kyo seems to be feeling well today. With the addition of a better heater and the airstone he was quite active all day. He immediately got excited when I came over to the tank and ate well. He did less laying around at the bottom and more swimming about than I've seen. However, I noticed while his pineconing did go down every so slightly on one side, i noticed one or two scales poking out a little more on the other side. His bloat seems to have subsided ever so slightly as well, but barely any reduction in swelling since I first started treatment a week ago. I decided when I was putting him back into the tank after his salt bath tonight to dump about a cup of his salt bath water into the tank. That would be 1 cup of 1tblsp/gallon into 2-2.5 gallons of water. A rather low concentration of epsom but I felt like it couldn't hurt just to have a tiny bit added into the tank until tomorrow's water change. I was hoping to see a reduction in his pineconing by now. Anyways, tomorrow ends his first dose of General cure, and the box calls for 2. So after tomorrow he has one more dose of general cure which will take us all the way to Friday. I will keep the hospital tank clear or medication for that weekend and try and figure out what to do from there on out. Im unsure if I should do another round of medication or try adding epsom into his hospital tank at 1/8 tsp per 5 gallons and continuously keep him in a low solution of epsom plus daily baths. I also plan on keeping him in the hospital tank with daily water changes until I see his hole in head start to heal, as I'm suspicious of the hole in head being the reason for the dropsy in the first place.

 

[Ghostly]

Day 7: kyo seems to be feeling well today. With the addition of a better heater and the airstone he was quite active all day. He immediately got excited when I came over to the tank and ate well. He did less laying around at the bottom and more swimming about than I've seen. However, I noticed while his pineconing did go down every so slightly on one side, i noticed one or two scales poking out a little more on the other side. His bloat seems to have subsided ever so slightly as well, but barely any reduction in swelling since I first started treatment a week ago. I decided when I was putting him back into the tank after his salt bath tonight to dump about a cup of his salt bath water into the tank. That would be 1 cup of 1tblsp/gallon into 2-2.5 gallons of water. A rather low concentration of epsom but I felt like it couldn't hurt just to have a tiny bit added into the tank until tomorrow's water change. I was hoping to see a reduction in his pineconing by now. Anyways, tomorrow ends his first dose of General cure, and the box calls for 2. So after tomorrow he has one more dose of general cure which will take us all the way to Friday. I will keep the hospital tank clear or medication for that weekend and try and figure out what to do from there on out. Im unsure if I should do another round of medication or try adding epsom into his hospital tank at 1/8 tsp per 5 gallons and continuously keep him in a low solution of epsom plus daily baths. I also plan on keeping him in the hospital tank with daily water changes until I see his hole in head start to heal, as I'm suspicious of the hole in head being the reason for the dropsy in the first place.

your betta is so lucky to have you! my poor betta selene died of dropsy at the time i was a new fish keeper and didnt really know how to save her so she died a week later...

 

[grac3]

can we have some pictures?

 

[Fishstery]

your betta is so lucky to have you! my poor betta selene died of dropsy at the time i was a new fish keeper and didnt really know how to save her so she died a week later...

I'm trying so very hard! He is a gorgeous boy and I'd like to be able to keep him around especially since I am in the middle of planning an amazing 5 gallon shallow pond tank for him. It frustrates me that I always make sure I'm doing my weekly water changes, cycling my tanks, setting the tank up in a way that meets the fishs needs and requirements, checking parameters and temperature and doing everything "by the book" and some fluke issue like this happens to my poor lil guy while some people just dump their bettas in an unheated vase and they live for 3 years.

