bloated pineapple

[fernival brainard]

my betta looks like a bloated pineapple (scales poked out)....water parameters are fine ....been checking them for the last several days, everyday....

betta has one small red sore on his lower lip and it looks like his lips are a tad puffy, the sore is about the size of a pencil point...all other fish in the tank are fine.....although somewhat crowded....42 gal, opi gourami, choc. plec, silver dollar, 5-7 guppies, royal plec, dwarf red\blue gourami, blind cave tetra...and 2 flounders are the tank mates.

never seen this before....poor guy!

tried to get a pic but he won't come out of the bubbles so the pics don't turn out to good....


fern

[BMueller777]

All I can say is to remove that badboy quick before it spreads out.

[...KEP...]

Fern,
(I am such a liar. I couldn't help myself)
I think it's dropsy...I will email my sister and ask her what to do...she's got a bazillion bettas ( OK, only 18, but still, it's a lot)
K.

Is the whole body bloated like a pinecone with the scales sticking out, or is it just part of the body...I agree with BMueller777 about isolating your betta until we figure out what it is....I'm still waiting to hear back from my sis.
K.

[...KEP...]

I spoke with my sister today...if it is dropsy, it's not a good prognosis. Some people have had limited success using a medicated food that covers gram negative bacterial infections or if that is not available, try either Kanamycin or Maracyn Two...but it's really a roll of the dice unfortunately. I AM ABSOLUTELY not an expert, and I hope I am wrong. Hope your little guy is doing okay.
K.

[fernival brainard]

finally got a pic of little dude. sorry it's not the best but there is only so far that a cell phone and cut and paste from an email can take you....the sore on his mouth went away but as you can see he has a tumor\angry red sore that appeared on his back...scales are still pine-coned and he isn't eating much if anything but he still swims around from time to time, for a betta I would call the activity level normal. I have moved him into a ten gal. by himself and added some anti bacterial\fungal meds....something called bionix or something like that (med at home, I am at work) it's a yellow powder and you dose 1 tsp. per 25 gal of water....so we shall see what happens....

K- it varies....2 days ago all of him was bloated, the bloat isn't so bad now but his lips are still poking out. respiration seems a little out of the norm but not as bad as I have seen in other fish for varying reasons.

fern