constipated(?) betta

[m.bug]

hi.
i wrote about 2 and a half weeks ago that my betta was extremely bloated. i was afraid it was dropsy. i began treating for dropsy, doing daily water changes and also treating him for possible constipation by feeding him peas and adding epsom salt to his water.
i was very stringent about doing those things for about a week and a half. but he showed no sign of improvement whatsoever. and the daily water changes i felt were stressing him out. he is still huge, very very round but he never developed the pineconeiness of dropsy. so after this time i have to assume he is just severely constipated. he is acting relatively normal but he swims a little less than normal.
he lives in 2.5gal heated filtered by himself.
does anyone have any new ideas to help him get well. i assume he cannot go on like this forever.

[dskidmore]

Some of the cases of dropsey I have seen had a very slow onset. You could try a antiparasitic or antibacterial treatment, but if that's what's wrong with him, the cure rate is rather low.

Do you see him pooping? If not, leave him in a bare bottomed container for awhile where you can monitor his output.

[Zagz]

What meds were you using for treatment of dropsy? I agree with dskidmore that some cases are very slow and some meds while not treating the illness entirely may slow the progression of the illness. That is what happened to me with a gourami.

[m.bug]

I copied the following from petsmart.com. it's what i was giving him for dropsy. i did one full dose followed by 2 half doses to make up for water changes.


Aquarium Products Anti-Bacteria Treatment

603979 Anti Bacteria Treatment, 4 oz

Easy-to-dose treatment clears ulcers, dropsy and internal bacterial infection in freshwater aquarium fish. Suggested usage is 10 drops per gallon. Bottle treats 250 US gallons.




Also, i like the idea of monitoring the pooping because no, i have barely seen any poop. how can i get the gravel out of his tank w/o upsetting him too much?

[dskidmore]

If the gravel is clean, an aquarium net is useful for removing it. Might want to wait until right before a water change, any junk built up in the gravel will get into the water. If it's dirty, it's really best left in there, it will cloud up the water something fierce when disturbed.

[Puriti]

I've used Marcel 2 for my dropsy victims if he does have it. I DID save a danio that had it but I caught it early in the game. Hope your fishy isn't sick

[Zagz]

As for getting the gravel out without stressing him I'm afraid that is nearly impossible. When the gravel is removed it will stir up gunk and stress him. Not to mention sooner or later you will put it back in. See if you can get another small tank for him, put the exsisting filter on it and no gravel. Don't rinse the filter.
How is he doing btw?