I didnt take any photos of him tonight because I have the flu and am just feeling like garbage. It took everything I had just to measure out his meds and prepare his bath tonight, but here's some good pics I took of him last night during his bath. His condition hasn't changed really since last night so this is what we're working with now

 

[grac3]

his pineconinggggggg its gone down omg

im so happy

 

[Fishstery]

his pineconinggggggg its gone down omg

im so happy

Thank you! Truthfully its really hard to tell the progress because it has been so slight. Here's two side by side pictures, the left ones are of him yesterday, and the ones on the right were taken Wednesday and Thursday. It seems like the swelling and pineconing has gone down more on his right side than the left

 

[grac3]

Well it’s better than nothing and I’m sure both sides will be back to normal soon. I had this little accidental platy and he recently passed of dropsy I rescued his mom from a pond and she gave birth to him and how could I not keep him

 

[Fishstery]

Day 8: today starts the second dose of general cure. Here's some pics of kyo in his epsom bath. Currently he has 5 minutes left but he does very well in the baths so im going to give him an extra minute today, and then again like last night add a cup or so of his bath water back into the hospital tank with him. I did a 100% WC which he has been getting daily. Look at his scales! Is it just me guys or is the pineconing almost gone?! I think keeping a light solution of epsom in the hospital tank may have helped him. He pooped a good bit last night too.

 

[Ghostly]

Day 8: today starts the second dose of general cure. Here's some pics of kyo in his epsom bath. Currently he has 5 minutes left but he does very well in the baths so im going to give him an extra minute today, and then again like last night add a cup or so of his bath water back into the hospital tank with him. I did a 100% WC which he has been getting daily. Look at his scales! Is it just me guys or is the pineconing almost gone?! I think keeping a light solution of epsom in the hospital tank may have helped him. He pooped a good bit last night too. View attachment 768381View attachment 768382View attachment 768383View attachment 768384

wow I can hardly see the pineconing now!

 

[Fishstery]

wow I can hardly see the pineconing now!

The only time I can really see it is if he has his body curved a little bit. Most of the pineconing is localized around his abdomen now. Fingers crossed I see more progress over the next week and I can turn this around for him and eventually put him into the new pond tank when I get it built. Buceplant has it backstoked until mid March, so I have another month or so until I have to worry about moving kyo. I will most likely not return him to his previous tank regardless of if I can cure the dropsy, and just keep him in the hospital tank with daily WCs until the new tank is set up. My coworker has had bags of my filter media seeding in his sump since the end of January, so when the tank comes i can have it up and running in the same week. Hopefully kyo will be healthy enough for a regular tank again.

 

[Madison08]

Thank you for the video and response. Kyo was looking a little worse for wear this morning, he's more bloated than yesterday and also he was floating when I turned the lights on to check for him. It startled him and be started flashing. Can anyone tell me if they've observed flashing with dropsy? He still can manage to swim but its slowly getting worse. Im going to try an epsom bath later, or does anyone know if it would be useful to just dose the actual QT tank with it and then after 10 minutes just do a water change? Like are you able to consistently keep a small dose of epsom in the water safely? I've never used any kinds of dips or baths for treatment before.

My betta not too long ago had dropsy (if you want, I have that thread still up, I'm not sure if you can find it through my account or not, but some people on my thread offered some detailed advice and videos for the dropsy and treatment; it saved my fish). I found that an Epsom salt bath really helped mine; I did it outside of the tank and it didn't stress her all that much to where the con of moving her outweighed the pros of having the bath. I haven't read through the whole thread yet, but I am sending hugs and good luck, I really hope your betta pulls through!

Now that I have read through the entire thread, you are such a great fish keeper! Your betta is very lucky to have you and you should be so proud of yourself for working so hard to get him healthy again. He looks a lot better in the recent photos, he will beat this <3
And he is going to absolutely love the new tank you are planning for him, you'll have to update us with pictures when you get it set up!

 

[Fishstery]

My betta not too long ago had dropsy (if you want, I have that thread still up, I'm not sure if you can find it through my account or not, but some people on my thread offered some detailed advice and videos for the dropsy and treatment; it saved my fish). I found that an Epsom salt bath really helped mine; I did it outside of the tank and it didn't stress her all that much to where the con of moving her outweighed the pros of having the bath. I haven't read through the whole thread yet, but I am sending hugs and good luck, I really hope your betta pulls through!

