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 | Betta Girl is pine coning |
goldfishgeek   Fish Addict Posts: 667 Kudos: 412 Votes: 38 Registered: 27-Oct-2003   | and i am panicking! i moved her from the main tank to a 2.5 after violence and fighting between my girls. she has been alone for about three weeks. she has looked terrible well - sort of pale and white rather than vibrant blue she should be. today i have noticed she has pine coned. she has not eaten for at least three days the water test come out at 0 and i have been changing the water every five days. she doesn't have a heater. the temp is 78 degrees. what should i do ? thanks for any help GFG Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. Harvey S. Firestone |
 Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:36 |      |
fishguyoo7 Hobbyist Posts: 95 Kudos: 128 Votes: 14 Registered: 02-Apr-2005   | pine coneing? not real sure what that means but it sounds like dropsey. www.responsiblethrashers.com |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:36 |  |
Babelfish         Administrator Small Fry with Ketchup Posts: 6833 Kudos: 8324 Votes: 1570 Registered: 17-Apr-2003   | Once a fish has started to pinecone there's much less of a chance of recovery. Dropsy can be from a few factors. Easiest to deal with is constipation, just feed a de shelled pea (split in half between you fingers, or mushed soft... remove uneaten portions before they can foul the water) Dropsy can also be from bacterial causes. If the fish isnt eating it's less likely (considering how finicky bettas can be about food) to eat antibacterial foods but that is also worth a try. Whatever you can do, do it ASAP. ^_^[hr width='40%'] The life, the love, You die to heal. The hope that starts, The broken hearts... I’ve got another confession my friend, I’m no fool. I’m getting tired of starting again, Somewhere new."  |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:36 |   |
kitten Fish Guru Meow? Posts: 2266 Kudos: 2194 Votes: 19 Registered: 18-Nov-2003 | Once you get to the pineconing stage, it's really an iffy situation. You can TRY dosing with Maracyn 1 & 2 or something similar (dose both maracyns together). At this point, there's no guarantees. Pineconing can be caused by bloating, which in turn is often seen with internal infections. I know I lost one of my girls to it...  ~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~ |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:36 | |
houston Fish Guru You want what when? Posts: 2623 Kudos: 2462 Votes: 337 Registered: 29-Mar-2003 | OK I wouldn't remove her from the 2.5 gallon, it will make treating her easier inside of it, though keeping her in the breeding net was a good thought, it will be easier to catch her in... Now, first take a deep breath...easier said than done I know... Now do you have a spare 5 or 10 gallon? If so pull it out, it's going to be your hospital tank...if not, pull the 2.5 gallon back out, and clean it...it will become your hospital tank... It's really up to you whether you want gravel or not, if you do, make it very thin la I'd add a small terracotta pot (walmart/michael's/hobby lobby=0.33) Scrub it down...my betta girls as well as my boys like to use it as a bed, and it is smooth...you'll want to put it on it's side...this way they can drape themselves across it or swimming into it... OK with that said...i'd syphon off some of the water from the 20 gallon (?) to fill or half fill the hospital tank...you don't want it to be total used water, but some cycled water will be good. OK go 50%  Now add the little girl to the hospital tank... Do you have Melafix, and aquarium salt? No? get some... OK treat the tank with the recommended dose of melafix, read the directions...and treat her now... Now you are bound to have one of the betta cups the fish come in lying around and some airline tubing...Got it? Or does this little 2.5 gallon tank have the HOB filter (the little black one?) if so it will make it easier tomorrow Now take your aquarium salt, and this is where it's gonna get tricky...since I don't know the size of tank you are using... If you are using the 2.5 gallon look at the box to be sure you have the same directions for treating a tank... OK I'm simply copying and pasting hopefully this will make sense if not let me know... Mix up a little more than 1/2 tbs of the salt with hot water, and shake it to get it to mix thoroughly...then when it is totally combined add cool water to get it down to a decent temperature, we don't want to tramatize your girl, like she has done to you. Then take a bit of airline and make a drip system of the salt solution into the tank. You want to be able to add the salt to the tank, but not increase the salinity too quickly as it will burn her and cause more problems. (Kitten found that airline straight goes too fast, tie a knot in it to slow it down) I would only add 1/2 this mixture tonight, the other half tomorrow morning... Also tonight you will want to treat the 2.5 gallon with Melafix, as well as in the morning...then continue on a schedule of treating the tank in the evenings starting tomorrow evening for the week or so long period. Tomorrow night you will want to add another 1 tsp of salty water solution to the tank in a drip system, and again on Thursday evening...if you have the HOB you can just drop in the salt plain into the HOB and let it add slowly on it's own, be sure to remove the filter pad though  Friday evening do a 50% water change and add the tsp of solution and melafix, then add the tsp of salt, and melafix again Saturday, and Sunday... Monday 50% water change, and repeat the above procedure...I'd keep this up for 2 weeks, or a little longer if necessary. Now keep an eye on her and make sure she is not stressing out and getting red gilled, if she is do a water change and don't add the salt solution for a few days till you are due for a 50% water change... I think the salt solution will actually help dehydrate her some and remove any excess liquids she is carrying around. As far as feeding goes...as babel has mentioned feeding the girl some mushed green peas popped out of their skins will help encourage her to well poop... As far as feeding goes, try some blood worms defrosted-frozen, fresh, dried, dried brine shrimp, flakes, or anything else that you might be able to persuade her to eat...it might take a bit of trying...i find when they aren't eating the smellier to me the better they are willing to eat  Try this, and let us know...I'm not willing to give up hope yet...the salt treatment for a week, and keep going with the melafix for probably 2 weeks maybe more... We did this with pugperson's GoFish and he is still with us, he's getting old, and likes to sleep in weird places (his newest favorite is the output of the HOB ) but doing fine and is almost 3 years old, and he did this about 18 months ago...would have to check to be sure of that...Best of luck pm me if this doesn't make sense...heidi "I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:36 | |
| goldfishgeek Fish Addict Posts: 667 Kudos: 412 Votes: 38 Registered: 27-Oct-2003 | When i got home tonight my betta girl had died. she looked pretty awful, her body had gone white and even more puffy. her gills also looked swollen. i tried to pm kitten and Houston who have been helping me, but i am not sure it worked. i am very upset and just hope she didn't suffer too much. At least Bailey and Blue are doing ok. fingers crossed. thank you for all yourhelp and suggestions. GFG Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. Harvey S. Firestone |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:36 | |
| houston Fish Guru You want what when? Posts: 2623 Kudos: 2462 Votes: 337 Registered: 29-Mar-2003 | I'm so sorry for your loss Goldfishgeek:#( That is just the problem when any of us have a sick fish...you do the best you can and hope it is enough and that it isn't too late... I don't see that she would have been in any excess pain, and probably passed peacefully...You did what you could to try to make her feel better, and took good care of her...don't be down on yourself, it was her time... Again I'm sorry for your loss, heidi "I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:36 | |
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