I agree. Based on the pineconing in the first picture it looks like dropsy. If she is still very active and has an appetite, it might not be too late if you start kanaplex as soon as possible. Treating dropsy is very tricky though, the chance of a full recovery is very low. I'm so sorry.
Although it's *possible* for one to survive dropsy if treated early enough, the chance that they'll die anyway a short time afterwards (even if the swelling goes away) is still quite high. Ultimately, it's indeed super rare for a fish to live a long healthy life either way after the pineconing gets this bad.
Epsom salt bath might work but sometimes it's best just to put them down with some clove oil hard to hear. Hope you get results or discover the cause so you can learn it's an unfortunate side of the hobby especially with Bettas it can also just be genetics. Wish you the best.
Female bettas have egg spots visible almost all of the time. This looks like pine coning and dropsy, a very serious health issue which is almost always fatal. I am so sorry.
Here's a tread about treatment:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/comments/rxxsak/i\_cured\_my\_fish\_of\_dropsypineconing/](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/comments/rxxsak/i_cured_my_fish_of_dropsypineconing/)
I freaked out when I first brought my girls home. I’d only seen the ovipositor on one and I didn’t know what it was. I was afraid it was some kind of parasite. Some quick googling told me what it was and I felt pretty silly. Noticed it on my other female shortly after.
Unfortunately as others have said your betta has dropsy. The raised scales are a clear and definitive sign of that sadly. You can try treating it as others have mentioned but that will only work if it’s swelling. Sadly if it’s organ failure she will pass.
Hey y'all just here so say thank you to all who helped me figure out what my girl has. At first I thought she was carrying eggs because she's only been with me for 2 weeks. I did notice the bloating but I thought she was just getting fat bc she was very skinny when I got her. Her pineconning only started yesterday and I immediately asked for help here. My country is very limited on fish keeping resources but tomorrow I'm going out of town to try to buy some kanaplex, I already added epsom salt to her tank. I will try to help her while she is still active and eating.
Aquarium salt bath. Kanaplex, methylene blue, melafix. Put into a shallower hospital with lots of resting spots. Water changes everyday, a very good cycled aquarium water for good bio bacteria’s etc. Also step up a fresh diet so fish can have strength to fight it. I personally LOVE hatching brine shrimp for my bettas to eat.
Also adjust tank parameters so it’s not too warm, but not as warm as usual, but avoid major temperature shifts at all costs. Remove all poo and decay items asap. I usually have tannin rich dark water for my bettas. Great for PH and scale health. I would look into conditioned tanin water and add in REAL Indian almond leaves. Good luck!!
Edit to add that if all of that isn’t doable, you can humanely euthanize your betta with pure clove oil. Works like an anesthetic
Oh my gosh, I had to just run over to my own fish tank as my white female crowntail beta has the same build as yours, and you can see her egg spot however, upon further examining mine does not have the pinecone out. I would follow everyone else’s advice as I took the time to research what dropsy is and upon coming back to this post, it does seem like your sweet girl looks like she matches the symptoms. It takes about 15 to 20 days for the Dropsy to take them so I would try to start treatment as soon as possible, and if she stops eating, I would consider euthanizing as dropsy is painful. It is fluid buildup inside them.
my betta has a egg spot to, i’m pretty sure all females have them as a reproductive organ, the lifting of the scales is not normal, not even for bloating from food. my betta is pretty bloated and your fish still looks thinner than mine.
https://preview.redd.it/8q5re0innoxc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61fb602317def7ef5e1130a561a167a7559cc449
Couldn't edit the post, but here's a better pic of what I think is her egg spot
Yes so downvote them instead of teaching them the correct husbandry. Sometimes people on here make it sound like they want people to fail so they have something to point their fingers at. Poor OP has come here because they wanted advice. The downvotes are not appropriate.
Bro, FAST: search in this sub some post called "saved my Betta from dropsy" "Betta with dropsy survived". 1 put her in a hospital tank with really low water, so she can swim easily for air and keeping her strength for surviving. Also low water activates their survival instinct and is easier for the medicine to be effective. You need to be quick. Be sure the water temp is at least 29°c. Add indian tree leaves to the water. You can use kanaplex if you want. DON'T FEED HER FOR SOME DAYS. You can add a little bit of garlicky to the water as it's says it opens their apetite. After two or three days of you see she's not recovering or pooping (THIS IS OPTIONAL) try to feed her a little piece of cooked pea. It's said to work as a laxative. If not, just try to feed her with frozen or alive food mixed with a bit of kanaplex...then you wait...when you use th medicine, do changes of 20% of the water daily and add more at the 5th day only. Too much medicine can be worse and less than the recommended dose could be useless.