Now that I have read through the entire thread, you are such a great fish keeper! Your betta is very lucky to have you and you should be so proud of yourself for working so hard to get him healthy again. He looks a lot better in the recent photos, he will beat this <3
And he is going to absolutely love the new tank you are planning for him, you'll have to update us with pictures when you get it set up!

Thank you so much and im glad to hear your betta pulled through! I did find your post and read though it, I found the needling method quite interesting and was glad I was able to watch that video on the people actually performing it. I would only ever consider that a last ditch effort, kyo is retaining nowhere near as much fluid as that betta but if he ever regressed to that point I'd be willing to try it. Is your betta still pineconed? What did you do to treat her other than epsom baths?

 

[Madison08]

Thank you so much and im glad to hear your betta pulled through! I did find your post and read though it, I found the needling method quite interesting and was glad I was able to watch that video on the people actually performing it. I would only ever consider that a last ditch effort, kyo is retaining nowhere near as much fluid as that betta but if he ever regressed to that point I'd be willing to try it. Is your betta still pineconed? What did you do to treat her other than epsom baths?

Tl;dr for those who want to skip the paragraph: Treatment was two doses of melafix (under dosed and before knowing bettas shouldn't have that because they are labyrinth fish), waterchanges, epsom salt baths, two blanched and mushed up peas (yes I know now bettas shouldn't have peas either), and kanaplex. Fully prepared for needle method but beyond lucky the kanaplex worked without.

I was fully prepared to try the needle method as a last resort, especially because my betta's pineconing and, especially, bloating was a lot more progressed than yours was. Originally I had grabbed melafix and underdosed her with that twice before being informed bettas shouldn't have melafix. For bloating I used two peas two days apart that I blanched, cut up into the tiniest pieces possible, and then mushed up those pieces (I was a bit out of date with this, I didn't know at the time bettas could not properly digest peas. I had not had labyrinth fish before her since I was very young so I was not up to date on their differences with what medication (melafix) and food they can and cannot have compared to my other fish) and I put in one mushed up piece at a time slowly to control how much of it she ate. While now I know better, it did seem to help her a lot with bloating. I also did epsom salt baths. I ordered kanaplex for her, but, of course, her dropsy developed right as we got hit with a huge snowstorm, so not only was the kanaplex delayed, but I also could not get out to the city to get anything for her, so I made due with what I had on salt baths, the second way underdose of melafix, and the second pea. At the point she was at, it was suggested that the kanaplex wouldn't work anyways by the time it got there. But I got lucky and it ended up arriving earlier at almost the time it was originally supposed to so I decided to give it a shot and give her a dose just to see before trying the needle. And the difference for her with that was night and day the next morning with her bloating and pineconing. I got really lucky that she is a fish who responded really well to the kanaplex. Just one day after, to me she showed a noticeable difference. So I did the full treatment of that and waited to a couple days to see if I needed to do a second. She had the tiniest bit of pineconing the couple days after the last dose of the first treatment, but it went away without having to start a second. She is doing good now, and I am in the process of setting up a 10g for her that I hope she loves.

*Note: I don't know how much this helped, but at the time I did not have a heater for the tank that she is in (it was only supposed to be temporary), but my room normally stayed warm enough that it was fine as a temporary thing. With the cold weather, my room temp dropped drastically compared to the rest of the house and she was too cold so I moved her downstairs to a room that was a lot warmer, had more natural light, and more airflow and she seemed to really love and perk up at those changes. She also has a sponge filter so her tank is very aerated from the bubbles/oxygen it produces. I would 100% keep an air stone with your little one all the time if you can.

Hope this helps!

 

[Fishstery]

Tl;dr for those who want to skip the paragraph: Treatment was two doses of melafix (under dosed and before knowing bettas shouldn't have that because they are labyrinth fish), waterchanges, epsom salt baths, two blanched and mushed up peas (yes I know now bettas shouldn't have peas either), and kanaplex. Fully prepared for needle method but beyond lucky the kanaplex worked without.

