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Pineconing?

1K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  Wendyjo 
#1 ·
Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gallon
What temperature is your tank? Stays anywhere from 74-76 occasionally 78
Does your tank have a filter? yes but not sure of brand. Aqua something
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Just filter. Hospital tank has air stone
Is your tank heated? no
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? hikari
How often do you feed your betta fish? daily to every other day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? once a week 50% more when AQ salt was used
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50% reg; 75%-100% when using meds
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime or Stress Coat

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? n/a

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Was fine last night and this morning. Tonight when I got home, appears slightly bloated with some raised scales
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Appears normal with behavior. Active, eating, etc.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Tonight
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? n/a
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Tail biter due to stress of moving into 5 gallon
How old is your fish (approximately)? Wal-mart fish so 1-2 years?



So I'm literally kicking myself for not checking him before I went to walmart, but Cooper (Veil tail that I had the issue of him wanting to be a crown tail with) now appears to be pine coning. I have absolutely no Epsom salts, no quick fixes, no IAL.. although I do have oak leaves. My yard is full of those. He seems to be a bit bloated although not much. There are about 5 scales on his head that are poking out and maybe 2 on his gills. His "face" seems swollen to where his eyes appear to be sunken in (like if you got a black eye, that type swollen but not as heavy) I've tried to get a picture but my phone absolutely sucks. Is there anything I can do for him? I've got a hospital tank but my wal-mart rescue I just got ( a long story involved there) is in it. I can move everyone around some and put him in it if need be, but it's a smaller tank. Maybe 1 gallon w/ an air stone. Is there anything I can use to help him? I can't go get Epsom salts until tomorrow. He ate fine yesterday, he's been active and flaring, not having swimming issues.
 
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#2 · (Edited)





Yes the last pic has a hair tie holding the netting over the filter. It's one of the ouchless non-metal hair ties. Temporary until I can fix the filter. Figured out that is what was shredding his tail although it's gotten worse. It healed for a week, then went to shreds and he nipped it again. The guy in the cup is not going in that tank. He was getting his water warmed up (it's cold as all get out here tonight) while I was setting up the quarantine/hospital tank. He's the new boy I got from Wal-mart tonight.
 
#3 ·
He could be constipated. What have his poops looked like recently? I think the oak leave would be ok, a lot of people here use them, but for bloating, dropsy and constipation, the recommended medication is epsom salts and warm water.
 
#5 ·
You need Epsom salt. You can get it at Walmart, Target, and any pharmacy. I'd start him out at 3 tsp per gallon since you said he's pineconing.
 
#6 ·
Yeah we used to have Epsom but I think we used the last of it on our horse. I've searched my house and barn and can't find any. I'm going to town this afternoon to pick some up.
 
#8 ·
Ahh yes, digging around in the barn looking for fish supplies. I've been there a few times myself :)

How is he doing now?
 
#9 · (Edited)
Plastic. They've passed the panty hose test though and no snags or anything. Not even a nic. They're really soft and flexable. Kind of rubbery. The same plants are in 2 other tanks with my CT and new VT and they've not had the problems. I think his tail was a combo of tail biting and the filter.

He's doing better. I gave him one pellet this morning to check his appetite and he gobbled it and then swam around looking for more for about 10 minutes. I was doing a water change and noticed a moth wing. I'm wondering if he didn't eat a moth... or well.. Attempt to eat it. It was stuck behind the filter baffle by the black part of the filter so I didn't see it. And there's nothing but the wing. I'm wondering if he didn't go to town which is causing the bloated look. Some of the scales have gone down, but there's still one or two on his head that are poking up. Still active and his normal friendly self. See's me walk into the room and swims straight to the front of the tank to give me the once over. lol
 
#10 ·
What a beautiful shade of purple btw! lol at the moth mystery, I wonder if bettas eat moths in the wild..
Great to hear the appetite is healthy and hes still gets excited to see you. Thats when I know somethings wrong if my babies don't greet me.
Also I'm not positive but I think the epsom salt will fix the scale issue. Taking pictures looking down on the betta is a good way to look for dropsy/pineconing.
 
#11 ·
I tried but I've killed my digital camera some how, so I'm stuck with my cell phone. It doesn't take the best quality photos when taking a close up. Just kind of looks like a black blur. Thanks! He's actually a steel blue color but he varies from a brighter blue, to a true blue in sunlight. He does look purplish in the tank. He's also got the black color dots on his fins. He's such a ham. He will seriously go head to nose with me against the glass and stare me down. He can be anywhere in the tank and if he sees me, he'll come and stay at the front of the tank checking me out. He flares at me every now and then too but won't flare at anything else. Mirrors, reflections, etc don't bother him. I was honestly surprised he flared at the new kid. He carried on like he was the biggest, baddest in the land though.

 
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