Help!!!! Does my Betta have Dropsy??

[Nyla Vasquez]

Hello everyone, I'm new here and haven't quite figured this place out yet, but I need help with my betta Wonton.
I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing yet, so I need help.

As of late Wonton has been a little lethargic and a few days ago he was a little bloated(I fasted him for abt 2 days then gave him some cooked pea).

Now he's starting to pinecone a bit and I'm getting worried that it might be Dropsy. I have another betta currently(he's fine), and I've also just recently lost my first one, Mark, to what I think was Dropsy.

Wonton is in a 10 gal. heated tank with a Tetra Whisper 2-10 i filter.
He has 1 tank mate which is a ghost shrimp and a lot of Marimo moss balls(8)
I got him and my other betta in September of 2018 from my aunts co-worker, therefore I don't know how old he is.
I have test strips and I tested the water this morning and the alkalinity is very high, so if anybody knows how to fix that please let me know.

Nitrate- Between 0 and 20, possibly 10? The strips aren't that accurate
Nitrite- 0
(GH)ppm- abt. 75
(KH)ppm- HIGH abt. 300? I'm not sure
Ph- 6.8

I'm pretty young(14) so I'm not really sure about all this, I don't want to lose another one

Thank you for reading

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Can you post a couple of pictures of the sick fish showing the pine coning?

The main things to worry about in water quality are ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. As long as the ammonia and nitrite are 0 and the nitrate is less than 20ppm it is fine. Try to keep the pH between 6.6 & 7.6.

GH is normally higher than KH so having 300KH and 75GH doesn't seem right. It could be but it just doesn't seem right. I wouldn't worry about the GH or KH.

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The most common cause of pine coning in fish is an internal bacterial infection. These are hard to treat and the fish usually die. If you want to try and treat it, you can look for an anti-biotic but it might cost you more to treat than to replace the fish, and the fish might still die.

 

[Nyla Vasquez]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Can you post a couple of pictures of the sick fish showing the pine coning?

The main things to worry about in water quality are ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. As long as the ammonia and nitrite are 0 and the nitrate is less than 20ppm it is fine. Try to keep the pH between 6.6 & 7.6.

GH is normally higher than KH so having 300KH and 75GH doesn't seem right. It could be but it just doesn't seem right. I wouldn't worry about the GH or KH.

---------------------------
The most common cause of pine coning in fish is an internal bacterial infection. These are hard to treat and the fish usually die. If you want to try and treat it, you can look for an anti-biotic but it might cost you more to treat than to replace the fish, and the fish might still die.

Thank you

And I can't seem to figure out how to put a pic on here, do you know how?

 

[Colin_T]

At the bottom of the page where you write a response is a button called "More Options", click that.

Now there should be a button called "Upload a File". Click that and you will be able to look for the images you want to post on here. Highlight the images you want to add and click "Open". The images will upload to the site.

 

[Nyla Vasquez]

Here you go, I had to take a screen shot of the pic. Sorry for the wait

 

[Nyla Vasquez]

Here is some more

 

[Colin_T]

The fish is pretty bad. If it's still eating you can try treating it with anti-biotics, but if it is no longer eating I would euthanize it.

 

[Nyla Vasquez]

Ad?
He's definitely still eating so I'll try looking into anti-biotics

Thank you so much for your help!!!

 

[Colin_T]

When treating with anti-biotics or any medication, follow the steps below.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will absorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[Nyla Vasquez]

Okay! Thank you for all this help, I'm thinking of ordering some E.M. Erythromycin from chewy, think that might help?

 

[Colin_T]

If you get the medication in time it should help but the longer it takes the less chance the fish has of surviving.

The anti-biotics will kill the filter bacteria so monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels for a month after treatment has finished. Keep the feeding down during that time and do a 75% water change if you get any ammonia or nitrite readings above 0.

 

[Nyla Vasquez]

Alright.
I'll order today and try to get it here asap.

Again, thank you.