I was fully prepared to try the needle method as a last resort, especially because my betta's pineconing and, especially, bloating was a lot more progressed than yours was. Originally I had grabbed melafix and underdosed her with that twice before being informed bettas shouldn't have melafix. For bloating I used two peas two days apart that I blanched, cut up into the tiniest pieces possible, and then mushed up those pieces (I was a bit out of date with this, I didn't know at the time bettas could not properly digest peas. I had not had labyrinth fish before her since I was very young so I was not up to date on their differences with what medication (melafix) and food they can and cannot have compared to my other fish) and I put in one mushed up piece at a time slowly to control how much of it she ate. While now I know better, it did seem to help her a lot with bloating. I also did epsom salt baths. I ordered kanaplex for her, but, of course, her dropsy developed right as we got hit with a huge snowstorm, so not only was the kanaplex delayed, but I also could not get out to the city to get anything for her, so I made due with what I had on salt baths, the second way underdose of melafix, and the second pea. At the point she was at, it was suggested that the kanaplex wouldn't work anyways by the time it got there. But I got lucky and it ended up arriving earlier at almost the time it was originally supposed to so I decided to give it a shot and give her a dose just to see before trying the needle. And the difference for her with that was night and day the next morning with her bloating and pineconing. I got really lucky that she is a fish who responded really well to the kanaplex. Just one day after, to me she showed a noticeable difference. So I did the full treatment of that and waited to a couple days to see if I needed to do a second. She had the tiniest bit of pineconing the couple days after the last dose of the first treatment, but it went away without having to start a second. She is doing good now, and I am in the process of setting up a 10g for her that I hope she loves.

*Note: I don't know how much this helped, but at the time I did not have a heater for the tank that she is in (it was only supposed to be temporary), but my room normally stayed warm enough that it was fine as a temporary thing. With the cold weather, my room temp dropped drastically compared to the rest of the house and she was too cold so I moved her downstairs to a room that was a lot warmer, had more natural light, and more airflow and she seemed to really love and perk up at those changes. She also has a sponge filter so her tank is very aerated from the bubbles/oxygen it produces. I would 100% keep an air stone with your little one all the time if you can.

Hope this helps!

Thanks! The kanaplex didn't seem to help the dropsy itself but im guessing his dropsy developed due to hole in head that went undetected. This was my first dealing with hole in head so I unknowingly didnt think about that when I was trying to figure out why he had been flashing since I got him. Im hoping that his kidneys aren't too far gone to recover and that the general cure will knock out the bacteria and parasite that is causing the hole in head. Ive read on a few other forums as well that apparently the kanaplex dosage is 1/17th the recommended dosage that is suggested in veterinary literature. Im considering running a second dose of kanaplex at twice seachems dosage instructions if I dont see any improvement after this next week of general cure. However I'm weary because apparently kanamycin is hard on the kidneys and I obviously don't want to strain and organ that's already compromised. Hopefully a week of general cure/epsom and a few days of clean, fresh water may do the trick. Kyo was pretty listless this morning when I checked on him but I keep a towel over the tank for heat+stress reduction so it may be that he was just groggy and not ready to "wake up" yet.

 

[Fishstery]

Day 9: the pineconing is almost completely gone as well as his bloat. However, kyo seems to not be feeling as well today. He was laying at the bottom almost sideways when I went to check on him after work. His gills weren't moving and I literally thought he was dead until all of a sudden he moved his eyes and shot up to the top of the tank. He did swim around and eat when I stimulated him but went back to laying at the bottom. I think I will skip the epsom bath tonight, as well as remove the general cure from the water with a 100% water change, since the bloat is pretty much gone. Im going to see how a few days of just clean water will help him and will update you guys daily on how that goes.

Here's his pics from tonight. Im not sure if he is going to pull through at this point. Maybe he will perk up in a day or two...