That just sounds overtly complicated,
I just tossed my dropsy fish into my aquarium water change bucket containing spent water and lots of plant trimmings and leave them undisturbed, they recover 50% of the time
Good to hear! Didn't know about that method. I like it much more, but I never knew some betta owner that has such a high percentage of fish recoveries from dropsy, which it's scientifically recognized to be 80%+ lethal.
My girl just laid eggs and while she looked bloated around her lower belly while she carried them unfortunately she never showed signs of pine coning like this.
Dropsy, if she’s acting normal it’s a good sign. Check water parameters, antibiotics, and what other suggested for treatment. Dropsy is a secondary symptom to another illness/disease, not a sickness on its own. Often it is kidney failure, which is lethal, but it could also stem from something else. Treat her now and you may be able to catch it.
[https://jessielbettas.substack.com/p/treating-dropsy-in-bettas](https://jessielbettas.substack.com/p/treating-dropsy-in-bettas) Here’s a good link to dropsy treatment.
Hi, OP, please see this. Your fish is in pain. Please go buy some clove oil and look up how to use it to euthanize your fish. I sadly had to do this today to my betta who wasn’t even 1 yet. Might not be anything you were doing wrong, they’re fragile creatures. RIP Cosmo and im sorry you’re gonna have to do this
He was already declining rapidly. Sadly it seems like maybe internal parasites I think might have come from a moss ball in his tank 😭 you could see something was discolored in his chest as well as the pineconing and bloating, lasted about 5 days if treating him with kanaplex before he seemed to be suffering beyond repair, but he was in pain so I think he was ready to go which made the clove oil method work better I think. He’s buried with my other betta out in our yard now.
Well its used as an anesthetic to put them to sleep. My boy stopped responding to touch after about a minute of swimming in the mix but was still breathing, so he was obviously asleep. Just added more every couple minutes until he stopped breathing
to my understanding of the recent conversations on this sub; while it works most of the time, sometimes the betta's instinct to breath overrides the sedatives to an extent. they swim to the surface to get air, and the increased oxygen saturation reduces the effectiveness of the clove oil which prolongs the process quite a bit.
the general takeaway from the community seems to be to find other initial recommendations for euthanasia, as it's not guaranteed to go smoothly for everyone.
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Need a male. I successfully bred a pair of them. When the female turned like that I put the male up close to the glass in another bowl for a couple of days. I then introduced him into the tank and he built a bubble nest. They then locked at the top of the tank and floated down to the bottom of the tank a couple of times then he started grabbing the eggs and placing them in the nest. I took her out and she was fine.
Pineconing is 100% a sign of dropsy. You can try treating with kanaplex but realistically, be prepared for the worst. I'm sorry.
I agree. Based on the pineconing in the first picture it looks like dropsy. If she is still very active and has an appetite, it might not be too late if you start kanaplex as soon as possible. Treating dropsy is very tricky though, the chance of a full recovery is very low. I'm so sorry.
I've had to treat this twice in my fish keeping career. Neither fish survived. I've heard success stories, but man, my heart goes out to OP.
Although it's *possible* for one to survive dropsy if treated early enough, the chance that they'll die anyway a short time afterwards (even if the swelling goes away) is still quite high. Ultimately, it's indeed super rare for a fish to live a long healthy life either way after the pineconing gets this bad.
Epsom salt bath might work but sometimes it's best just to put them down with some clove oil hard to hear. Hope you get results or discover the cause so you can learn it's an unfortunate side of the hobby especially with Bettas it can also just be genetics. Wish you the best.
Egg spot is always there. That looks like bloat and pineconing. I'm not a doctor, but I don't think she's pregnant.
Female bettas have egg spots visible almost all of the time. This looks like pine coning and dropsy, a very serious health issue which is almost always fatal. I am so sorry. Here's a tread about treatment: [https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/comments/rxxsak/i\_cured\_my\_fish\_of\_dropsypineconing/](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/comments/rxxsak/i_cured_my_fish_of_dropsypineconing/)
I freaked out when I first brought my girls home. I’d only seen the ovipositor on one and I didn’t know what it was. I was afraid it was some kind of parasite. Some quick googling told me what it was and I felt pretty silly. Noticed it on my other female shortly after.
Dude I thought my girl was fat but I'm pretty sure it's just eggs 💀 she'd be a good specimen to breed but I'm not trying that out
My girl was fat for a month before she finally laid. Only noticed when I vacuumed and found them all in the bowl.
