Betta with Dropsy?

[A Payne]

This is my first post here. I've had my beautiful boy Monet for almost 8 months but I've always thought he looked kind of old. The pet store I bought him from didn't have any idea about how old he actually was. A recent heater malfunction caused the temperature in his tank (it's a 5.5 gallon) to drop from 80 to 75. Then the new heater caused the water temperature to spike up to almost 84. It took several days before it stabilized, and even though I kept cooling it down some, I think the stress was too much. Monet now seems to have dropsy. He's lethargic, his belly is rounded, scales are protruding, and he's refusing to eat. I tried finding info on what to treat him with but it was all quite discouraging. The first thing suggested was salt, so I did a teaspoon per gallon as recommended, just in case by some miracle he can recover. There were a few live plants in there but I took them out before adding the salt. I didn't want to risk stressing him more by moving him to the quarantine tank. I don't have any way to test for hardness but the other water parameters are Ph 7 ; Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 40. Does it actually sound/look like dropsy to anyone else? Any other ideas for treating? 

[FrozenFins]

It doesn't look like dropsy, could you send of a closer shot of his eye?

[FriendlyLoach]

I don't think it is dropsy. He looks stressed though. I would just keep an eye on him, and keep everything stable. I would not treat with any meds, unless there are signs of disease, because it can stress him out. I would try to buff up his immune system, maybe feed him some live food, or frozen food. 

[A Payne]

11 hours ago, James Black said:

It doesn't look like dropsy, could you send of a closer shot of his eye?

His eyes have always looked like this. His lids are blue. I couldn't get a clear picture of them. TY for the response.

[A Payne]

10 hours ago, FriendlyLoach said:

I don't think it is dropsy. He looks stressed though. I would just keep an eye on him, and keep everything stable. I would not treat with any meds, unless there are signs of disease, because it can stress him out. I would try to buff up his immune system, maybe feed him some live food, or frozen food. 

Thanks! He ate a small piece of a Hikari freeze-dried bloodworm this morning. I've never bought live or frozen. Do you have a recommendation? Our local stores are Pet Smart, Petco and Pet World (which seems to be the best of the three).

[FriendlyLoach]

Well, I would just call them and ask them if they have frozen fish food. They will most likely carry the same stuff. I only feed live mosquito larva, there is a little risk of bring in parasites and stuff (however I have never had issues, and Cory has not either). I only feed mosquito larvae because I can see where they come from (I think that it is a bit safer than live food from stores). The frozen food have very very little chance of carrying parasites. All frozen foods are basically the same, I would recommend blood worms or brine shrimp. To feed the betta I break up the frozen food chunks because one block is a lot of food (maybe a weeks worth). The main thing to keep in mind is not to let the frozen food to defrost, just drive home as quick as possible then put it in the freezer. Hope your betta makes it.