 

[Madison08]

Thanks! The kanaplex didn't seem to help the dropsy itself but im guessing his dropsy developed due to hole in head that went undetected. This was my first dealing with hole in head so I unknowingly didnt think about that when I was trying to figure out why he had been flashing since I got him. Im hoping that his kidneys aren't too far gone to recover and that the general cure will knock out the bacteria and parasite that is causing the hole in head. Ive read on a few other forums as well that apparently the kanaplex dosage is 1/17th the recommended dosage that is suggested in veterinary literature. Im considering running a second dose of kanaplex at twice seachems dosage instructions if I dont see any improvement after this next week of general cure. However I'm weary because apparently kanamycin is hard on the kidneys and I obviously don't want to strain and organ that's already compromised. Hopefully a week of general cure/epsom and a few days of clean, fresh water may do the trick. Kyo was pretty listless this morning when I checked on him but I keep a towel over the tank for heat+stress reduction so it may be that he was just groggy and not ready to "wake up" yet.

I don't have any experience with hole in the head, but I really hope that all of the treatment you are giving him helps in getting rid of it and he begins feeling better soon. I have read of people doing more than the recommended dosage amount of kanaplex and they saw no adverse side effects/reactions in their fish by doing so, but I agree being wary and careful with doing it, as I have also read of it affecting the kidneys. I also put the kanaplex directly in my betta's tank water instead of mixing it with food, so was extra careful with measurements.

I am again wishing you all the luck with getting your little one better, I know he will soon. And I am glad that the bloating and pineconing are almost completely gone! That's great news!

 

[Fishstery]

Day 10 kyo update: I was apprehensive but kyo made it through the night. Hes perked up quite a bit since my post yesterday. He begged for food and ate a few pellets and swam around a little bit here and there. Still no return of the pineconing, I can just barely see his scales poking up ever so slightly if I look hard enough. As to keep his stress down, I will not be doing a water change tonight. I tested for ammonia which is either 0ppm or a tiny trace (not enough to even measure .25) but im going to put a little splash of prime in there just to be safe. The one major concern I have even though he's no longer fully pineconed is that his abdomen is very obviously holding fluid that won't go away. Im worried that the fluid is unable to drain itself since it hasn't already at this point. In my honest opinion, kyo will probably live for a few more weeks, maybe even months. But unless this bloat goes away on its own during this week, I dont think i can fully reverse the fluid buildup. I'm quite sad about it today, but it makes me happy that he still wants food and wants to see me when I walk over to check on him.

Edit: not trying to count him out while he's still in the race, but if his bloating issues don't go away before im ready to set the new tank up, I think it would be best for him to remain on the hospital tank. If this happens, I will seed a sponge filter for him and remove some Java fern from another tank and just let him have a halfway filled bare bottom to enjoy and get a second betta for the new tank. I really wasn't intending on having more than one betta, and especially not an extra tank, but at this point I don't think it would be in his best interest if I moved him to a more complicated tank with a canister.

 

[Ghostly]

Day 10 kyo update: I was apprehensive but kyo made it through the night. Hes perked up quite a bit since my post yesterday. He begged for food and ate a few pellets and swam around a little bit here and there. Still no return of the pineconing, I can just barely see his scales poking up ever so slightly if I look hard enough. As to keep his stress down, I will not be doing a water change tonight. I tested for ammonia which is either 0ppm or a tiny trace (not enough to even measure .25) but im going to put a little splash of prime in there just to be safe. The one major concern I have even though he's no longer fully pineconed is that his abdomen is very obviously holding fluid that won't go away. Im worried that the fluid is unable to drain itself since it hasn't already at this point. In my honest opinion, kyo will probably live for a few more weeks, maybe even months. But unless this bloat goes away on its own during this week, I dont think i can fully reverse the fluid buildup. I'm quite sad about it today, but it makes me happy that he still wants food and wants to see me when I walk over to check on him.

