Have you ever heard of this?

Question

Have you ever heard of a male betta having dropsy but building huge bubble nests, flaring, eating and swimming? Is this possible? Or he doesn't have dropsy at all? His body is swollen in one part and is not subsiding, but everything else is normal. The swelling has been there for about 2 weeks now.
He is in a 5gallon tank.

Answer 1

First, there is NO treatment for dropsy because dropsy isn't a disease, it is a symptom. Dropsy isn't caused by bacteria, but by excess liquid that develops in the abdomen. It does sound like constipation, so I would suggest feeding it some split peas (heated so that the shell cracks open; just feed the part that is inside the shell). Look at the abdomen. If the scales are pineconing (sticking away from the body at sharp angles), it is dropsy, and the best thing you can do is keep the water clean and hope that it helps your fish remove some of the built up fluids... Contact me if you have any questions.

Soop Nazi

Answer 2

It sounds like your betta is constipated
If he would have dropsy, he would have raised scales

Just fast him for a couple of days, and you will see that the swelling goes away again

I fast all my fish one full day outa the week to prevent constipation and further on fish bladder disease

If you see the swelling going back, you know that you're feeding him to much



Hope that helps
Good luck



EB

Answer 3

Betta's can get dropsy and if thats it, unfortunately if its untreated it will kill it. The behavior sounds normal to me but I would go to your nearest fish store and ask for a dropsy treatment because its a bacterial infection or try a salt bath for your fish.

Answer 4

Well,it's probably not dropsy.

Answer 5

he could be consitpated,feed him chopped up peas,it won't hurt to try it,I would treat for dropsy too.

Answer 6

Betas like to be in small fish tanks so hes probly feeling kinda weird.You should try outting him in a smaller one to see what happens.