What's wrong with my Betta???

Please help, I added my Betta into a 10 gallon cycled, heated and filtered tank about a month ago and he's been doing great after being in a bowl most of his life (my own ignorance). The past few days I've noticed a real change in behaviour (lethargy, random bursts of swimming then stopping and sitting for a while then repeating). He's gotta be over 3 years old now as we got him as a cup Betta at petsmart in August 2018 and I read they're usually a few months old by then.

As he's been slowing down I've been monitoring him, I noticed a bump on his chin the other day and was trying to find out online what it could be but I couldn't find anything. Today I've noticed his scales are pineconing a little bit and I'm scared to think it could be dropsy as I've heard it's fatal...

Please if anyone could help that would be amazing, I love him to death.

Pictures below :

This is when I noticed the bump on his chin.




At one point he rolled over so I got a good shot of his underside, I can't workout what the bump is, looks just like scales.




Best shot I got of his scales, they're definitely pineconing if it's not clear in the picture.

 

The bump could very well be a tumor, kind of happens to bettas a lot, especially when they get older. Happened to one of mine not long agao, about the same age as yours, but had to euthanize the poor guy because it was in a place that he could barely move anymore. Was still very active until then.

Any bloating to go with that pineconing? I can't see the pineconing though...perhaps you can get a pic from above looking down on him from the top? Usually pretty obvious at that angle.

 

The bump could very well be a tumor, kind of happens to bettas a lot, especially when they get older. Happened to one of mine not long agao, about the same age as yours, but had to euthanize the poor guy because it was in a place that he could barely move anymore. Was still very active until then.

Any bloating to go with that pineconing? I can't see the pineconing though...perhaps you can get a pic from above looking down on him from the top? Usually pretty obvious at that angle.

He's still being active but like I say just in bursts. Still eating too but I haven't fed him today because I want to know my next steps.

I have two pictures, one from a month ago after I added him and one from today I just got from a better angle to show the difference.

 

well, grate on upgrading him to a 10g, but I still think it is a little early to tell. Keep an eye on him. And you can bring him to a vet if you need to, but there are not many not even one with in a hour drive of me. But if it is dropsy, i don't think there is anything you can do. and that bump, it could be fat, but i'm not an expert, mine is a little fat and looks similar. It almost looks like he has scales on his eyelid, the erratic swimming may be due to blindness, its schockinly common in bettas, especially with age

Keep an eye out for behavior, is he eating, do you think he is suffering? If this prisiste, and he dose pinecone even worse and you can tell he's not gonna make it long, it may be hard but euthanization could prevent him from suffering, I say that as a last resort, If you think he will not make it. He's close to 4 years old( they are around a year old when you buy them) that's a long time for a betta, the best thing that you can do now since you are not sure, it to make him as happy as he can be. make sure his water is cleen and, there are no stressers(that you can help)

 

If he is pineconing, it isn't very prominent. If he isn't bloated, then I would definitely feed him. Withholding food isn't a good idea if he needs the nutrition.

If you see that he starts to have bloat and pinecone, where it is very noticeable, then there are a couple of things that you can try, but I am afraid that most of the time, the condition is fatal.

For bloat, you can do some epsom salt baths. The epsom salts need to be pure epsom salts (not scented and with no additives). You use one tablespoon per gallon of water. You will want to set up the bath in a container with water that is the same temp as his tank water. Let him stay in the bath for about 15 minutes. If you see him have an adverse reaction, then take him out immediately.

This can be stressful, so only do this if he is actually bloated.

Dropsy is usually a condition caused by some sort of underlying infection or issue, bacterial or fungal. I don't see any outward sign of fungal or bacterial infections or problems, but there may be inward things going on that you can't see. And like bettas anonymous said, tumors are very common in aging bettas.

The antibiotics that are recommended for the underlying infections are usually kanaplex, or a combination of kanaplex and furan II. I have tried kanaplex and neoplex together (kanamycin and neomycin), and I have used fish mox (amoxicilin).

Unfortunately, I was unable to save my babies, but I have read accounts that if you catch it very early, and can figure out what the real issue is, then there might be a chance. The biggest issue is that by the time you notice the bloat and pineconing, the underlying issue is too far along.

I hope this helps, and I hope that his only issue is that he is getting old. If he has trouble swimming, you can lower the level of his water. And keep his water as clean as possible, with frequent water changes.