Edit: not trying to count him out while he's still in the race, but if his bloating issues don't go away before im ready to set the new tank up, I think it would be best for him to remain on the hospital tank. If this happens, I will seed a sponge filter for him and remove some Java fern from another tank and just let him have a halfway filled bare bottom to enjoy and get a second betta for the new tank. I really wasn't intending on having more than one betta, and especially not an extra tank, but at this point I don't think it would be in his best interest if I moved him to a more complicated tank with a canister.

great that he seems to be doing better! I might be wrong but i would think epson salt baths would help release the fluid so mabye try that in a few days...

 

[Fishstery]

Day 11: kyo is still with me and doing pretty much the same as the past few days. He lays at the bottom of the tank and rests most of the time so he isn't swimming around constantly like a regularly healthy plakat should, but he has no issues perking up and swimming around to greet me or get food. He is still happily accepting his food also. The pineconing hasn't returned and his bloat isn't any worse for wear. However, he still hasn't unclamped his dorsal fin and I can tell he isn't back to 100% like he was before the dropsy. I just got a notification that my tank is finally being shipped, but im going to give kyo some more time and push back the new tank setup by a few weeks to see if he can turn around enough to go back in to a display tank.

 

[Fishstery]

Day 12: today is probably the best shape I've seen him in since I first noticed the dropsy. He doesnt have his dorsal "clamped", as he stretches it off his back but the actual fin itself is still clamped together instead of being fanned out. However, this was the first time I walked over and he was just free swimming the tank. Typically he sits at the bottom until I come over, swims to the surface to eat or whatever, and then just lays back down. Not today! Hes zipping around a good bit more than I've seen lately. He still looks slightly bloated in his abdomen but no pineconing. I checked the ammonia and it reads 0ppm so I think I can do every other day water changes now and just put a drop of prime in on the no WC days. I ordered some methlyene blue to add to his tank water for a week or so, since it is very mild and gentle. That way I can rest assured that even though he gets fresh water constantly, it is disinfected and he will be protected against any secondary infections like fin rot from everything that hes been through for the past 2 weeks. Im planning on having the pond tank completely set up March 18th/19th, so keep us in your thoughts guys as I hope to continue to see improvement enough that he can enjoy a beautiful tank and I dont have to get another betta and juggle 2 betta tanks instead of one lol!

 

[grac3]

oh that good to hear! i think you should continue with the treatment for a little bit longer just in case it comes back

 

[Fishstery]

oh that good to hear! i think you should continue with the treatment for a little bit longer just in case it comes back

I wasnt sure if I should continue to use the medication and epsom baths as I noticed it was starting to severely stress him out

 

[grac3]

maybe not as often as you did, maybe like every 3-4 days

 

[Fishstery]

This is my last update unless something bad happens, but I will make an additional update a few weeks from now to let you guys know if this lasts. Kyo is very well today, swimming and being much more active, eating, and his pineconing is definitely gone. His bloat is gone on one side, and he is slightly bloated on the other but not alarming. He looks like ate too much. I'll be doing his water change tonight and the methylene blue will arrive tomorrow. I plan on using the methylene blue for about a week or so. If he stays well until the middle of March he will be graduating back to a display tank thank you so much to the members who followed this thread and kept my spirits high and gave Kyo get well wishes! I hope that someone may stumble across this thread trying to treat their bettas with early symptomatic dropsy, and maybe help them turn their bettas health around too! As of right now I have miraculously cured this bout of dropsy, but only time will tell if it will return again or if Kyo suffered permanent organ damage.

