Betta Emergency Advice ASAP

[TharBePirates]

Background-
Just came home from a 3 day stay at my brothers.I tossed 3 hikari algae wafers in, turned off the lights to my 20g long and left. Tonight I came home and did a 50% water change. I was nearly done when my betta Gyarados came up to the surface and I saw just how sick he was.

Tank specs-
2g gal long
terta whisper 20-40 filter w/ active carbon and purigen
air stone
heavily planted
unheated however it stays in the mid 70s
3 female platies and a couple dozen fry
rcs
amanos
2 pgymy cories
12 endlers and their fry.
1 comet goldfish (I know I know he's cold water, however he's a temporary refugee from a fair I worked at a few weeks back. He thinks he's one of the platies and he'll be going to a new home in a week or so.)

Amonnia and Ph to come.

Symptoms-
The first thing I saw was the eye. It looks like popeye or a wound, It's bulgy and fogged over. That side of his face looks swollen and mangled. Also his belly is swollen to the point of his scales are starting to pinecone out. There are no symptoms or casualties I can see in the tank other than him. I once caught the big platy nipping him so I think it might have been an aggression thing.

I just put him in a temporary container, about a gallon halfway filled up with water from the tank. I added a dose of hikari betta revive
http://www.bluebettausa.com/revive.htm
http://www.amazon.com/HIKARI-USA-INC.../dp/B000SP64MK
I've used betta revive in the past with good results, however it wasn't as severe as this. What else should I do?

Sidenote: I am extremely attached to this betta. He actually knows my voice.

[TharBePirates]

Any advice is welcome. I live an hour away from civilization and am willing to run into town to get this guy anything else.

Note: added 2 tsp of aquarium salt to the 1 gal. going to edit top posts to include nirates, PH and ammonia.

[Sakura8]

Did you QT the goldfish before adding him? I'm concerned he may have brought in something to the tank, like parasites. Also goldfish reaaally add to the bioload. :(

It sounds like popeye and dropsy. Offhand, I'd say he needs API T.C. Tetracycline and Jungle Labs Anti-Bacterial Medicated Pellets.

[Sakura8]

I'm no expert so I can't say if the dropsy is from parasites or a bacterial infection unless you've seen him poop out worms. But the popeye definitely is bacterial. The AQ salt will help, too. Can you get pics?

[TharBePirates]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

Did you QT the goldfish before adding him? I'm concerned he may have brought in something to the tank, like parasites. Also goldfish reaaally add to the bioload. :(

It sounds like popeye and dropsy. Offhand, I'd say he needs API T.C. Tetracycline and Jungle Labs Anti-Bacterial Medicated Pellets.

THe goldfish wasn't QT'd, however he's been in there at least 2 weeks maybe 3. He's dumb as dirt but no symptoms from the other fish since his arrival. All he came with was some fin damage (someone bit off part of his tail and dorsal) and he was starving to death.

I try to vaccum and to a 25% WC every day (the platies are just as dirty bioload wise as the comet), however sometimes I do miss a day. Still, I do a 50% on Sundays.

My ammonia is at 0

I have some indian almond leaves, would a little bit added to the QT tank help him???

I'm honestly beginning to think the big female platy I have (who I said nipped him once before) attacked him which led to this infection. She's his size and unlike the others, not afraid of him. She's also very bossy and the lead platy in the school of 3 females I have. My betta on the other had just keeps to the forest I have in back.
I think when I tossed the wafers in the tank they might have gone after the same wafer and she might have bit his face (the side with the eye looks mangled, like, a little piece is dangling off). Which led to the bacterial infection which led to the dropsy.

*sighs*

[Sakura8]

Yes, try the IAL. It's good you've figured out the cause, or the probable cause. Platies are big fish and I can see how she could easily beat the tar out of him if she wanted to, especially being an alpha fish. Poor guy, I feel so sorry for him. Don't get between the crazy chickfish and her algae wafer . . .

[TharBePirates]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

Yes, try the IAL. It's good you've figured out the cause, or the probable cause. Platies are big fish and I can see how she could easily beat the tar out of him if she wanted to, especially being an alpha fish. Poor guy, I feel so sorry for him. Don't get between the crazy chickfish and her algae wafer . . .

I feel terrible.

Even if he lives I'm getting rid of 90% of the fish in this tank and just keeping the pygmy cories and shrimp. If I hadn't put the fish in he would probably be alright. Also as the tank is fairly big, planted and as they've kept to their own spaces I thought there wouldn't be a problem with her.

[Sakura8]

You couldn't have foreseen how insane the platy would be. Every fish is different. And it could have been the opposite, you could have come home and found that HE had knocked off a couple of the pygmy cories. But if you feel more comfortable, then by all means. You could get some larger cories for the bottom since pygmys swim midwater. How's he doing?

[TharBePirates]

Gyarados (the betta) still lives.

I woke up to find his swelling has gone down slightly. I ran into town and picked up some epsom salt, vinegar, jungle's anti-bacteria food and a betta hammock.

I used the vinegar to wash out a shoebox sized clear sterilite container that I filled with a gallon of Prime treated water. Added the betta revive (sticking with it as I've heard some success with dropsy) and 2 tsp of epsom salt. Also added an airstone, a coffee cup for him to hide in, the hammock and a thermometer. He figured out the hammock and it resting on it just by the surface, the thermometer reads 80. I've heard low 80s is good for infections and dropsy.

I plan on fasting him for a few days and then giving him some of the medicated food.
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...m?pcatid=12788

Now I have another question. I bought the medicated food to also give to the tank to cover my bases with them. However today my pancur-c came in the mail (got some little fry with internal parasites, his waste was healthy last time I saw). Should I dose the pancur-c and wait to use the medicated food? Or can I do both at once without the fear of over-medication?

[TharBePirates]

Oh @#$%.

Now that I can get a better look at his mouth (because of haow shallow the dish is) I can see he has cotton mouth. :(