bloated and laying on side

[AliciaH]

My female betta has been bloated in laying on her side for about 5 days. Previously I had treated her for ich in this hospital container. She became bloated (constipation?) and started to not be able to move much. She hasn't eaten anything in about 4 or 5 days, thoug I have tried offering her brine shrimp and pea. Her scales are kinda sticking out if that makes sense. She looks so very pathetic... I keep expecting to find her "passed away" but she's stil breathing and moving very little. Right now she is in the hospital container - the water only an inch and a half deep. I've tried the epsom salt thing. She has had a few little poops that are white... but still seems to be slightly bloated and can't move. I'm not sure what else to do or if she will make it??

[Adastra]

Poor dear. I'm afraid she has very advanced dropsy--which is caused by organ failure. I would humanely euthanize her or do the best you can to make her comfortable, she probably won't linger too long before she passes away.

Could you post your answers to these questions: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233here please?

It will help us help you figure out what happened to her.

[Sarada]

Yup, the raised scales are a symptom of dropsy :/

[AliciaH]

What size is your tank? 2 gallon hex - the hospital container was 2 gallons also while reating for ich... the last several days, lowered the water level because she wasn't moving much
What temperature is your tank? 84* both in tank and hosp. tank
Does your tank have a filter? tank yes, hosp. no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes, both
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? betta gold pellets, freeze dried blood worms, frozen brine shrimp

How often do you feed your betta fish? once or twice a day. she hasn't eaten in about 5 days
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? hex tank: water change weekly, hosp container every few days

What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? hex tank 20-30%; hosp. complete change

What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime water conditioner;
treated with Kordon Ich Attack in hospital tank

about two weeks ago she had the white spots and was slightly lethargic so I treated her for ich. She seemed to get more bloated during this time. The ich seemed to clear up - after the week-long treatment I put her back in her tank. She became progressivly more lethargic so I put her back in the hospital container and lowered the water

[Adastra]

Sounds like she either contracted a secondary infection during her ich infestation, or she had something systemic and that's what caused her to succumb to the ich.

If I had to point out a particular cause, I would say that your water change schedule in her hex tank was not enough to keep the ammonia down, and the ammonia caused her to get sick. Fish constantly excrete ammonia through their gills as waste, kind of like urine. In a closed system, there's no bacteria to break down this ammonia into less harmful nitrate and there's no plants to consume it which is what would occur in nature and in larger, planted and filtered tanks, so the ammonia just builds up.

The only way to control ammonia in small, unfiltered tanks is with frequent 100% water changes. In a two gallon container, you should be doing a 100% change every 3-4 days--during the change, you should wash out the container, gravel, and all decor with hot water to remove any food, waste, and residual ammonia. I also urge you to get a liquid test kit, like this one: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...54&pcatid=4454
so that you can tailor your water change schedule to your specific needs and so that you can be sure your schedule is effective at removing all the toxins in the water.

Sorry this happened, I know it's difficult to see them go like this. :( At least now you can do your best to prevent this from happening in the future.

[AliciaH]

the hex tank is filtered & cycled with plants

[Adastra]

Oh, interesting. Was it an undergravel filter, and did you test it recently/regularly?

[AliciaH]

it is a penn plax spounge/carbon filter... I haven't tested recently since she hasn't been in there for about 5 days now. The last test everything was normal.

[Adastra]

Yeah, that's understandable, just asking because small filters, especially UG ones can be unstable. Wonder what it was, then--perhaps temperature fluctuations? I had a 2G hex when I first started out, it had an incandescent light that caused fluctuations that resulted in my fish getting an ich infestation. Could that be it?

[AliciaH]

Originally Posted by Adastra

Yeah, that's understandable, just asking because small filters, especially UG ones can be unstable. Wonder what it was, then--perhaps temperature fluctuations? I had a 2G hex when I first started out, it had an incandescent light that caused fluctuations that resulted in my fish getting an ich infestation. Could that be it?

Yes... the temp did fluctuate some especially because the heater I have was one of those that keeps the temp 5* above room temp - when it gets hot, that doesn't help trying to maintain an even temp.

I'm guessing then that the 2 gallon hex is not great for bettas? What should I do with the tank now? Take it apart, clean it all out and start over? Is there anything that is better suited to live in this tank or should I just scrap it?