Edit: I wanted to post one last picture so people can see his progress since his treatment

Here's from the first 3 days after I noticed the pineconing



And here's tonight, just waiting for his coloring to return although it may just be because I have no light on the hospital tank

 

[Fishstery]

Just a quick kyo update for you guys! It has been almost a month now since I noticed his dropsy symptoms. He is doing so so well! He is very happy and hungry always and honestly it's hard to get any good pictures of him right now because he's always on the move zipping around! His hole in head is slowly healing as well as his dorsal fin, his coloring is returning and I have observed 0 signs of pineconing. Currently he is still in his hospital tank with methylene blue and every other day water changes. He will keep this routine until the end of next week when I will remove the methlyene blue, because he needs to get used to unmedicated water as the following week he will be graduating out of the hospital tank and into his new 5 gallon pond! Here's pictures of the little boy tonight right after I fed him

 

[Ghostly]

sorry but I think my betta might have dropsy and wondered what treatment you think worked best for Kyo?

luckily if it is dropsy it is pretty mild 9like the first picture of kyo) so i am hoping i will still be able to treat it

 

[Fishstery]

sorry but I think my betta might have dropsy and wondered what treatment you think worked best for Kyo?

luckily if it is dropsy it is pretty mild 9like the first picture of kyo) so i am hoping i will still be able to treat it

I highly recommend reading through my thread from the beginning it will let you know everything I did exactly, step by step. But hospital tank for sure, daily 100% water changes (since you can't have any type of cycled filter due to the antibacterial meds) and kanaplex +furan 2 followed by a separate treatment of general cure with daily epsom baths for (approx) 8 days and eventually just methylene blue. The whole process for him is going on over a month now I believe but at this point he was cured of the dropsy around 2 weeks ago.

 

[Fishstery]

Hey guys one last update! Last night Kyo made it into the pond he really loves the tiger lotus and uses the leaves as a bed which is adorable. He also managed to get up on the slope near the emersed bank and nestle down in a tuft of monte carlo which I thought was adorable. No worries about the rock wall as I stuffed filter floss in all the cracks to keep him out and the aqua soil in. In 2-3 weeks he will be getting 6 tiny pygmy cory roommates after they're done in the QT tank. His spine seems to be slightly curved either as a result from the healed up dropsy or just genetics, so he swims at a diagonal angle now with his head up and his tail downward and he needs to lay and rest often but he seems to be in great health. Hopefully due to his "swimming issue" he won't try and chase the cories around. Here's some pictures of him and the tank! Thanks for following on his progress guys!

 

[Ghostly]

Hey guys one last update! Last night Kyo made it into the pond he really loves the tiger lotus and uses the leaves as a bed which is adorable. He also managed to get up on the slope near the emersed bank and nestle down in a tuft of monte carlo which I thought was adorable. No worries about the rock wall as I stuffed filter floss in all the cracks to keep him out and the aqua soil in. In 2-3 weeks he will be getting 6 tiny pygmy cory roommates after they're done in the QT tank. His spine seems to be slightly curved either as a result from the healed up dropsy or just genetics, so he swims at a diagonal angle now with his head up and his tail downward and he needs to lay and rest often but he seems to be in great health. Hopefully due to his "swimming issue" he won't try and chase the cories around. Here's some pictures of him and the tank! Thanks for following on his progress guys!
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wow it looks so good! I love your choice of plants and the wood looks awesome he is such lucky boy!

 

[Fishstery]

T

wow it looks so good! I love your choice of plants and the wood looks awesome he is such lucky boy!

Thank you! This is my first time trying emersed plants and they're a mix of in vitro and potted plants. There's been a big initial dry out of most of the plants even with multiple mistings a day so fingers crossed the roots take and in a week or two I can trim off the dry stuff and new shoots will sprout up.

 

[Fishstery]

Some sad news, Kyos condition seems to have returned. Hes been bloated and laying around for the past 3 days, I've seen some very very slight pineconing but I wouldn't say full blown dropsy yet. I'm unsure if he will make it past this point, I'm going to fast him for a few days to see if the bloat will go away on its own. He shoots up when I get near the tank to beg for food, he still has an appetite but then goes to lay back down on the lotus leaves.. my instincts are telling me somethings wrong with him. I'll update to let you guys know what happens. I'm not going to treat him again as I don't want to put him through another month of heavy medication, so if he really does have dropsy again I will just let him live out the rest of his time peacefully in his pond.