Bumpy Scales

I adopted a new betta fish yesterday. He was labeled as a dragon scale half moon. He is currently under observation in a heated and filtered 2.5 gallon before I put him in my divided 20 gallon. The local pet shop I got him from was keeping the bettas in extra small cups with blue water I am assuming is some type of medication. Besides the obvious fin rot, when I look closely, I can see the bumps of his scales in his silhouette that I can't see on my other bettas. It doesn't look like pineconing but maybe it is an early sign of dropsy or other illnesses. He is eating well and is quite the explorer so I'm probably just paranoid but it's better to be safe than sorry. Thank you in advance for any insight

 

I'd try doing daily water changes, I can't say whether it's dropsy or not, but if it progresses any further I'd start treating for dropsy. The blue water I believe is a sedative for when they are shipped.

 

Thank you for your reply. The sedative makes sense. Some of them in the cups were still quite rowdy regardless haha
I will keep an eye on him and post any updates

 

Is it the lines near his tail? Those raised scales are actually bones, he is incredibly skinny. I would be feeding him high protein foods to help him gain some weight. Does he have a name? He looks like a saltwater fire fish to me lol. I agree with the above, daily water changes will heal the fin rot.

 

The thought never occured to me that they could be thin or fatty beyond bloated stomachs. You're right though! So is that lighter part further along his body his bone bulging out? I was just under the impression he was see-through haha The highest protein food I have is freeze dried blood worms that state 50% crude protein. I've been presoaking them and feeding in combination with some gel food I've made.

 

Brine shrimp or diaphna when you do blood worms, that way he won't get constipated.

 

I take back the bone thing, doing a little more research it turns out it's actually their swim bladder... But he's still pretty skinny.
Soaking them takes most of the nutritional value out, I would get a good quality pellet(I use omega one, but I've heard good things about new life spectrum) and supplement with frozen foods.
My feeding schedule looks like this-
Sunday- Fast
Monday- 2-3 Pellets
Tuesday- 2-3 Frozen bloodworms
Wednesday- 2-3 pellets
Thursday- A slice of frozen brine shrimp
Friday- 2-3 pellets
Saturday- 2-3 frozen bloodworms
Sometimes I switch the frozen foods around or change one with mosquito larvae.

What's in the gel food?

 

I made the gel food with non specific measurements of spinach, garlic, shrimp, and gelatin. They seem to really enjoy it. I figured it was better than the cheap dry pellets I have.
When they get a more healthy weight, does their fat build up above/behind their head? I've noticed my new bettas' heads look much flatter than my other one which looks very round. I've attached photos of what I'm talking about. The first pink betta is what I'm thinking is the fatter one. The second photo is of one of my newer bettas that has this flat head sort of thing going on like Anakin.

 

Double tails look thicker, but yes bettas will build up a little more of a chunky look (thicker body) when fed well. Though some bettas in petstores remain skinny because they weren't raised as well as the others. He looks like he will fatten up quite easily.