Treating A Betta For Dropsy: I Have To Try!

[jfeld]

My 2.5 year old female betta has been swollen for a few days and this morning I noticed slight pineconing. I went to the local Petsmart to pick up as much stuff as i could. I know that dropsy is a symptom, not a disease, so i got the widest spectrum of treatments i could find. I now have:
- Maracyn
- Maracyn II
- Epsom salt
- Aquarium salt
- Water test strips
- And a new silk plant as an investment in hope.

Now, I have read mixed things. Some say aquarium salt is bad during dropsy, and should only be used as preventative or when the fish is on the road to recovery. I couldn't find Kanacyn and I don't have anywhere else to find it (I kinda live in the middle of nowhere), so the Maracyns will have to do.

I read somewhere that I can treat with both types of Maracyn at once, since the cause of the dropsy is uncertain. Is this unsafe? I'm going to start with a few grains of epsom salt, do some more research, and wait to hear from you kind and helpful souls.

 

[black angel]

You will need to heat the water to 80f and add epsom salt. Add it at half a teaspoon per gallon and you can also use the maracyn.
Dropsy is very hard to treat as the kidneys arent working properly.
Good luck

 

[jfeld]

Thanks - can you tell me, is it safe to use both Maracyn and Maracyn II at the same time? I am worried about overmedicating.

 

[WILDER]

Yes you can will get you some info.

http/www.nunnie.com/ick.html
Scroll down to bacterial infections.

 

[InaneCathode]

Think of epsom salts as a fish dialisis machine, it'll osmotically draw out fluids and toxins.

 

[jfeld]

Thank you all. As i said, i am currently treating with maracyn I and II, but i may be able to get some Kanacyn from the internet. If i can, should i switch to this? how would i go about doing this?

 

[WILDER]

You would have to do a water change and run some black carbon for two days.
I would carry on with the maracyn to be honest.
An epson salt bath would help as well.

 

[jfeld]

OK, I'm on my 4th day of treatment; yesterday i did a 100% water change, added .5 tsp of epsom salt, and 2 tsp of each medicine. Today I added another 1 tsp of each and will do another 100% water change tomorrow. Her condition seems the same, but she seems kind of - well, out of it. Less interactive, and she's started refusing food or not even noticing it when i put it right in front of her. Does anyone have any advice on how to get her to eat? I ordered Geltek's antibacterial stuff, which says it has "fish pheromones" in it to encourage feeding. Does that have any chance of working?

 

[black angel]

Fish love garlic so try it in liquid form and soak the food in it.

If she wont eat then she may well be suffering.

Is she still looking bloated?

 

[jfeld]

Yes, she's still bloated, but it hasn't gotten worse. She doesn't look as bad as some pictures i've seen on the internet...

 

[jfeld]

Today, Wendy's scales look worse and she's acting pretty sick. Sometimes she seems okay and swims around, but most of the time she either floats kind of diagonally, or even vertically with her face at the bottom of the tank. It looks like things are getting pretty bad and I want to be prepared for the worst.

Can anyone tell me, how can i know if she's in pain? If it looks like she's not getting better, should i just give her clean water and let nature take its course (ie, will this be more pleasant for her than continuing the medication)? And if things get really bad, could someone explain the clove oil technique? Thanks a lot for all your help...

 

[black angel]

I dont think anyone knows if a small fish is in pain. With her being head down a fair bit then thats a sign of kidney failure.
May be best to end it for her if you can.
Do you have clove oil?