sick beta fish?

Question

my beta,i think,has dropsy.Hes stomach is swollen, scales dont stick out, but ive seen photos with betas wth dropsy & he looks simular. Sometimes there is a brownish liquid coming from his stomach too?
hes recently got fungus above his eye, which ive rea can be a result of the fish having another illness.
im treating him for both of these with salt baths,anti fungus & dropsy meds.
he doesnt swim as much as he used to, his colour is duller, he used to chase my finger and puff up at mirrors and he dusnt do any of this now. his fins are droopy and hes looks upset. but he does still swin about sometimes, he still comes to the side of the tank when he knows im in the room, & his still being his greedy self and eating everything that comes his way.
I dont want to sit & watch him die, if hes in pain id rather have him "put down" or kill him myself. So im jus woundering what you guys think? i no dropsy is rare to cure and hes shown no signs of improvment yet, but hasnt got any worse?

hes in a 4gal tank, with a heater but no filter. I change his water aprox every4-5days, but i test for ammonia, PH, and nitrites every other day, and whenever hes acting odd or off colour. Unfortunatly the antibaterial flake food is non existant in the uk, or so it seems as ive asked 6 different aquatic shops, and nobody no's what im after or they say you cant get it. The treatment is eSHa 2000 which is for a wide variey of fungal and baterial infections. The Furanace you mentioned doesnt bring up results for google uk, only on american sites, is there anything else that anyone no's of a good dropsy treatment for uk??

Answer 1

Wow, it's obvious you have really done your research! You are right, he has dropsy (which is a term for what could be any one of several diseases) and is in a very bad way. The pine cone scales are present only in the late stages of the disease and may not be present yet, but the brown discharge is a clear indication of internal infection problems. The fact that he is eating is an excellent sign though, it means his digestive tract is not too badly damaged yet.

I would suggest cutting out the fungus meds until you get the dropsy under control, it's the really lethal problem here, the fungus isn't likely to be a problem in the next few days.

You say you are treating with dropsy medications... what? Honestly, it's time for the big guns. Furanace would be an excellent treatment for internal bacterial infections as it can move into the fish while many other antibiotic will not. I would also suggest you begin feeding with a medicated food. The medicated flakes from the pet store will be a good place to start. You can also create your own by soaking frozen foods in medicated water before feeding but you would need a vets assistance in measuring and prescribing the correct dosages.

Best of luck and we'll hope it's not viral!

MM

Answer 2

Inorder for him to have dropsy, the scales WOULD be sticking out. Probably all the meds you put in the water aren't agreeing with him.

The #1 cause of unhealthy fish is water quality. How often do you change his water? Do you keep him in a tank or small bowl? A bowl needs to have the water changes about every 3 days. A tank should be changed weekly - about 25%, not all the water in the tank. But all if he's in a small bowl. And if there's gravel, it should be stirred up or siphoned if he's in a tank.

They also need heated water - around 76-80 is good. While they can breathe at the surface, a filter is always a good idea. You'll still have to clean the tank, though.

How much are you feeding him? Gary may be right, that this is just a swim bladder problem or stomach bloating. He should only get 4-5 pellets of betta food at a time, no more than twice a day. I doesn't hurt them not to be fed every day, either. All my tanks go 1-2 days a week without feeding. Also ,try soaking his food in a bit of tank water before you feed him to soften the pellets. A few bloodworms or other treats to vary his diet are a good idea.

I don't think you need to put him down - just do a good water change and cleaning to get all the meds out of the water. Keep his water around 76o at least, and try not feeding him for 2-3 days. I'll bet he'll recover.

Answer 3

Are you using epsom salt for the salt bath? Aquarium/regular salt will make him retain water, epsom salt is to remove water. Just wanted to make sure. You can dose the tank at 1/8 teaspoon per 5 gallons(sorry don't have the conversions for that) and raise the temp to 82 F(28 C). Also as mentioned above, cut back on the feedings, and soak the pellets in a broad spectrum antibiotic first.
You're right though, he probably won't make it. It is rare for a fish to pull through. It infects their internal organs, and shuts them down. Sorry, it sucks dealing with that, especially when they're still eating and swimming around. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!!

Answer 4

this is what I would do.....

lower the water as much as you can so that if there is a filter, it will still suck water
Start doing 50 percent water changes every day
turn the heat up to 82(gradually)
Treat with something for internal parasites, sounds like he may have it, you can do garlic soaked food
feed shelled peas

Give it a week, if he shows no signs of getting better, id give him the ole clove oil funeral

just read mms post above me, he has very good advice, try whatever he says befoer you resort to my advice, lol

Answer 5

he has a swim bladder problem and an infection
raise the temperature and feed it pees.
its dead toss it