Is this dropsy?

[Sakura8]

Way to go on stopping the pineconing, LittleFish. Poor Charles. To be sick and then abandoned too. I'm glad he has you to care for him.

[LittleFish2012]

It really is a shame that he's been kinda abandoned. He's got the complete mentality and behavior of a healthy, happy fish. It's just his body that's failing. But he eats and swims around despite that. The optimistic personality is remarkable. I'm gonna end up missing him the most...

I will never turn away an ill fish in need of help. Thank you very much for your kind words.

[sainthogan]

dropsy is familiar to edema in humans, intense swelling and water retention which often leads to organ failure due to the intense amount of pressure put on the swollen organs. edema (and dropsy) can be caused by any number of illnesses and is not an illness in itself.

[LittleFish2012]

Originally Posted by sainthogan

dropsy is familiar to edema in humans, intense swelling and water retention which often leads to organ failure due to the intense amount of pressure put on the swollen organs. edema (and dropsy) can be caused by any number of illnesses and is not an illness in itself.

I know that dropsy is usually a symptom of organ failure (in this case, probably kidney failure). But I didn't know about the edema similarities. That's very interesting...
I figured the salts would help relieve some pressure. The fluids in the fish's body should hopefully diffuse into the water where it's saltier in order to maintain osmoregularity. That's my theory as to why he's no longer pineconing... As for the extreme bloat, that's definitely organ failure and I can't fix that. :/

[sainthogan]

At least it seems that you are relieving some of his symptoms so that maybe he's not in so much misery. Poor thing, at least you are doing what you can to help him.

[Sakura8]

The conditions he was kept in probably did irreversible damage to his organs. Ammonia can burn internally as well as the external burns we see. But at least you've made him comfortable and happy.

[CTBettaLover]

I would just like to say that you are a great person to take care of Charles. That is so sad that they treated him poorly and then abandoned him when the going got tough. Those people need to never have pets! I am having a similar problem with my betta, Stanley. His belly region is massively bloated although he acts perfectly normal. I am afraid if it gets any worse his organs will begin to fail. That is, if they haven't already. Im trying to stay positive and hopeful but still prepare for the worst. My question is this...

How do I tell the difference between a bacterial infection, constipation, and parasites? He is still hungry and pooping every now and then but Im not sure how often. Today he had a very long(~1 inch) brown poo hanging from him with white on the end and hanging by some sort of stringy type thing that I could not see with a flashlight and my 20/20 vision. The stringiness makes me believe its parasites but Im no expert. It could also just be that his body is having a hard time pushing it out which is making it that thin long shape. Please help if you can!

[LittleFish2012]

Originally Posted by CTBettaLover

I would just like to say that you are a great person to take care of Charles. That is so sad that they treated him poorly and then abandoned him when the going got tough. Those people need to never have pets! I am having a similar problem with my betta, Stanley. His belly region is massively bloated although he acts perfectly normal. I am afraid if it gets any worse his organs will begin to fail. That is, if they haven't already. Im trying to stay positive and hopeful but still prepare for the worst. My question is this...

How do I tell the difference between a bacterial infection, constipation, and parasites? He is still hungry and pooping every now and then but Im not sure how often. Today he had a very long(~1 inch) brown poo hanging from him with white on the end and hanging by some sort of stringy type thing that I could not see with a flashlight and my 20/20 vision. The stringiness makes me believe its parasites but Im no expert. It could also just be that his body is having a hard time pushing it out which is making it that thin long shape. Please help if you can!

Thank you!
To be honest, it's difficult to tell. Constipation is like minor bloat where the fish will not poop (and sometimes swim a little sideways because it affects the swim bladder...)
With parasites, there will usually be WHITE stringy fecal matter. So that could very well be parasites. Another thing to look for are "lumps" under his skin (internal parasites), or stringy matter hanging off his body or fins (external parasites). Thats a tell-tale sign of parasites.
Keep in mind that if you feed him food that is white, that could be a part of it. But I doubt that, food isn't usually white... Have you fed him any live foods?
Bacterial infections are just all around difficult to diagnose because they can happen internally or externally with or without symptoms. And when there are symptoms, there can be a wide range.
For your fish, it is possible it could be constipation. Flakes that lack moisture can get packed in the digestive tract. Likewise, some pellet foods will expand after eaten and block the way out. :( Everything in moderation, I guess...
When my fish get constipated, I feed them a steamed broccoli florret or two. It seems to help (apparently the myth about a cooked pea is for goldfish?) although I'm not quite certain if you're supposed to do that, so I can't "recommend" it.
Something that I find helps "bring a fish back to life" is epsom salt. It has beneficial effects on them. If you want, you could try dissolving 1-2tsp in a gallon of water. It never hurts.
For now, I'd keep an eye on him. Check for any odd appearance or funny behavior (swimming around rapidly, scraping himself against objects, acting lethargic, etc).
And it might not hurt to invest in an antibiotic of some sort. It can't hurt to have SOMETHING on hand for emergencies or just in case.

I am also ordering in a stronger medication (kanaplex) for poor charles. BUT this is for BACTERIAL problems. Not so much parasites, if that's even your fish's problem. It's unlikely if you haven't fed him anything live.

I hope that helps a little bit. :)

[Sakura8]

CT, you can definitely tell constipation if you don't see him pooing at all and he starts to bloat up. The difference between an internal bacterial infection and parasitse can be a little harder to figure out. It's not uncommon for them to push out long stringy brown poos, but the white part could be indicative of internal parasites. I would go ahead and get him into 2 tsps of epsom salt per gallon as a precaution and continue to monitor his poos. If you see more whiteish stringy poo, it's most likely internal parasites and meds would help.

[sunlight]

just want to say something. I think it better to treat fish as soon as you know/think it has parasites. Because fish can deteriorate so fast and it nothing your can do then.I think if you ever see white or clear stringy, wormy like poo or brown and clear or white at the ends it always possibilities them to have internal parasites. And it always better to treat them while they are eating and can pass worms with poo.