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I went away for about 4 days, leaving them with out food. But everything has gone back to normal upon me returning.

But now some of my bettas have really LARGE round bellies. Is this an indication of Dropsy, if so what is the best to treat it. Or is this something else?

Thanks!

Sometimes we gauge Dropsy as bulging stomachs and protruding scales, a sort of pinecone effect...

If the Bettas gobbled food after being starved for four days that would produce swollen bellys.

Stop feeding for two or three days and then offer them a squashed, skin removed green pea(s) as a laxative.

--garyroland.

I was also thinking that it may be swim blatter, which is very common with the bettas.

Ok, I will try the pea thing first, though I have a feeling the brats won't even bother to eat that =p

There is no treatment after that...

Dropsy is a killer with no successful remedy. By the time it's obvious it's already too late.

--garyroland.

Ok, I waited a couple days feeding them nothing, and this morning I started giving them the pea's. Luckily they all ate it, which was quiet surprising. 3 of the bettas defeinetly have HUGE bellies, the 4th seems normal, and the 5th is starting to look a tad bit like that "pine cone" deal.

They are do for their water changes today, and I'm thinking about not adding in their rocks at the bottom of the bowls so I can more clearly see if they are eliminating or not.

Also I have a product, AP Plus+ Anti Bacteria, it says it's good for Dropsy (Bulging Eyes with swollen belly and raised scales.)
Should I bother dosing the betta bowls with then, when I do their wc today?

dropsy is a bacterial infection to the kidney
unless you can find some medication that you can feed the fish and let it work inside the fish
your chance of saving the fish is very close to 0

Poor water conditions, of course, can cause an increase in the chances of fish becoming sick...

Since Dropsy is contageous as evidenced by more than one Betta showing signs, and once the disease is noticed it's already too late to treat.

There is no cure for Dropsy.

--garyroland.

Well whatever my bettas problems are, the bloating seems to be getting better and their stomachs going back to normal.

They have been on strictly small amounts of pea, and in 2 more days I will medicate again after a full water change with the AP Plus+ Anti-Bacteria medication if necissary, re the directions.

I hope this works out, I'm tired of dieing fish!

If the bloat seems to be improving after 5 days I'm willing to bet that you're probably not dealing with dropsy but rather constipation or a swim bladder issue. With bettas it can be quite frustrating and actually take weeks to really get it all worked out when they get stopped up but try to be as patient as possible.

Have you noticed any difference in their elimination? Sometimes an internal parasite will cause bloating so watch for white stringy poop. Usually with bettas and bloating issues it's just a case of bad food or overfeeding. My personal favourite food is hikari betta bio gold. It has magnesium sulfate, kind of a natural fish laxative, which helps prevent it from getting stuck. They do well with 3-4 pellets twice daily. Bettas are known to be pigs and will generally eat however much you feed them.

So what kind of food are you feeding regularly and how much of it?

First of all, I wouldn't bother with any sort of "antibacterial" in this case since I really don't think it's dropsy. After 5 days with dropsy your fish would most likely be dead, at least IME with it. The only thing I've ever had success with in treating dropsy was maracyn 2.

Honestly it sounds to me like a bad case of constipation, probably brought on by a problem with either what you're feeding them or how much they're getting.

HTH

Edit: I forgot to add that increasing the temperature on the bowls will help if you have them a little bit chilly. I like to keep bettas at around 74-76 F at all times. If they're cold they tend to stop up easier. Some people also report some success in using 1/2 tsp aquarium salt/gallon on bettas to help ease away bloat issues but it's controversial. You can try the salt if you want, it definitely won't hurt.

[span class="edited"][Edited by trystianity 2004-07-23 13:27][/span]

Trys: Well I really don't think it was from over feeding. Specially since I had gone away for 4 days, and they had no food during that time. When I came back, they were indeed bloated.

They were in a much cooler area when I was gone however, give me a moment and I will go see what the temp for their bowls are in their regular location.

Right now, it's at about 73 degree's in their bowl, they are all lined up together on a shelf.

Most often the food they will get are:
New Life Spectrum Small Fish Formula
OSI Spirulina Flakes
Wardley Betta Food
Hikari Betta Gold

I will pick up some Melafix or PimaFix at the store do some water changes tonight and see what happens.

Oh yes, I wanted to add, that I have now noticed some of that same white/clear stuff on 2 of the other bettas, in different places, and it's starting to appear more like a fungus on them. Should I skip the Melafix and go straight for the Pimafix?

Thanks!

[span class="edited"][Edited by AngelZoo 2004-07-23 14:10][/span]