[KMarie95]

About 2 weeks ago i added 2 new corys to the tank, and a couple days after my bettas stomach was HUGE! I figured maybe he was constipated and so i stopped feeding him for a few days and no change at all....Now im worried because there is still no change and ive looked online and cannot figure out what the problem is, im really worried it might be dropsy... :crying:​

Housing: 20 gallon

Does it have a filter? Yes

Does it have a heater? Yes

What temperature is your tank? 71 (i know its low, i bought a new heater and the thing sucks)

Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Yes, a bubble strip

Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? Yes, 2 corys who i added about 2 weeks ago and another cory who he has been with since April

Food: Tetra Bettamin tropical medley and Aqueon tropical flakes and occasionally blood worms

Do you feed flakes or pellets? Flakes

Freeze-dried? No

How often do you feed your Betta? How much? Morning, about a pinch

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? Monthly

What percentage of water did you change? About 70%

Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? Vacuum

What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner? Aquarium pharmaceuticals super strength tap water conditioner

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water *before* the regular water change; not after one.

*Not sure about these right now**

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness (GH):
Alkalinity (KH):

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? About a week and a half ago

How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
His behavior has not changed at all, he eats normally, swims fine, and overall doesnt seem very bothered

Is your Betta still eating? He still eats excitedly every morning, and wants food whenever i go see him

Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? I haven't treated him because i have no idea what to treat him for. All i have tried is not feeding him for a few days which got no result

Does your Betta have any history of being ill? He was only had issues one other time back in April with fin rot and ich

How long have you owned your Betta? Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? Got him in January of 2017, almost a year. Was not ill until i added corys back in april he ended up with ich and fin rot but recovered from that long ago

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Are his scales sticking out? Can you get a photo of him from the top? Are you feeding the Cory algae wafers or something on which he could have gorged?

If he will flare you can get him to do so. This sometimes helps if they're constipated. Some feed frozen or live Daphnia. You can also try Epsom Salt: One teaspoon Epsom Salt per gallon of water; daily 100% water changes; treat no more than 10 days.

 

[KMarie95]

It looks like his scales are only sticking out a little bit on his stomach where its bloated, i wasn't sure if that could still be dropsy. And yes i feed the corys 1 wafer a day, every once in a while he tries to eat it if he sees it drop down but usually just gives up after a couple nibbles. And actually right before i took that picture he was flaring at one of the corys, so i guess thats good then! Thank you i will try the daphnia and epsom salt, and the salt wont harm the corys?

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

The Daphnia is find for the Cory; however, the ES treatment should be in a hospital tank. Make sure the ES is unscented.

You can clip a container to the side of the tank if you don't have a separate hospital tank. And he doesn't need to be in a gallon of water. You can even use the cup he came in.