Post-Dropsy tank?

[moncalamari]

I am fairly certain my male Betta is dying of dropsy. He has always been sort of chubby about the middle but has gotten seriously fat in the past couple of weeks. I've tried everything from cutting back his feedings to doing the pea trick to fix constipation, but now he's doing the pine-cone thing so I know he's likely on his way out. This makes me very, very sad as he was a real favorite, but I need to focus on my fish that are still well (I hope).

I am a student so unfortunately I can't keep as close an eye on my tank as I would like, but I am fairly positive that his scales didn't raise until today. I quickly put him back into my hospital tank, but there are still 3 zebra danios and an otto in the main tank, none of whom are showing any ill signs.

I know I should do a full water change, and boil my rocks, etc but how throughly do I need to clean the tank? I've found some references to bleach but that makes me very nervous. I can't get a new cartridge for my filter until tomorrow afternoon, should I run the filter with a cartridge or can I leave it off over night? How else can prevent the others getting sick?

As a side note, if my Betta still seems lively, how long should I wait to euthanize him? I don't want him to suffer (and I don't want to watch him waste away for days), but if there's any chance of him getting well, I'll hold off. Is it worth trying to treat him at all?

Thank you in advance.

 

[pl*co]

According to my fish disease book, a gram negative antibiotic is used to treat dropsy. There are several on the market, I believe, but I am only familiar with Maracyn-Two.

 

[Ems]

Sorry to say, but once they are at the "pine-cone" stage, they only live average 5 days. I heard that they can live for up to 15, but I don't think it happens often.

 

[PumaWard]

Do Not boil anything or do a complete water change... that will only make things worse. And leave the filter cartridge there. These items are very valuable as they are filled with your beneficial bacteria... if that is killed, than you have to cycle the tank all over just as if it was new. This is also very stressful for your remaining fish. This will more likely cause disease than cure any.

Dropsy is rarely contageous and is usually indirectly caused by poor water conditions or a poor diet. You should get you ammonia and nitrite levels checked and do a partial (25%) water change with dechlorinated water of about the same temperature. Also, what temperature do you keep the tank? What size is it? How long has it been set up and did you cycle it before hand? What do you feed the fish?

Personally, if he looks like a pinecone, I would put him down soon. Dropsy can be very painful to the fish and it's extremely rare for them to recover at this point as permanent damage has already been done to the internal organs. This is the reason very few recover from dropsy, because the tell tale signs don't show up until it's too late. I'm very sorry about your betta, I know it's hard losing fish, especially your favorites .