Dropsy?!?! help!

[rocketxoxo]

Recently I moved my crowntail betta, Rocket, from his spacious 3 gallon tank to a small 1 gallon tank until I can buy a new 3 gallon tank or get the accessories for the old one fixed (bubbler stopped working).

I have had Rocket for a year now and he has always been happy and healthy.

I came home from work today and went straight to his tank, as I always do. When I turned the light on to his tank he didn't start swimming around fastly as he usually does (which is how he got the name Rocket). Instead he just kind of stayed near the bottom and wasn't moving much. I moved my finger by his tank and only then did he start swimming around. I noticed that he had some feces hanging from his abdomen area and he was very very enlarged. I immediately researched betta diseases online and came to the sad conclusion that he could possibly have Dropsy.

However, the description of Dropsy didn't mention anything about feces. He still swims around his tank like normal if provoked by my finger (but only when provoked now instead of swimming around all the time as he usually did) and his appetite is still as usual. His tank is always clean and he has never had a problem until now.

So what I'm wondering is, is it too late to save him?? I'll be honest, this is my first betta. Could I have caused this by switching him from his 3 gal to a 1 gal?

Has anyone ever saved their betta from Dropsy? How do I go about treating this disease?

Please help!

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Are his scales opened up like a pinecone?

[rocketxoxo]

At first I just figured that they were opened like a pine cone after reading about dropsy but then upon further observation they seem to be normal I think. He is less responsive today than he was yesterday.

[Noko]

Do you have a heater in the one gallon tank? By the way, why did you switch him from the three gallon to the one gallon. Bettas don't need a bubbler, so I don't get why that's a reason, unless something else is making it unsafe for him.

[Romad]

If he's really bloated, fast him for a few days. Keep him warm and add a little Epsom salt or Aquarium salt when you change the water. In 1 gallon you'e going to have to change out 50% of the water every other day or more if you're ammonia levels build up quickly (which they will).

Keep a close eye on him and look for signs of fuzz, scales sticking out, cloudy eyes etc...

Hopefully, he's just constipated. Keep us posted.