Dropsy in Female Betta Fish

[BettaLuver]

Hello everyone.

I rescued a female Betta fish from my local human society and since I got her, she has been riddled with illnesses. Though I was able to cure most of what she had (fin rot, mouth fungus, constipation, etc) it seems like she has not developed dropsy. I was away for the weekend and came home late Sunday night. This morning when the tank's lights came on, I saw her scales begin to pine cone. Every hour it seems to be getting worse. She lost most of her colour, doesn't really want to eat (ate one bloodworm this morning), sits at the bottom of her tank in one of the little houses. She only swims out to the surface for air once in a while, but then quickly hides again.

She lives in a 5.5 gallon tank which is filtered, heated, and planted. She also lives with two red cherry shrimps, but have been removed to another tank the minute I spotted dropsy (so that when I add medication or anything else they wouldn't be affected). The water parameters are fine: ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates around 20. I do scheduled partial water changes every week, so the water quality is not an issue.

This is the first time I am ever witnessing dropsy in a fish, and I am at a loss as to what to do. As far as I know, dropsy isn't curable, so my female is most likely going to pass

Can anyone offer me any advise as to what I should do? Maybe ease her suffering?

 

[fluttermoth]

Sorry for the late reply.

I'n afraid it's almost impossible to cure dropsy once the fish has started pine coning. You could try daily Epsom salt baths, if you can get any (1 or 2 tablespoons dissolved in a gallon of water; leave the fish in for a couple of hours, if it's not distressed).

If you decide to euthanise, we can advise you on the most humane ways.

 

[BettaLuver]

Sorry for the late reply.

I'n afraid it's almost impossible to cure dropsy once the fish has started pine coning. You could try daily Epsom salt baths, if you can get any (1 or 2 tablespoons dissolved in a gallon of water; leave the fish in for a couple of hours, if it's not distressed).

If you decide to euthanise, we can advise you on the most humane ways.

Better late than never. Thank you for your reply!


I kind of figured that Dropsy is something that is almost always fatal from reading other posts. Poor fish

I've given her one Epsom salt bath, but found that it stressed her out so much that she was close to passing out. I couldn't bare watch her suffer like that. I just checked in on her - it appears that she likes having her lights turned off so that she can float near the top to get air and she is completely unresponsive to me. I don't know if she will make it through the night. I heard clove oil is (the most?) humane method of euthanizing a fish? Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[NickAu]

I heard clove oil is (the most?) humane method of euthanizing a fish?

The best and quickest way is to net the fish then quickly squash its head between your fingers, the whole process takes abut 5 seconds, where as clove oil can take over 5 minutes if done correctly.

Around 400 mg of clove oil per litre of aquarium water is sufficient to cause death in exposed fish. The clove oil should be mixed with a little warm water first before adding it to the water and fish slowly. Do not add all at once as fish get excited - add the clove oil mix over a 5 minute period.

What is the most humane way to euthanase aquarium fish? - RSPCA

Sorry if this offends but these are the realities of fish keeping, sometimes we have to euthanize a fish and we owe it to the fish to do it as quickly and stress free as we can.

 

[BettaLuver]

The best and quickest way is to net the fish then quickly squash its head between your fingers, the whole process takes abut 5 seconds, where as clove oil can take over 5 minutes if done correctly.


What is the most humane way to euthanase aquarium fish? - RSPCA

Sorry if this offends but these are the realities of fish keeping, sometimes we have to euthanize a fish and we owe it to the fish to do it as quickly and stress free as we can.

Unfortunately the fish died during the night