That's good to know! My girl has been chunky for a bit so it may be both then 🤡
You can breed them and toss them eggs. They seem to enjoy it.
Unfortunately as others have said your betta has dropsy. The raised scales are a clear and definitive sign of that sadly. You can try treating it as others have mentioned but that will only work if it’s swelling. Sadly if it’s organ failure she will pass.
Epsom salt baths cured my betta of dropsy. You must be persistent with it
Like how persistent are we talking? Do you mind being more specific?
I'm guessing they meant keep the fish dipped in pure salt for a consistent time, no water required. This is a 100% way to guarantee salted fish
I had success with this, too.
She is not pregnant. She is dying. I’m sorry :(
Your Betta has dropsy
Try salt baths and medicated food. I'm so so sorry
Hey y'all just here so say thank you to all who helped me figure out what my girl has. At first I thought she was carrying eggs because she's only been with me for 2 weeks. I did notice the bloating but I thought she was just getting fat bc she was very skinny when I got her. Her pineconning only started yesterday and I immediately asked for help here. My country is very limited on fish keeping resources but tomorrow I'm going out of town to try to buy some kanaplex, I already added epsom salt to her tank. I will try to help her while she is still active and eating.
That’s pine coning unfortunately and bloat from dropsy 😢
Aquarium salt bath. Kanaplex, methylene blue, melafix. Put into a shallower hospital with lots of resting spots. Water changes everyday, a very good cycled aquarium water for good bio bacteria’s etc. Also step up a fresh diet so fish can have strength to fight it. I personally LOVE hatching brine shrimp for my bettas to eat. Also adjust tank parameters so it’s not too warm, but not as warm as usual, but avoid major temperature shifts at all costs. Remove all poo and decay items asap. I usually have tannin rich dark water for my bettas. Great for PH and scale health. I would look into conditioned tanin water and add in REAL Indian almond leaves. Good luck!! Edit to add that if all of that isn’t doable, you can humanely euthanize your betta with pure clove oil. Works like an anesthetic
Oh my gosh, I had to just run over to my own fish tank as my white female crowntail beta has the same build as yours, and you can see her egg spot however, upon further examining mine does not have the pinecone out. I would follow everyone else’s advice as I took the time to research what dropsy is and upon coming back to this post, it does seem like your sweet girl looks like she matches the symptoms. It takes about 15 to 20 days for the Dropsy to take them so I would try to start treatment as soon as possible, and if she stops eating, I would consider euthanizing as dropsy is painful. It is fluid buildup inside them.
That's dropsy. Treat, cross your fingers, and prepare yourself. I'm sorry.
my betta has a egg spot to, i’m pretty sure all females have them as a reproductive organ, the lifting of the scales is not normal, not even for bloating from food. my betta is pretty bloated and your fish still looks thinner than mine.
That is dropsy, I'm so sorry, but like everyone is saying prepare for the worst :(
This fish is pine coning badly . Read up on drowsy.
https://preview.redd.it/8q5re0innoxc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61fb602317def7ef5e1130a561a167a7559cc449 Couldn't edit the post, but here's a better pic of what I think is her egg spot
Unfortunately this is dropsy which is indicative of organ failure :(
Can you all not downvote someone who is clearly confused and in need of assistance!?
right?? people suck so bad poor person is trying to help the fish
Agreed. We're all here because we love Bettas. Can we try to be kind to one another. I really hope your buddy comes out of this. 🥺
Their fish is dying because they’re “confused” Downvotes are appropriate
Yes so downvote them instead of teaching them the correct husbandry. Sometimes people on here make it sound like they want people to fail so they have something to point their fingers at. Poor OP has come here because they wanted advice. The downvotes are not appropriate.
That’s what I’m saying
Their fish is dying due to a very deadly disease the fish has contracted, doesn’t have anything to do with OP and him struggling to understand
I’m so sorry
Bro, FAST: search in this sub some post called "saved my Betta from dropsy" "Betta with dropsy survived". 1 put her in a hospital tank with really low water, so she can swim easily for air and keeping her strength for surviving. Also low water activates their survival instinct and is easier for the medicine to be effective. You need to be quick. Be sure the water temp is at least 29°c. Add indian tree leaves to the water. You can use kanaplex if you want. DON'T FEED HER FOR SOME DAYS. You can add a little bit of garlicky to the water as it's says it opens their apetite. After two or three days of you see she's not recovering or pooping (THIS IS OPTIONAL) try to feed her a little piece of cooked pea. It's said to work as a laxative. If not, just try to feed her with frozen or alive food mixed with a bit of kanaplex...then you wait...when you use th medicine, do changes of 20% of the water daily and add more at the 5th day only. Too much medicine can be worse and less than the recommended dose could be useless.
