Confused - betta with dropsy-like symptoms following overeating?

[dangerflower]

I don't have a lot of hope for this poor fishy making it through the night unfortunately, but I'm trying to gain some insight into what happened in case I encounter something like this again.

I have a betta, named Teeth, who I was trying out housing in my 20 long community tank with sterbai corries and emerald eye rasboras. She's been living in there for maybe two months. She had definitely been snacking on the other fishes' food, which I was concerned about, but I hadn't noticed any weight gain or issues. I typically fast the tank once a week and also feed frozen foods at least once a week.

About a week ago, I fed the tank in the evening, including dropping some bottom feeder wafers for the corries, which Teeth does love to steal. The next morning, Teeth was very bloated from apparently gorging herself on cory food. This has happened before, but I've never seen her that bad. Her belly was very round and I noticed a slight pineconing of the scales on her underbelly.

Proceeded to begin several days of fasting the tank except for small amounts of frozen daphnia to try to help her system clear out. She did not improve, but was swimming and behaving normally, not showing any signs of lethargy. The pineconing increased, and by yesterday she was fully pineconed all over. I did an Epsom salt dip yesterday and saw no improvement.

Today I came home from work and found her lethargic at the bottom of the tank, barely able to move. Still bloated, still pineconed. Tried another Epsom dip. I've got her isolated in a breeder box in the tank for comfort. I have a hospital tank ready but I fear she's too far gone for meds 😞

What happened here? Obviously it looks like a case of dropsy but there was such an obvious connection with her overeating the cory pellets. Can gastrointestinal distress lead to dropsy? Is there anything  I should try to do for this fish at this point?

Thanks, I appreciate y'all ❤️

[Colu]

On 12/16/2023 at 4:48 AM, dangerflower said:

I don't have a lot of hope for this poor fishy making it through the night unfortunately, but I'm trying to gain some insight into what happened in case I encounter something like this again.

I have a betta, named Teeth, who I was trying out housing in my 20 long community tank with sterbai corries and emerald eye rasboras. She's been living in there for maybe two months. She had definitely been snacking on the other fishes' food, which I was concerned about, but I hadn't noticed any weight gain or issues. I typically fast the tank once a week and also feed frozen foods at least once a week.

About a week ago, I fed the tank in the evening, including dropping some bottom feeder wafers for the corries, which Teeth does love to steal. The next morning, Teeth was very bloated from apparently gorging herself on cory food. This has happened before, but I've never seen her that bad. Her belly was very round and I noticed a slight pineconing of the scales on her underbelly.

Proceeded to begin several days of fasting the tank except for small amounts of frozen daphnia to try to help her system clear out. She did not improve, but was swimming and behaving normally, not showing any signs of lethargy. The pineconing increased, and by yesterday she was fully pineconed all over. I did an Epsom salt dip yesterday and saw no improvement.

Today I came home from work and found her lethargic at the bottom of the tank, barely able to move. Still bloated, still pineconed. Tried another Epsom dip. I've got her isolated in a breeder box in the tank for comfort. I have a hospital tank ready but I fear she's too far gone for meds 😞

What happened here? Obviously it looks like a case of dropsy but there was such an obvious connection with her overeating the cory pellets. Can gastrointestinal distress lead to dropsy? Is there anything  I should try to do for this fish at this point?

Thanks, I appreciate y'all ❤️

With the symptoms your describing I would add aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons that will help reduce fluid  buildup that can cause pineconing. and treat with metroplex in food feeding a small amount twice a day for upto 3 weeks. and dose the tank with maracyn2. that the most effective treatment I found when your fish shows symptoms of dropsy. that can be caused by internal bacterial infection organ failure parasitic infection poor water quality. I would look at your water parameters just in case something is off.

Edited December 16, 2023 by Colu

[dangerflower]

Thank you @Colu. Unfortunately when I woke up this morning, Teeth had already passed 😞 I will make sure I have those meds on hand for future incidents.

Is it possible that overeating could have lead to organ damage that caused the dropsy? It just seems like it had to be related since there was such a direct correlation. I suppose she may have also been stressed by living in the community tank and had a weakened immune system, although I didn't observe any signs of stress. The other tank inhabitants all seem fine but I will definitely double check my parameters.

[Colu]

On 12/16/2023 at 6:48 PM, dangerflower said:

Thank you @Colu. Unfortunately when I woke up this morning, Teeth had already passed 😞 I will make sure I have those meds on hand for future incidents.

Is it possible that overeating could have lead to organ damage that caused the dropsy? It just seems like it had to be related since there was such a direct correlation. I suppose she may have also been stressed by living in the community tank and had a weakened immune system, although I didn't observe any signs of stress. The other tank inhabitants all seem fine but I will definitely double check my parameters.

Overeating won't lead to organ failure. it will cause bloating and can affect the swim. bladder dropsy can be  caused by number of things. such as internal bacterial infections parasitic infections organ failure causing fluid buildup. all you can do is treat the symptoms usually when you get pineconing prognosis isn't great some fish will recover with treatment i recommended most won't recover due  underlying complications