Abaddon
Fish Fanatic
Hi guys,
I'm very worried about my recently acquired giant betta. He's developed slight pineconing in one area of his body, around the abdomen, but it's only maybe a dozen or so scales around his midsection - none of the others are affected so it doesn't look like your typical full-body dropsy that's usually associated with organ failure etc. It's very "localized", if it makes sense. The weird thing is he has virtually NO other symptoms - he's eating fine, active, swimming around properly, flaring, reacting to me etc. There's been no flashing/rubbing or erratic behaviour of any kind ever since I got him, and his eyes, skin, colours, mouth and fins all look perfectly healthy, as does his poop. There's maybe some slight reddish discoloration around the belly scales - but tbh I'm not sure if it's always been there (he has bright and patchy colouration so Idk if I'm not imagining it). I feed him a mix of frozen and dried food - insect sticks, pellets, flakes, brine shrimp and glassworm (so far). He has been bloated a few times, but it tended to pass without my needing to intervene. I've only had him for 3 weeks so I'm naturally concerned. He's no more than 5-6 months old at this point. He did survive 2 shipments - he was imported from Indonesia and then re-sold to me again, so Idk if he might still have some residual immune issues from all those big environmental changes.
As for the tank - it's only been up and running for 6 weeks and I got the betta 3 weeks in (due to a few misunderstandings and delays, that was NOT my original plan). In order to avoid issues with ammonia etc. I added loads of bacteria in the beginning & planted it VERY heavily with fast-growing plants and floaters, and the readings for both nitrite and nitrate have been consistently 0 (liquid tests). It's a ~10gal & the temperature is currently 77F, but it did fluctuate in the beginning due to a massive heatwave. KH was around 8 and GH in the high teens last I checked. Don't know the pH (my tapwater is supposedly around 7.4, but I have some catappa leaves in the tank that may have lowered it a bit). I have a Seachem ammonia badge that has read "safe" since the very beginning. I have a group of snails and RCS in there too, and they're all doing great, so I find it hard to believe that there might be something horribly wrong with the water... I mean, shrimp are supposed to be more sensitive than fish, right?
For the time being I've put him in a ~2gal hospital tank and started treating with eSHa 2000 (broad-spectrum disinfectant, antifungal and antibiotic), plus 2 alder cones for extra stress-relief. Since he's in such a small tank, I've been changing ~20% of the water every day. He's not getting any worse, but there's also no spectacular improvement - the pineconing has receded compared to the first day, but the scales are still sticking out in that one little area where it all started (behind his pectoral fin on the left-hand side...sort of where his intestines are, I think...?). But again, no other/new symptoms. His appetite has actually improved quite a bit, he was a somewhat picky eater before.
I was wondering if anyone has any idea what this might be? At first I thought it might be a scrape or tumour pushing up against his scales, because that's what it looked like - but then I noticed a couple more scales pineconing closer to his ventral fins, so I took him out ASAP and started treatment. I refuse to give up on him, because I've already grown attached to the little dude, plus he was quite expensive and irreplaceable (giants are nearly impossible to get where I live). Apart from the eSHA 2000 I also have some old aquarium salt at hand, so I was thinking of adding that if nothing else helps. Those are the only 2 medications I have on hand atm. Is there anything else I can try? Should I keep him in the hospital tank until he's 100% recovered, or is it better to put him back in the main tank and observe him, and only put him back in hospital if he starts getting worse again? WWYD?
Thanks in advance for any help. I really want him to get better
Attaching some photos for reference - if you need better ones or from a different angle, let me know & I'll do my best. (it looks a bit worse from the side, the scales look more enlarged and visibly stick out). He's been like this for almost a week.
I'm very worried about my recently acquired giant betta. He's developed slight pineconing in one area of his body, around the abdomen, but it's only maybe a dozen or so scales around his midsection - none of the others are affected so it doesn't look like your typical full-body dropsy that's usually associated with organ failure etc. It's very "localized", if it makes sense. The weird thing is he has virtually NO other symptoms - he's eating fine, active, swimming around properly, flaring, reacting to me etc. There's been no flashing/rubbing or erratic behaviour of any kind ever since I got him, and his eyes, skin, colours, mouth and fins all look perfectly healthy, as does his poop. There's maybe some slight reddish discoloration around the belly scales - but tbh I'm not sure if it's always been there (he has bright and patchy colouration so Idk if I'm not imagining it). I feed him a mix of frozen and dried food - insect sticks, pellets, flakes, brine shrimp and glassworm (so far). He has been bloated a few times, but it tended to pass without my needing to intervene. I've only had him for 3 weeks so I'm naturally concerned. He's no more than 5-6 months old at this point. He did survive 2 shipments - he was imported from Indonesia and then re-sold to me again, so Idk if he might still have some residual immune issues from all those big environmental changes.
As for the tank - it's only been up and running for 6 weeks and I got the betta 3 weeks in (due to a few misunderstandings and delays, that was NOT my original plan). In order to avoid issues with ammonia etc. I added loads of bacteria in the beginning & planted it VERY heavily with fast-growing plants and floaters, and the readings for both nitrite and nitrate have been consistently 0 (liquid tests). It's a ~10gal & the temperature is currently 77F, but it did fluctuate in the beginning due to a massive heatwave. KH was around 8 and GH in the high teens last I checked. Don't know the pH (my tapwater is supposedly around 7.4, but I have some catappa leaves in the tank that may have lowered it a bit). I have a Seachem ammonia badge that has read "safe" since the very beginning. I have a group of snails and RCS in there too, and they're all doing great, so I find it hard to believe that there might be something horribly wrong with the water... I mean, shrimp are supposed to be more sensitive than fish, right?
For the time being I've put him in a ~2gal hospital tank and started treating with eSHa 2000 (broad-spectrum disinfectant, antifungal and antibiotic), plus 2 alder cones for extra stress-relief. Since he's in such a small tank, I've been changing ~20% of the water every day. He's not getting any worse, but there's also no spectacular improvement - the pineconing has receded compared to the first day, but the scales are still sticking out in that one little area where it all started (behind his pectoral fin on the left-hand side...sort of where his intestines are, I think...?). But again, no other/new symptoms. His appetite has actually improved quite a bit, he was a somewhat picky eater before.
I was wondering if anyone has any idea what this might be? At first I thought it might be a scrape or tumour pushing up against his scales, because that's what it looked like - but then I noticed a couple more scales pineconing closer to his ventral fins, so I took him out ASAP and started treatment. I refuse to give up on him, because I've already grown attached to the little dude, plus he was quite expensive and irreplaceable (giants are nearly impossible to get where I live). Apart from the eSHA 2000 I also have some old aquarium salt at hand, so I was thinking of adding that if nothing else helps. Those are the only 2 medications I have on hand atm. Is there anything else I can try? Should I keep him in the hospital tank until he's 100% recovered, or is it better to put him back in the main tank and observe him, and only put him back in hospital if he starts getting worse again? WWYD?
Thanks in advance for any help. I really want him to get better
Attaching some photos for reference - if you need better ones or from a different angle, let me know & I'll do my best. (it looks a bit worse from the side, the scales look more enlarged and visibly stick out). He's been like this for almost a week.
