Dropsy? Worms?

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Hi Guys,

One of my Siamese Fighting Fish has a swollen belly...like grossly swollen! It's just his belly though and there is no pineconing of his scales, so I'm not really sure if it's dropsy or not. He otherwise looks fine; he's still eating (although I've cut back his rations) and active and being sociable. And he's not constipated or showing any swimbladder symptoms.

When I did his water change yesterday, I did add some plain salt as I was really unsure what else I could do. Would epson salts have been a better choice? And if so, how much should I add?

Today I've noticed that his poos are much lighter (almost white) and a lot longer and thinner than usual. This is a syptom of worms isn't it? Anyone know what type? And what I can do to treat them?

Ive had a bit of a hunt around on the net for info, but anything I found to do with dropsy was either a bit vague or totally conflicting...so any help would be greatly appreciated :).

Thanks!!

Jenny

[sammigold]

Hi Jenny, I would try epsom salts at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 40 litres.

If you think its a worm based problem you will need to go to a LFS to get appropriate treatment.

I would try the salts first.

How long have you had him? What do you feed him? What water parameters is he in? These are all questions that may help diagnose the problem.
Also if you are interested there is a betta forum that you can jump to from the "latest news" section of this forum that may be able to help too.... here is the link.
Good Luck!!!
http://www.bettaforums.com/

sammi

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Hi Sammi,

Yeah...I did the rounds of the LFS's on Monday until I hit one with someone who seemed to know what they were talking about. He was pretty sure it was worms and advised me to treat with Prazi which I've now done. I've just finished doing the post-treatment water change and will treat again in seven days.

One question though...does anyone know when the bloating will go down if the Prazi has worked? He's still bloated so I'm wondering if it did actually work.

And thanks for the link to the Betta boards, but Discus people are just so friendly and knowledgeable that I thought I'd try here first :D . I'm a wannbe Discus keeper and am trying to learn as much as I can before taking the plunge :wink: .

Thanks!!

Jenny

[sammigold]

Not a problem with asking us discus heads as most of us keep other fish also...
I am not sure about the bloating... sorry! Hopefully someone else will be able to help with that... It may take a little while for him to expel the worms.

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Hi Sammi,

Thanks for your reply :).

Ummm...will I be able to see the worms when he expels them, or are they too small? If they are too small to see; how will I know when he's expelled them? And why is it that no matter what pet I have I always end up preoccupied with what's coming out of it's back end?!!

Also, I'm pretty sure I heard or read somewhere that your fish can get worms if you feed too many blood worms. Is this correct? I feed him with a rotation of several different brands of "Betta Bites" in the morning and frozen blood worms in the evening...do you think that's too often? He absolutely adores them and when I've tried to feed him frozen brine shrimp for variety he just spits them out. Flakes and frozen Daphnia get a look of disgust...lol.

And to answer your other previous questions...he's kept in a six litre cube with a heater set at 25*C and a mini sponge filter. I don't actually test his water parameters because I change 100% of the water weekly (usually all at once) and use Betta water conditioner which treats chlorine, chloromines, heavy metals and ammonia. Our tap water is PH 7.

Thanks again!

Jenny

[sammigold]

Hi Jenny,
I would think that if he had worms you would see them especially when he is in a small environment...

Maybe he doesnt have worms....

I have read also that blood worms can cause worms but I thought it was live blood worms I thought you were pretty safe with frozen ones....

is he still bloated? He may have a digestive issue or something bacterial rather than worm related?
Is he behaving normally other than that? Eating well? swimming well?

could he be just Fat? maybe you are feeding him too much...? I only feed my fighter once a day...(maybe Im a bit mean?)

I am not sure what to suggest... If he doesnt look "sick" I would be inclined to just continue with good water change regimen and maybe add some salt (cooking or rock salt not table salt) at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 40 litres so in a 6 litre tank maybe a quarter of a teaspoon.... you could also try epsom salts at the same rate (they can help with digestive and swimbladder issues)

Im not sure what else to suggest.... HTH

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Hi Sammi,

Well, I spent the afternoon trying to get a good pic of him and after a couple of hours have decided fish photography is not my gift! The photo attached was the best that I could get, but honestly it doesn't really show the true distention of his belly area....sigh.

Okay...do I overfeed him? Probably, yes... Is he just fat? Well, I thought so at first, but then it got worse and it is now really something else. If I've done this to him with too much food then I should be shot!! Does he have any digestive issues? No, I don't think so... He's not constipated (although as I mentioned earlier his poos aren't normal for him--hence the thought of worms) and his swim bladder seems fine, because even though he looks like he should just be floating, he's actually swimming okay. I think the size of his stomach makes maneuvering a little awkward, but other than that, he's still happily swimming round his tank and still occasionally flaring at his friend in the mirror. He has been a little lethargic these last few days...but then he'll come good an have a burst of energy again.

I've added salt to his his water and it's been in there since last Saturday. The guy at the LFS said I could treat with Prazi without removing the salt, so I did. In desperation, when I did the post-Prazi water change I added some Pimafix along with the salt just in case it was something bacterial. I guess my next step will be to try epson salts.

I'm worried sick that it's dropsy and that he has internal damage, but so far there has been no pine coning of his scales. Just swelling. He pretty much looks like he's about to burst!

I've cut his rations back...still twice a day but less than he was getting. He's not impressed as this fish is basically a little piggy with fins! He just hangs about at the spot where I feed him waiting for more..lol. I'd swear he was pouting at me if I didn't know better!

Anyway, thanks for all your suggestions :) . If you think of anything else...I'm all ears!

Regards

Jenny

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Bugger! The pic didn't come through on my previous post. I'll get it up as soon as I work out how...

Jenny