Dragos is dropsy!

[oscarcardoso]

Housing
What size is your tank? 5gal
What temperature is your tank? 75
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
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? Tetra BettaMin Tropical Medley
How often do you feed your betta fish? twice a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? once each 2 weeks
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 30-40%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Tetra AquaSafe Plus

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? No

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Yes, he's pineconing
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He just rests on the top of the aquarium
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 5 days ago he just stoped moving, today I noticed the pineconing
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Only added methylene blue
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not that I know
How old is your fish (approximately)? Just got it from the store 2 months ago as a gift

I know he has dropsy now, but I'm not prepared for treatment. I have Melafix on the way, but that's it. I suspended the use of the filter and changed him to a small bowl so I can see him clearly.

What can I do? I only have the methylene blue and tomorro will get the Melafix.

I have a few pictures of him here: http://imgur.com/a/SCMUX#0

Thanks a lot. I'm really worried :(

[vilmarisv]

It's very unlikely that he will recuperate from this you, I'm really sorry.

[oscarcardoso]

vilmarisv, is it really that late? How can I prepare better for this? is just that there is so much information to take into account right now that I dont know where to start if Dragos dies and I have to look for another betta :(

[vilmarisv]

When they bloat it means their kidneys have started to fail. Dropsy is a bacterial infection usually cause by dirty water conditions and very hard to cure. I've only dealt with dropsy once and, because I'm not tolerant to deceases, I culled the fish.
In all the years I've been keeping bettas I've only heard of a couple of cases where they cured the fish but it was detected very early.
You can try treating with Tetracycline or Maracyn Two but very few fish make it back.

[oscarcardoso]

Thank you vilmarisv. I'll try to treat him...

[Shirleythebetta]

Originally Posted by oscarcardoso

Thank you vilmarisv. I'll try to treat him...

A little aquarium salt can help ease the bloat too to make it more comfortable. As said it is something usually caused by dirty water. It may not have been you so don't fret. I know many people blame themselves. It could be damage the fish receive before they come to you. I had a dropsy case. He died a week after I had him. It happened that quickly with him.

[KappaTheImp]

I had a miraculous recovery of a fish from dropsy when his scales already started to pinecone. I used Maracyn 2, and medicated for about two weeks, as well as treated with epsom salt to make him more comfortable.

A word of warning, when I got finished treating, he came down with a nasty bit of columnaris bacteria also, due to the gram negative antibiotics screwing with the tank. You might also consider medicating with Maracyn one as a preventative, but what I experienced could very well be a one off thing.

Change your water DAILY, and hope that everything will be ok. Like everyone says, they very rarely recover. Good luck.

[NorthernLights]

Ok, Dropsy IS sometimes recoverable. Melafix will not be likely to help with dropsy, and it can be flat out dangerous to the fish if you are not extremely careful with the dosage. I would not use it. You MIGHT be able to save your fish, if you act quickly and you fish has some luck on his side.

You need him to be warm. 75 degrees is fairly cold to a betta fish. You need him up around 78-80 degrees, and for that, you need a heater. A 50 watt adjustable heater (you can get them at Petco and Petsmart) will work for the 5 gallon tank and you can float him in the smaller container inside that. You must get him warmer, and keep him at a constant temp. This will also be helpful in the future if he gets better or for any other beta. They need to be kept warm, as they are tropical fish.

Epsom salts can help with dropsy. You want plain old epsom salts, the ingredients list should only list magnesium sulfate. You can get these at the grocery store, the pharmacy, etc. Just make sure they are not scented. Aquarium salt is completely different, and is used more for problems with his fins and skin. Dropsy is an internal problem.

Mix up 1 tsp epsom salt/gallon of warm, dechlorinated water really well until it is totally dissolved. Don't just dump this into his smaller container -- take out a small amount of the current water and add a small amount of this new water, every 15 minutes or so, until he's in all new water.

Send a PM to Sakura, she's good with this and may be able to help you in more detail. She knows a lot about meds, which work and which don't, etc.

[oscarcardoso]

Thank you for all your comments and aid. Do you know where to get epsom salt? I'm not able to go to petco or petsmart fast so amazon is one of my alternatives right now. Any other store that has ES and Maracyn 2?

[NorthernLights]

Walmart also has aquarium heaters. If you can get to Walmart quickly, they might have what you need.

Epsom salts can be gotten at the grocery store, a pharmacy, wal-mart, etc. Look in the pharmacy section.

Maracyn is harder to find. It may be less important at this point, anyway. Right now your fish is weakened from the cold and poor water quality he has lived in, so getting that fixed up first is your best bet.