Help sick betta

[Sam2277]

Hi
My betta fish senshi is showing signs of dropsy, he has a blotted stomach, his scales are pineconing slightly, he is not very responsive and has lost appetite. It all happened so suddenly as today afternoon I had fed him and he seemed fine. I've had him for about 5 months now. He lives by himself in a 5 gallon tank. I feed him Hikari betta bio gold. His tank is not heated as I live in Saudi Arabia and the tank remains at a constant of 26-27 degree celsius. The only thing I did different the day before was checking the filter and I did this in the tank itself. The filter is a internal one designed for 5 gallons kept at a low flow, it cycles about 300l/hour. Also since it got warmer outside he had been making bubble nests this week and today instead of making them he's just looking up, waiting for something.
Here are my water parameters:
Ph: 7.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: somewhere between 20ppm and 40ppm
The tank gets a water change every week. I do about a 25 to 50% water change. It's due on WC tomorrow. What should I do? I have no meds at hand, not even aquarium salt and I would have to convince my dad to take me to a pet store.
Till then should I do a water change? What meds do I get for him? Or is it too far gone from recovery? I've attached some pics

If you need more pics or info I'm glad to help

 

[Autumnsky]

Hi Sam,
Welcome to the community.

Do you by chance have any green Peas like for eating - canned, fresh or frozen, or in another can or frozen mixture.

Peas are something they will eat, often assisting with a sluggish digestive tract.

Cook microwave steam boil whatever you like. If it is canned you can rinse of some of the salty water, and open the round pea. There are 2 halves and sometimes you can see the sprout part as well. All the inside are fin to feed the Betta.

Literally feed one small piece at a time.

If you have a garlic clove you can squeeze some of the juice onto it. Anti bacterial and good for them.

Back to the first part, after you cook til soft/tender, feed the inside parts of one pea at a time. Remove any he doesn't want to eat. A turkey baster works well for removing uneaten food.

Do you happen to have any Epsom soaking salts. It is sometimes used for bath salt, soaking sore muscles and feet, and medically for relieving constipation. It is magnesium sulfate.

You need the kind that doesn't contain herbal oils, scents, additives in general. Just plain old Epsom salts. It looks like chunky salt.

Dissolve this into water (which you will condition/dechlorinate/make safe for fish later when it is cool).

You can make this concentrate with 15 grams of Epsom salt per each gallon in the tank.

I use a large plastic cup or pitcher to make it easy to stir. Hottest water and stir a couple cups (half liter) of water into the measured Epsom Salt and it will mostly blend right in. You can add more cold water or ice to the mixture until it is tank temperature. Then add the water conditioner/ dechlorinator.

It is not a big issue if there are tiny particles that do not dissolve, or if he happens to eat some.

Using this concentrate at the start, do a series of partial water changes, say 3-4 liters, then another 3-4 liters, and and if you have time do a 3rd one.

This helps gently change to tank water, bettering it's quality each time but slowly so the fish doesn't get stressed over the differences in the older and new water.

Then remove the amount of water from the tank equal to the amount of Epsom Salt (ES) concentrate you will be adding back in.

Now add in about 25% of the ES mixture. Continue to add another 25% to the Betta tank every few hours (3 or 4) until you are done. (You can sleep if it is night, and add the others after you wake up, not critical on time.) Again just trying to add more slowly as to not overwhelm the fish as he isn't feeling well.

On the other hand I have had a fish I felt was close to death and just kept adding small amounts and did it very swiftly over an hour or 2.

His pic doesn't look too bad, his scales aren't sticking out like he would be on the brink of death.

Hoping you can find ES and see if it will help.

He can be fed peas to help with regularity/pooping every week as a part of his treats!

You can do both things at the same time, peas and ES.

Clean water can help with sick fish. He likely is needing a good poop.

Are his eyes clear?

Does he seem to have any tiny white bugs crawling on him or his gills?

 

[Sam2277]

Thanks for the help, but unfortunately he died a few hours ago

 

[Autumnsky]

Aw, so sorry to hear that. May he rest in peace.

Fish losses are a normal part of the hobby but they suck. I am saddened we couldn't help him out. Fish can be ill for many reasons.

It seemed that your water parameters were good. Nitrate was fair/ boarder line to where one would like to see, but not an amount I would be too concerned from. Could have been parasites, if you ever noticed white stringy poop. Sometimes we just do not actually know the cause.