Flame hasn't been acting like his self for a couple weeks now. He would stay on the bottom of the tank and barely go up to get air. I've had him for almost a year and a half. I don't have any kits. I have him a 1G hospital tank now and I keep the water warm, around 79 degrees. I noticed today that his stomach is REALLY big. He's been a little bloated before, but nothing like this. He hasn't eaten anything for three days. When I looked at that tank tonight he couldn't stop moving, he was moving his fins but not going anywhere. I think some of his scales are protruding a little too. I don't know what to do and I don't have the extra money right now to buy any more meds. I'll take a picture tomorrow.
Hrmm hard to say at the moment the picture should help...but the protruding scales don't seem like a good sign. If it is dropsy there isn't really any treatment besides keeping him conmortable. My dropsy betta has survived an extra 4 months now, I lowered her water so she has easy access to air and food and clean her often. My betta looks like she is SUPER fat and the swelling is like her whole abdomen rather than just where her stomach would be.
yeah, my dropsy guy survived for awhile before passing.. The maracyn and salt seemed to help, but not enough to save him. Another thing you can do, is put a dark cloth or towel over his tank to keep him stress free.
If you're 100% sure he has dropsy, chances are all you can do is try and relieve his suffering. You can try and cure him, cases caught in the early stages sometimes succeed, so if you're willing to make the effort, you can try.
In all the dropsy treatment cases that I've read that have succeeded, the medicine used was Kanacyn. LPS probably won't carry it, but good Aquarium stores might. You can probably also most likely order if online if you have the resources (cause most online stores that sell it only ship to the US, so you're good). Maracyn-two or Maracyn-Plus is you next best bet, but if you can't get Kanacyn, then it might just be better to not use any medicine at all since in many cases medicine will just stress them out and not help.
Also, Epsom salt is highly recommended during treatment as well. It helps relieve the swelling cause by the build up of fluids in his body. Use 1tsp per gallon of water. Make sure it's FULLY DISSOLVED before you add your fish to the Epsom Salt water, the salt crystals can be harmful to them.
100% water changes either every day, or every other day is helpful as well. Another thing is if he's having troubles swimming to the surface for air, only fill the tank half way so the distance he will have to try and swim to the surface of the water is shorter, but if you do that, you'll defiantly be required to change his water every day.
And keep him out of the light because it will stress him out. Sick fish will often find dark places to hide because they know in their weakened state they make easy food targets. So a dark place will make them feel more relaxed and secure. May people either construct a little paper box out of black construction paper and place it over the tank and cut out a small window so that they can observe their fish, or like doggyhog said, just place a cloth over his tank to keep the light out, but be careful not to cover up any access to fresh air.
If by some chance he starts eating again, try and obtain some antibiotic food.
Also, keep him warm. Some people boost the water temperatures anywhere between 80-85degrees F during treatment. Just 80 degrees is good enough though.
This is all the information I've pretty much read about dropsy treatment. I hope it helps ):
Thanks guys! I'm keeping his water warm and changing the tank water every day because I did have to drop the water level since he barely moves. And where I put his tank is pretty dark, so I've been keeping the lights off near him. I put aquarium salt in, is that good enough? I haven't heard of epsom salt before. I have Maracryn 1 but not 2. I'm kind of hesitant on giving him medication until I know for sure what it is. I'll try to post some pictures of him tomorrow. I went to go take pictures of him this morning but none of the pictures came out good because he was in a wierd position.
I just took some pictures of him after I changed his water and I saw that his scales are really pine cony and he's starting to loose his fins! I saw them floating in the water and I picked one up and I had blood all over my finger. My mom said to put him out of his misery, but I don't know what to do. I know flushing him is horrible if they aren't dead. It pains me to look at him because I know he's so uncomfortable and probably in pain. What do you guys suggest I do?
He DOES look pineconey and bloated. I could never euthanize mine. I think the best thing you can do for him is make him as comfortable as possible. Keep him warm and his water clean. I'm so sorry!
In dropsy, once the scales are raised it's almost impossible to save the fish. I'd either euthanize him, or like DQ said, keep him very comfortable. I don't recommend adding a bunch of chemicals or medicine. At this stage he's more likely to recover on his own or pass. :(
Ok thanks DQ and Bettakeeper. When it comes down to it, I'd never be able to euthanize him. I just hate watching him suffer, but I'm keeping him as comfortable as possible and I lowered the water level for him. :'(
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He would stay on the bottom of the tank and barely go up to get air. I've had him for almost a year and a half. I don't have any kits. I have him a 1G hospital tank now and I keep the water warm, around 79 degrees. I noticed today that his stomach is REALLY big. He's been a little bloated before, but nothing like this. He hasn't eaten anything for three days. When I looked at that tank tonight he couldn't stop moving, he was moving his fins but not going anywhere. I think some of his scales are protruding a little too. I don't know what to do and I don't have the extra money right now to buy any more meds. 
I'll take a picture tomorrow.
