Dropsy... help!

[Jennibird]

Pretty sure my betta has dropsy. He stopped eating 2 days ago, and acting more lethargic, not wanting to swim or move, and hanging at the top. Now today I see he is starting to pinecone. I am going to quarantine. I have read salt helps ... I have aquarium salt, but I just saw a video that said not to use aquarium salt, and to use epsom salt instead. Is this true? If so, how much per gallon? Also I am going to get some meds to treat. Any suggestions on the best kind? I realize the chances or low, but I feel like I have to try! I also realize I may need to euthanize ... I don't want him to suffer if I can't help him.

FYI, he is kept in a heated 5gal tank with sponge filter. Water tested at 0 for ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites.

 

[Colu]

If he's suffering from dropsy you want to treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic as he not eating I would treat with kanaplex as it absorbed thought the skin and gills and add aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 1 gallon start at 1 table spoon for 3 gallons and gradually increase over a couple of days to 1 table spoon per gallon the salt will help reduce the fluid buildup and help with gill function and add essential electrolytes to help reduce stress in your fish when they stop eating that when there putting all their energy into fighting the illness dropsy can also be caused by polycystic kidney disease and kanaplex is a good medication for treating kidney disease

Edited September 25, 2021 by Colu

[Kathy F]

I have treated dropsy successfully twice; This routine has successfully cured a lionchu and a guppy.   I can't guarantee it will work in your situation because dropsy is a symptom with multiple causes so results will differ depending on the actual disease process taking place.   I do a combo of epsom salt, metroprazole infused fish food and Kanaplex.   I use a very weak dilution of epsom salt in the main tank.  I will keep the epsom salt in there three days and then slowly phase it out over the next three days.    They get Kanaplex at the concentration recommended on the package but I do large water changes every single day so their tank needs to be retreated every day despite the manufacturer saying to retreat every 48 hours also I ignore the package on longevity of treatment and treat for 10-14 days.   The medicated fish flakes are given over a 6 day period twice daily.     Basically lots of clean water, 2 prong attack to address multiple possible causes of dropsy and epsom salt to ease the swelling but just for the first few days.  I am sure other experienced fish keepers have their own methods of treatment this is just what has been successful for me.   

 

[Jennibird]

I have 2 snails in the main tank (mystery and nerite). Are they safe with the epsom salt, or should I put my betta in quarantine?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Jennifer I would always remove snails when medicating out of an abundance of caution. 

[Jennibird]

I went ahead and put him in a gallon bowl with a heater and air stone. Added epsom salt for now, and tomorrow will be getting Kanaplex if we can find it locally. He won't eat right now unfortunately.

[Jennibird]

Mr Darcy didn't make it 😔

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I'm sorry Jennifer. I've battled dropsy 1x w/a betta (the betta pictured in my board profile here even). I've come to the conclusion it's not treatable- I've never come across someone who cured it and won. I believe I cured the dropsy but there was too much internal damage for my little guy to recover from it. It's not a consolation, but know that some of us have been there and you did the best you could.

[Jennibird]

Thank you, I appreciate that. And your boy was pretty!

[Kathy F]

On 9/25/2021 at 6:25 PM, Jennifer said:

Mr Darcy didn't make it 😔

So sorry, if he died that quickly then he wasn't savable because it had already advanced too far.   Dropsy is tricky because it has so many causes some causes are treatable some aren't.