Betta dying, any help appreciated

[Arok2092]

Hello AA, I have a betta who is dying, his name is Squirt. He lives in a 1.8 gallon aquarium. I've had him over a year and he is my buddy.

Tank Parameters: 6/30/13

pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20

I did a 50% after taking these parameters btw.

Tank Mates:
2 live plants
1 female fresh water fiddler crab
1 algae eater shrimp

The problems with squirt started a few days ago when he stopped eating. I usually feed him twice a day and then he started to only eat once a day if I was lucky. Besides that, he looked healthy and acted healthy. I woke up this morning to find him discolored and pineconing. I'm holding him in a net right now so that he can reach the surface easily and I would like to know if there is anything I can do to help him or at least help me find out if there is some problem I could of prevented.

Foods: I switch him between his foods every meal.
Which includes:
Nutrafin Max Flakes
Tetra Betta floating pellets
Tetra brand Freeze Dried Bloodworms
New Life Spectrum Thera + A Pellets

 

[Pawtrekker]

If a Betta is pineconing it usually means they have Dropsy. You can try putting Epsom salt in the water. 1 tsp per gallon. Do a 100% water change everyday. You can also try a salt bath but I do not have the knowledge of how to do that safely. You will have to look it up. I do hope you Bettas gets better but I believe Dropsy is almost always fatal. See what others say but I'd say try the Epsom salt.

 

[Arok2092]

Thanks for the reply, I've moved him into a net so that he can easily get to the surface to breathe.

Any ideas what might of gone wrong? I'm not sure about using epsom salt on him... I've tried it on several fish with dropsy before and it never helped.

Well I'll try to keep this topic updated if anyone else has any tips/ideas/suggestions/etc.

Anything would help.

 

[Pawtrekker]

Thanks for the reply, I've moved him into a net so that he can easily get to the surface to breathe.

Any ideas what might of gone wrong? I'm not sure about using epsom salt on him... I've tried it on several fish with dropsy before and it never helped.

Well I'll try to keep this topic updated if anyone else has any tips/ideas/suggestions/etc.

Anything would help.

I just read that maracyn and maracyn 2 are good antibacterial medications that you can use. That and salt baths are probably your best bet. I really wish I could tell you more. I do hope your Betta recovers.

 

[Arok2092]

thanks for that, I'm grateful for the advice, but I'm curious how marcyn 2 will help him out?

 

[Pawtrekker]

thanks for that, I'm grateful for the advice, but I'm curious how marcyn 2 will help him out?

I'm not real sure. I just looked up some treatments for Dropsy and one person said they recommend using maracyn and maracyn 2 together. The most recommended treatment I have found is the salt bath.

 

[Tieberion]

Well, if all else fails, and your sure death is near, if you have/can purchase an insulin (very fine) needle syringe you can try draining the area where the Edema build up is, you just have to be very, very gentle and accurate. Depending on what state you reside in, usually Vets in coastal states can perform the procedure comfortably with the fish in water by adding a mild anesthic too reduce stress. Hope your little buddy makes it.