Little guy with dropsy- euthanize?

[halfmoonplakat]

Hello everybody.
So my male betta has dropsy...no bloating yet, but gave him a water change the other day and noticed something unusual- his colours.

Usually when I give him a water change, his colours get deeper and more vibrant of a red. But this time, he got paler and his fins went from a nice, deep, red to almost completely transparent. Although I found it strange at first, I thought that after the night, he would be back to normal- because I did the water change at 8:30 PM- so I did some homework, then went to bed.

Today, my family had planned a little outing (it's Good Friday), so I did not really have much time to check up on him. Unfortunately, I assumed that everything was back to normal and he would be alright. Which was not the best thing to assume :cry:

I came back today and found him in a corner of his tank, still pale and listless, but breathing- albeit a little heavily. When he saw me, he got up and began to swim a little bit- still pale, stressed. Then I saw it- when he turned at an angle, his scales seemed to stick out.

So I checked above him, and sure enough, he was pineconing A LOT on one side, and a bit on the other side.:22_yikes: He is still pale and seems to be very weak- not swimming/moving much, hanging around the surface.

As I mentioned before, there is no bloating yet or anything- he just seems really tired and is pineconing.

Is there anything I can do to make life easier for him? Can I try and do something (I remember seeing this somewhere) with Epsom salts or something? Any medicated food I can try? Garlic? Should I crush the flakes that I feed him? Should I only feed a certain kind of food or can I continue his regular diet of frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, earthworm flakes, brine shrimp flakes, and pellets?

I am not sure what to do. Should I euthanize him, or try to save him? I think that the dropsy might be in the earlier stages, because he has not begun bloating yet.

Thank you so much everybody- I will try to get pics up of the before & after (of pineconing + colour differences soon)
:cry::cry:

If possible, I would really like to try and save him- he is a really cute, personable guy and one of my favourites...any and all suggestions/advice would be sincerely appreciated

Thanks

 

[halfmoonplakat]

Pics I took today:
You can see how he is pale red in some areas, and fades to white/transparent
He is now pineconing on both sides and seems to be beginning to bloat
Any suggestions/comments would be really appreciated.
I really would like to save him, but there seems to be very little info on treating dropsy
Thanks

 

[halfmoonplakat]

Sorry, the other two pics didn't show up so reposting:

 

[mel_20_20]

I'm sorry your little guy is sick, Chris. I haven't been able to be on AC very much at all lately, so I didn't see this 'til just now.

Dropsy, I know you know, is very serious. If caught early, sometimes the underlying infection can be treated before irreversible organ damage occurs.

I've never successfully treated dropsy myself, though I've only had two cases and that was very early in my fishkeeping experience and didn't know much about fish illness and disease.

I've read many many threads dealing with dropsy, and most often things don't work out well. I've seen cases of improvement in the condition of the fish, restoring some quality of life and extending the life of the fish, only to have it return in a few months, but hopefully your little guy can be helped.

I've read a post that Lupin made in the case of a sick goldfish that I think would be a good protocol or treatment plan to try to help your little guy. Here is the suggestion Lupin made in this thread:

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http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2268393#post2268393


"...you do need to use metronidazole though which is the best way to treat dropsy. Epsom salt may work but not as effectively as sodium chloride does. Sodium chloride should be able to enhance osmoregulation and minimize fluid retention as much as possible. Dose 0.3% solution of salt and avoid ones containing ferrous cyanide or yellow prussiate.

1. Add a teaspoon per gallon first which is equivalent to 0.1%.
2. Repeat step 1 after 12 hours.
3. Repeat step 2. Same time interval.

Do not forget to redose salt per water volume changed when you make a water change.

What are your pH, KH and GH? You'd need to push the hardness levels by 150 or more. Use the API liquid drops to test accurately. Calcium chloride by Kent can be used to adjust the hardness levels temporarily to give your fish some relief from this issue as it also encourages proper osmoregulation."
Lupin


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Try to get some Metro and start treatment. I like to keep the water pristine, perfect, absolutely pure, so I do a water change, then dose, then in 24 hours do a water change and dose and keep this up until the full recommended course of antibiotic treatment has been completed.

I believe I would also add a little Epsom salts in addition to the table salt, following Lupin's guidelines as quoted above. Hopefully the table salt and epsom salt will help draw off excess fluid and, along with some Calcium, help keep electrolytes in balance.

If you don't have the test kits for hardness, or the Kent's Calcium Chloride, I would get a calcium tablet, a regular calcium suplemental tablet and break it in half and put about half of it in his water along with the meds and salts. You could use Tums to add calcium. If he's in a hospital tank of a gallon or less I would do half a Tums tab.

I don't remember the proportions on the Epsom salt, but I'd go with Lupin's recommendation on the NaCl (regular table salt), and maybe 1/4 teaspon of Epsom salts. (It may be that a bit more is better, but since I can't remember the exact amount I'd err on the side of caution.)

I hope if anyone has better ideas they will pitch in on this. Chris, he may not make it. If his condition continues to worsen, euthanasia may be necessary. I would try to get some eugenol, (clove oil), to have on hand just in case.

I hope this helps. Please keep us posted.

 

[mel_20_20]

ADDENDUM: We have to take in to consideration that Lupin was suggesting the above treatment plan for a sick goldfish, and although I have read in the goldfish disease and illness forum that salt is useful for goldfish in many instances, it does not necessarily hold true for Bettas. So, I would back off of the salt dosage amount a bit, maybe starting with 1/5 teaspoon of salt and increasing incrementally until the tank is at 1.5% salinity.

 

[mel_20_20]

Sorry.. I meant to say .5 teaspoons, not 1/5. (geeeze)

 

[mel_20_20]

What is the temperature in his tank?

 

[halfmoonplakat]

78.5 F
Is this too cold/should I up the temp.?

 

[mel_20_20]

Sorry, I was interrupted and had to leave.... no, that temp should be OK.

 

[sora1600]

im not very sure how my plakat survived his dropsy but what i did was put a pinch or two of salt, gave him new water, and didnt feed him for almost 2 weeks. my temp. was around 72-74. just don't let any food near him if you want to treat him.