sick Sasha

[Sashimi]

I posted here a few months ago about how my fish Sasha got the crap beat out of her by my other betta female, Mimi.

Well, both fish are still around. :) But Sasha has a new problem. Well, not that new. It's been going on...gosh, about a month now at least.

What's the problem?

She looks like this:




She looks like the goodyear blimp. The 2nd pic shows (blurrily, sorry) that she actually has a second lump on her right side near her gills.

At first she was active and eating like normal but that has been reduced drastically. Now she hardly eats and doesn't move a whole lot, never flares, etc. Sometimes she chills at the bottom of the tank, other times she's more active.

At first I tried the pea treatment & fasting method since I thought she could be constipated (she eats like a pig and it's entirely possible I was overfeeding her, too). That didn't help (though she does love peas!). Then when she stopped eating much and was less active, I moved her to a hospital tank. Since then, I've been treating her w/ Pimafix and salt baths. She perks up after a salt bath but then goes back to being kinda listless, and still not eating much if anything. Her scales are not pinecone-like in the least.

Any ideas?? I was thinking maybe dropsy, but from what I've read she wouldn't have lasted a month+ if it were...?

My boyfriend thinks I should put her to sleep but I want to try to help her if I can. :(

[Oldfishlady]

When you view her from above do both sides look equal or the same, if one side is bigger, it could be a tumor, not cancer, if she looks equal on both sides it can be eggs, cyst on the ovaries. Have you tried epson salt 1tsp/gal along with daily water changes for 10 days, epson salt can help reduce swelling and it will work as a laxative too. Not sure it will do much good at this point but it couldn't hurt to try before you euthanize her if she is suffering.

[BakaMandy]

It could also be the mystery bloat... can you shine a light from behind her? If it's swelling is solid and you can't see the light from the other side, then she's either extremely constipated or has a tumor.

If you CAN see the light through the other side, then I'm afraid it's the mystery bloat. It's basically a type of dropsy but instead where of the whole body swelling up causing them to pine coning, only the belly swells up full of fluid.

My best advice is to use aquarium salt and/or Epsom salt (about 1tsp per gallon) to help reduce the swelling. Epsom salt also acts like a mild laxative, so if she is constipated it will help her poop (it's better than using a pea which can hurt their digestive system).

You can try and treat her with Maracyn, Maracyn-two or Maracyn-Plus too, but if this is the Mystery Bloat ): well not many fish survive from any form of dropsy. Keep comfortable by keeping her warm, out of light and her water clean.

[Edit:] LOL oh man i gotta start reading the comments. xDDD;; Sorry Oldfishlady, I practically repeated what you said.