Piceconing?

[helbows]

Hey everyone, I posted here a while ago about my crowntail, Mars. Things were turning up for a little bit, but for over the past week, he's been pretty bloated. I fasted him for a while, tried giving him a pea, everything. Instead of getting better, it's gotten worse. I thought he was constipated, but I saw him poop a few days ago and the bloating didn't go down. Plus, the poop was white.

I don't know if I'm seeing things, but to me, he looks like he might be starting to pinecone. I'm sorry for the picture quality, by the way; it was the best I could get, unfortunately, but I think it's a good enough representation of what he looks like in real life.

He's still eating, and he seems active, but he sits at the top of the tank and doesn't ever go down to his hides anymore. He used to do that all the time. That leads me to believe he might need oxygen.

Tank parameters:
Size: 10 gallon filtered
Temp: 80 F
pH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: <5.0 ppm

 

[Discus-Tang]

Those are very nice conditions for a betta!

I suspect it could be an internal parasite, in which case you should buy levamisole based medication.

If not it might be dropsy, which is untreatable.

Here is a link which can give you good info on parasites. I found it very helpful when doing so. plecoplanet: Treat Camallanus Worms

 

[helbows]

Those are very nice conditions for a betta!

I suspect it could be an internal parasite, in which case you should buy levamisole based medication.

If not it might be dropsy, which is untreatable.

Here is a link which can give you good info on parasites. I found it very helpful when doing so. plecoplanet: Treat Camallanus Worms

Looking over the symptoms, I don’t believe he has parasites. I’ve attached another picture of him to show the bloating.

 

[Discus-Tang]

Oof! Severe bloat!

 

[helbows]

As of today, Mars’s bloat hasn’t gone down. His pineconing has gotten a little worse. It’s becoming slightly more obvious that it’s not my eyes tricking me.

What should I do about this? I gave him an Epsom salt bath yesterday — should I do another?

 

[helbows]

Sorry for the double post, I’m kind of freaking out. What should I do about this?

 

[TLOP]

Epsom salt is a laxative for fish, 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons. Hopefully this helps

 

[helbows]

He’s started passing out. His fins will just stop moving and he’ll go to the bottom. The parameters are the same. I don’t know what to do.

 

[Discus-Tang]

And you've done the laxative??

 

[helbows]

Just did it an hour ago. I knew there was a chance of him passing out during the bath, but now he’s back in his tank (after I acclimated him) and still listless. Is this normal?

 

[Discus-Tang]

Just did it an hour ago. I knew there was a chance of him passing out during the bath, but now he’s back in his tank (after I acclimated him) and still listless. Is this normal?

Pineconing is usually a telltale sign of dropsy, or organ failure. There may be no way to fix your betta.

 

[helbows]

Do you think that first picture looks like pineconing? It’s a pretty rough quality picture, but I feel as if I can see some scales starting to stick out in it. I still fear my eyes might be tricking me.

 

[Discus-Tang]

Do you think that first picture looks like pineconing? It’s a pretty rough quality picture, but I feel as if I can see some scales starting to stick out in it. I still fear my eyes might be tricking me.

I couldn't see it in the picture, but I was suspecting it would be the lens. The scales are very thin after all. To me based on the photos it looks only like bloat.

Are you sure it's not a parasite??

 

[Fanatic]

If not it might be , which is untreatable.

False, you can actually treat dropsy and it's not fatal if you do it correctly.
I believe that all fish should be able to fight off any disease no matter what it is.

 

[helbows]

I don’t think it is, because he isn’t showing any other symptoms of parasites from what I’ve read. I also don’t know where he would’ve gotten them? He’s the only one in the tank, his plants are artificial, and he doesn’t eat live or frozen food. He has a moss ball, but he’s had that for a long time. He’s the only living thing in his tank.

 

[Discus-Tang]

I'm thinking it would be from the fish store.

 

[Discus-Tang]

False, you can actually treat dropsy and it's not fatal if you do it correctly.
I believe that all fish should be able to fight off any disease no matter what it is.

Dropsy is not a disease.

 

[helbows]

I'm thinking it would be from the fish store.

That makes sense. The bloating didn’t start until almost two weeks ago, and he wasn’t bloated in the store. He also only recently started being hungry. Is it normal for symptoms to appear so suddenly with parasites?

Forgot to add: I’ve had him for a month and a half (since Apr 4th). Sorry about that.

 

[Duardo]

You can always try general cure just in case. I have no idea whats up with your fish but I thought it couldnt hurt if you use general cure

 

[helbows]

You can always try general cure just in case. I have no idea whats up with your fish but I thought it couldnt hurt if you use general cure

I don’t know if I want to try another medication. I also don’t currently have the money to get it, and won’t for over a week.

His reaction to the Epsom salt bath earlier really worried me. I think the reason he may have passed out was from the shock, but I don’t know if that would cause him to keep passing out as much as he did. He was passing in and out of consciousness for an hour before things finally seemed to settle, but even then he would get listless, as I said previously. He did not react like this the first time, and I made sure everything was as it should be with the baths.