CT with suspected case of Dropsy

[LittleWatty]

I'm 99% sure its Dropsy, but I may be glad to be proven wrong (if what he has isn't worse than that). I've had him almost 6 months, and he hasn't had too many issues with sickness. There was a velvet scare, which was a false alarm, and a little bit of fin biting or fin rot, never figured out which. Anyway. He's recently become lethargic, more bloated than usual, and I've noticed his scales starting to pinecone. I thought it was just bloating due to constipation, which he has had really bad before, but when he wouldn't eat tonight I took a closer look and saw the scales sticking up.

I'm fairly certain I've caught it too late, and I can't afford to get any more medications since I'm trying to treat another fish for camallanus worms, so I spent all my spare cash there without having realized the issue with the Dropsy (quite literally a day too late).

What I want to know is how I can best make him comfortable. I've got him in a smaller hospital tank with no filter so that it might be easier for him to swim around. I also put in some Epsom salts, as that's the only thing I have on hand that might help him. Roughly 1/2 tsp per gallon dosage.

[AyalaCookiejar]

If his water is clean and warm and he has plenty of hiding places, he's about as comfy as you can make him. You can be glad that, if it is dropsy, he will be in good care instead of slowly slipping away in a cold, tiny, dirty cup on the back of a shelf in a pet store. With dropsy, there's not much else that can be done, but I have heard a few stories of fish recovering from it.

I am very sorry that both you and your little guy are going through this. :(

[LittleWatty]

Then I'll have to let my mind be at ease, as I can't do anything else for him.

[Oldfishlady]

Sorry your Betta isn't well and as you already know-Once you see the signs/symptoms of Dropsy-not much can be done since he is most likely in system failure. Its sounds like you have good instincts and on the right tract to keeping him comfy, however, I would increase the Epsom salt to 3tsp/gal and add some tannins if you have any-either IAL or dried Oak leaf-also, cover the top of the QT with plastic veggie wrap to help retain heat/humidity for the labyrinth organ-dim lit quiet location...

Good luck...and keep us posted...

[LittleWatty]

I'll do a quick water change today to get him up to the 3tsp/gal and add some oak leaves I've got on hand from when I had my first sick fish. I do have some drift wood that's in his old tank, if that would help too.

[polukoff]

Dropsy is highly contagious, careful around your other fishes.

[LittleWatty]

He's definitely taken a turn for the worse, so I'm certain there's no hope left for bringing him back. I had to lower the water level in his tank to make it easier for him, since he's barely moving from the bottom. His bloat is roughly 50% more than it was when I changed his water earlier today. The fish in the tank now is merely a shade of the one in my avatar. I can only hope that he passes quickly, so to be free of his suffering. I fully expect him to have passed on to the rice paddy in the sky by morning.

[LittleWatty]

Yep, lost him overnight. Found him this morning tucked under the oak leaves I had put in there. At least I did all I could to keep him comfortable and as painless as possible while he lived out his last few hours.

[Oldfishlady]

Sorry for your loss....