Help! Betta has trouble breathing- Is Tetra Vital the cause?

[Sonderampium]

Hi,

My Betta is currently dying, and I'm trying my best to combat dropsy (he has a swollen belly) by treating him to a round of antibiotic Baytril and epsom after other medication didn't work. His condition seems to have started after I added Tetra Vital and JBL Multivitamin Atvitol to the tank and I noticed that he kept swimming to the top every other minute.
But now he's constantly at the top of the surface, his mouth open in an attempt to breathe. It's as if he's suffocating. Since I just read about the bad effects of Melafix and Betta Fix, both of which are said to affect the labyrinth organ, I'm wondering if the two products Tetra Vital and JBL Multivitamin Atvitol might be creating similar problems.

According to Tetra Vital:

• Panthenol protects the mucous membranes of fish.

I did some research and stumbled upon this sentence:

"When (Pathenol) applied to hair, as in a shampoo or conditioner, panthenol supposedly creates a clear coating on the hair shaft. This makes the hair appear to be shiny. Many companies will claim to "repair" or "strengthen" hair with vitamins. But the silly thing is--they're just coating the hair. Hair is dead. It can't metabolize vitamins. Don't be fooled in to thinking that the "provitamins" are nourishing your hair. At the most it's coating it, but really, it's typically use.

What if the Pathenol clogs the Labyrinth Organ, causing the Betta to suffocate?

Same said for the Multivitamin drops I added to the tank, which contain, according to the package:

• special emulsifying process with lecithin ensures the full effectiveness of the fat-soluble vitamins

Any help/thoughts would be great and much appreciated.

 

[Tifftastic]

When was your last water change? What are the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?

 

[Sonderampium]

Fish is currently (and has been since one week) in a quarantine tank where water is changed once every three days. Before that, water was changed 1-2 per month, and when he got sick, once a week.

There is no Ammonia. No Nitrite. Nitrate is 25 in the main tank.

Other change I can think of is that I added new fish (with possible inflamed gills) recently before he got sick and that one fish died of (possible) dropsy two months prior.

I'm not sure if they are too blame. If it is, then I'm dealing with an infection involving the gills or mouth.

All I know is that he got sick after I added the above and after he he ate a lot of frozen brine shrimp, and started to get bloated.

I thought at the beginning he is constipated, but he poops, so it must be dropsy.
I don't know what else to do.

So to answer your question, my last water change was yesterday after I added Baytril. Next water change is due tomorrow

 

[Tifftastic]

I'd be more likely to think he got it from a fish, I think I missed that he had dropsy. So, with dropsy you have an accumulation of fluid within the body and that can squash organs. There's a good chance his labyrinth organ is being compressed which may make him want to be at the surface more. I've actually seen it often in bettas with dropsy.

What we're the parameters on your main tank? Unless it's a huge tank with only one fish, once a month water changes doesn't seem effective. . .