"carlrs" wrote in message
oups.com...


Check your kH, I recommend 80 ppm mostly as a check of calcium, which
is essential.

kH is a little low, but not bad. I have a color measurement for kH, so it
is a little subjective.


Your fish is old in beta years (depending how old your fish was when
you acquired him), so may be a factor here.

I assume he was about 6 months old when I got him. I'm going to call the
fish store and doublecheck. He definitely wasn't full grown back then.
Does fish age depend on the variety of betta? I'm hearing everything from 2
years to 5 years for lifespan of these fish so I don't understand. If he's
only 2 years in a tank with live plants, constant temperatures, and general
decent care, it makes me think we've fed him wrong.

A couple of medicine options:
Neomycin; neomycin is not absorbed by the intestinal tract and is
effective in treatment of diseases thereof. But Neomycin can damage the
kidneys as it is nephrotoxic, so this is a poor treatment choice for
Dropsy or similar diseases. Neomycin is very effective when used in
feeding again due to the fact that this antibiotic does not get
absorbed. This is my preferred way to treat with this antibiotic.

A bath in methylene blue for 30 minutes, I use methylene blue in a bath
where I add methylene blue at double the recommended dose for in tank
treatment (as per manufactures instructions) to a bath of about 16 oz.
of used tank water. Throw this water out when you are done (do not pour
this water back into the tank).


Is methylene blue useful for ridding a fish of disease, or is it a kind of
general fixer upper for things like constipation as well?

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. Oh, I should note that he did not have
much interest in eating bits of pea. He did take a pretty big piece, but
then spit it out about 30 seconds later. I don't know about his general
appetite as I haven't fed him for coming up on 2 days now. I don't know how
long to go without feeding. He's quite plump looking and I don't know if it
is some kind of internal infection, or constipation. I don't have anything
to put him in to see his stool, so maybe I need to pick up something for
that.

OK thanks again,
dwhite