Betta with dropsy? pic

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jac8724

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Dec 1, 2006
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Chicago
Hey, my betta's belly has been bloated for almost 2 weeks now, but im not sure if its dropsy or not because it is only ballooning in one area, and not pine coning.
He is just a mess, fought off fin rot when i first got him, quickly developed a fungus after thats still slowly healing, and now has some stomach thing.


heres a side view of him showing his belly:


and here is the other side, showing the belly and some of the fungus that i think is healing:



His tank also has planeria and nematodes!!! i feel like the worst fish keeper ever. he also has one white spot on his left fin, and if its ich, ill just go crazy.
I do water changes about every 1-2 weeks, i feed him blood worms (he wont eat pellets) and all the water params show normal. But these params might be affected by the various meds ive had in there trying to keep all his sicknesses at bay.

As of right now i have a teaspoon and a half of aquarium salt in there (a 5 gallon tank) and been treating with melafix for the last two days hoping its a bacterial dropsy. Previous to the melafix, i had primafix in there the 2 weeks prior to help the fungus, and previous to that i was using dissolving fungus tables that were not working at all. I hate to keep medicating him.

Is there anything i can do to save this little guy? Is it actually dropsy?

Ive only had him about 2 and 1/2 months, and hes never been healthy. Did some of these things come along with him?

His water always seems to be cloudy when i go to do water changes. What is causing this? the blood worms? It looks like tons of little white particles floating...could it be from the white gravel im using?

Thanks for any help anyone can provide me. Operation Save Choochai!!!!
 

silentskream

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May 16, 2004
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he doesn't have dropsy, although there may be some bloating. i would suggest you do water changes more often (like once or twice a week at least)

he needs to eat something other than bloodworms. try feeding him a flake food that is algea based (you may be able to find algea flakes, i know topfin makes algea crisps, which would be the next best thing)

is he in this tank by himself? what are the exact water parameters and what medications have you been using?
 

jac8724

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Dec 1, 2006
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I can get the exact water params and medication names later this evening as im not at home. Im so glad to hear its not dropsy.

And yes, he is in the tank by himself (other than the nematodes and planeria worms:irked:)

I did a 20% water change 2-3 days ago, and today took him out along with about 50% of the water and set them aside. I went nuts cleaning the tank cause i was so sick of seeing all those little worms on the side. scrubbed out the tank real good, and ran steaming hot water in it for 20 minutes. die worms!

then put it all back together with some salt and melafix (for bacterial related infections)

I dont have a heater in there cause i never thought i really needed one in a 5 gal. During the day its around 77 and at night around 74 caused by the lightbulb. Should i spend money on a heater?

What will make this bloating go down?
 

silentskream

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May 16, 2004
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they make "mini heaters" that are not too expensive for small tanks like that.. it might not be a bad idea, although a 3 degree temperature change shouldn't be an issue.

if you're using aquarium salt, stop. when it comes to bloating, it'll just make things worse.
slowly wean him off of the salty water (like when you do your next water change dont add the salt in, so there will be some leftover salt, and then continue with waterchanges and no salt and eventually there will not be any salt in the tank at all.)

Some people do use Epsom salts for fish that are bloated, but i'm not sure of the ratio, so i dont want to tell you to do it and then have you overdose with epsom salt.. so hopefully someone else will know the measurements for that.

also, i would quit using the melafix (or finish if you're in the middle of a dosing cycle)and water change it out. i dont see any signs of bacterial infection now, and its more important that we get an accurate idea of what's going on.

bloating is *almost* always a sign of an insufficient diet, and since your betta is a picky eater, that's my first guess. by only eating the bloodworms, he's missing out on important vitamins and nutrients that aren't in bloodworms. in this case the "standard" solution is to feed green veggies.. peas, for example, are a common "go to" veggie. i'm guessing it would be easier to feed your betta algea flakes, and they'll do the same thing. (to understand, think about what happens to you when you eat cheeseburgers vs. what happens to you when you eat beans and spinach. digestively speaking of course.)

good luck! and keep that water clean! that will help a lot.
 

jac8724

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Dec 1, 2006
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Chicago
Thanks for the help!

Peas and algea flakes it is. Any other foods i can give him for a balanced diet?
 

silentskream

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May 16, 2004
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Florida
tropical fish flakes.. or betta flakes if you want to pay extra for the same thing (ok its a little bit different.. but not much).
they're going to give him the best balanced diet. again, i say flakes because you already said he doesn't like the pellets.

there's a good chance he's gonna be stubborn about switching foods.. you might have to starve him for a day or two before he behaves.

you can still give him the bloodworms for occasional treats! but for now, lets switch temporarily to the vegitarian diet til he gets his tummy trouble straightened out.
 

platytetrafan

AC Members
Jan 20, 2007
1,563
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38
NY
Yep try some type of vegetable flake spirulina might be good and also helps boost the immune system. Do you fast your betta once a week? If not you should because they do get constipated especially from bloodworms. Every Sunday my bettas fast. I have one betta that eats everything brine shrimp which is another good choice besides bloodworms he also eats betta bites and blood worms he gets once a week. I feed the bites twice a day 6-8 in the a.m. and 6-8 in the p.m. My other betta will not eat anything other than bloodworms but he is doing ok that is their natural diet anyway is like filet mignon for them lol. But try to switch off variety is better I have been told but unfortunately my other betta can get snooty if I try to switch foods. Good luck I hope he does well and also do not overfeed because they get bloated bellies too if you do. YES do water changes every two weeks worms are not a good sign make sure you gravel vac really well and scrub with an algae pad.
 
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