Death Watch

[slinky]

Ah well... lesson learned. Always check out the fish you buy very carefully. My gorgeous betta of several months was tilted to the left in the jar and a few days at home made me realize he was one tough fish but had been through a lot. No doubt he had seen some lack of care, sitting in one of those tiny pint sized bowls in Petland. He's survived through a lot now for almost 4 months.

He was a little large in the stomach but nothing to worry about. He still eats well, plays well with other fish and for some reason is now starting to create a bubble nest for the first time. Is he seeing the end? The below is what I saw all of a sudden after returning home the following day. This is the second day of Maracin Two and first dumping in a good amount of epsom salt. Unless he's pregnant, I'm guessing that chances for recovery are close to zero. I don't see too much pine coning but still, he really doesn't look healthy. Not sure what to do since he's still pretty active and eating and it's difficult to tell whether he's in pain... sad day. What a gorgeous, sweet fish.

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[MeganL3985]

Just let him live....you can only do so much. If he's building a bubble nest, he's happy....if he's going to die just let him die in peace....and if he's going to survive then thats great too.

[slinky]

Pretty weird. He's building bubble nests in the 1 gallon hospital tank while his stomach bulges and he swims in a pile of maracin two and epson salt. Nothing is working. I'm hesistant to change the water and destroy all of his bubble nests lest he get all ticked off. Not sure if building bubble nests means he's happy or just able to do so and doing instinctively what he can before he goes on his way. He's eating too. Weird for a fish with what appears to be severe dropsy.

[blu]

If he is building a bubble nest he is probably happy..I have never had a sick betta build one.
And if you want to change the water(kinda have to lol) without destroying his nest try spooning out some of it and then replacing it in his new water.

[SkarloeysMom]

That is pretty weird about the bubble nest. I would go ahead with the water change though. I think the clean water is more important at this point. You're already doing all you can for him and maybe he's already responding to the treatment and that's why he's bubbling. I guess time will tell. Skarloey made through dropsy. He was not eating and all pineconed out but I used the same treatment you're using and he's still around. Hopefully its working for you already too.

[MeganL3985]

If i'm seeing the pic right, he just looks bloated...not really dropsical. Are his scales pine-coned at all?
Also I wouldn't worry about the bubblenest. Its crucial to keep the water clean, especially with a sick betta. I've had to change puffins water on a few occassions after he's built bubble nests, i'm sure it doesn't make him very happy, but he rebuilds anyway. :)

[slinky]

He doesn't look pine coned, just bulging stomach on the bottom and scales are a little stretched. Did have a really bad episode - he jumped out into the sink and I couldn't pull him out of the drain area. Fortunately it was in the kitchen and the drain was mostly covered but it took forever to get him out of that space. He was in shock for a few minutes but now seems back to normal after that wonderful episode.

I think he wants to rebuild the nests. He probably wasn't too happy but I'm sure he's thrilled that I discontinued the maracyn two after 4 days. Just isn't working. It's going to be epsom salt this way onwards and we'll see how he reacts. He also seems to build the nests in this small, stationary tank and not in the big 10 gallon he shared with rushing water and a small isolated area. Perhaps this is just where he should be, even if he is "lonely." Hopefully he'll recover.

[MeganL3985]

Do you think he's just constipated? Bulging belly is one of the symptoms. Especially if the betta is being fed a lot of freeze dried foods such as blood worms, brine shrimp and such.

Try this and see what happens. Don't feed him for one day....then the next day, feed him some peeled crushed peas. Just a small amount and see what you come up with....or out with...lol....

The fact that he's eating (betta's have no control over their eating, they will eat themselves to death if allowed by the person feeding it.) and the fact that he's building a bubble nest makes me think that he's not dropsical or might not even have a disease...maybe just some constipation.