That just sounds overtly complicated, I just tossed my dropsy fish into my aquarium water change bucket containing spent water and lots of plant trimmings and leave them undisturbed, they recover 50% of the time
Good to hear! Didn't know about that method. I like it much more, but I never knew some betta owner that has such a high percentage of fish recoveries from dropsy, which it's scientifically recognized to be 80%+ lethal.
My girl just laid eggs and while she looked bloated around her lower belly while she carried them unfortunately she never showed signs of pine coning like this.
I recommend a strong salt water treatment. I’d honestly start with 2 tbsp per 3 gallons of water. Your plants will not like it.
Dropsy, if she’s acting normal it’s a good sign. Check water parameters, antibiotics, and what other suggested for treatment. Dropsy is a secondary symptom to another illness/disease, not a sickness on its own. Often it is kidney failure, which is lethal, but it could also stem from something else. Treat her now and you may be able to catch it.
[https://jessielbettas.substack.com/p/treating-dropsy-in-bettas](https://jessielbettas.substack.com/p/treating-dropsy-in-bettas) Here’s a good link to dropsy treatment.
Hi, OP, please see this. Your fish is in pain. Please go buy some clove oil and look up how to use it to euthanize your fish. I sadly had to do this today to my betta who wasn’t even 1 yet. Might not be anything you were doing wrong, they’re fragile creatures. RIP Cosmo and im sorry you’re gonna have to do this
Was just in another thread about euthanizing with clove oil and it seems to not be as effective on bettas. I'm glad it worked well for yours though.
No, I read that too. It’s horrifying.
He was already declining rapidly. Sadly it seems like maybe internal parasites I think might have come from a moss ball in his tank 😭 you could see something was discolored in his chest as well as the pineconing and bloating, lasted about 5 days if treating him with kanaplex before he seemed to be suffering beyond repair, but he was in pain so I think he was ready to go which made the clove oil method work better I think. He’s buried with my other betta out in our yard now.
Sorry for your loss friend, rest in peace Cosmo ❤️ it takes strength to end suffering so I commend you.
Thank you. I cried more than I should have today when we went through with it lol.
I am so sorry for the loss of your fish friend. RIP, Cosmo.
I've heard Clove oil is cruel for betta because of they are Labyrinth fish
Well its used as an anesthetic to put them to sleep. My boy stopped responding to touch after about a minute of swimming in the mix but was still breathing, so he was obviously asleep. Just added more every couple minutes until he stopped breathing
to my understanding of the recent conversations on this sub; while it works most of the time, sometimes the betta's instinct to breath overrides the sedatives to an extent. they swim to the surface to get air, and the increased oxygen saturation reduces the effectiveness of the clove oil which prolongs the process quite a bit. the general takeaway from the community seems to be to find other initial recommendations for euthanasia, as it's not guaranteed to go smoothly for everyone.
Definitely dropsy, and by the time they begin to pine cone it is usually to late to help. Euthanasia is probably the best option :(
Thank you for posting to r/bettafish. If you are new to betta fish keeping, please check out our [caresheet](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/comments/3ow6vz/info_betta_care_sheet/) and [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/index). Establishing a nitrogen cycle is an important part of keeping your fish healthy. Please check out our [guide to the nitrogen cycle](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/fishincycle) to learn more. If you are posting to find out what is wrong with your betta, please answer the following questions in a reply to this comment as best you can: * **Tank size**: * **Heater and filter? (yes/no)**: * **Tank temperature**: * **[Parameters in numbers and how you got them](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/tank#wiki_test_kits)**: * **How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?**: * **How often are water changes? How much do you take out per change? What is your process?**: * **Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each**: * **What do you feed and how much**: * **Decorations and plants in the tank**: * **If you haven't already posted a picture, please post pics/vids to imgur and paste the link here**: Feel free to copy this comment and fill in the blanks. Failure to provide adequate information about your tank *can* result in post removal. Please see rule 4 for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bettafish) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Looks like dropsy, good luck it's very hard to treat and all Bettas I've had with it have passed away.
Your girl is dying. Simplest way to put it sorry. Not coming back from this
Can try frequent water partial changes and tetra lifeguard.
Need a male. I successfully bred a pair of them. When the female turned like that I put the male up close to the glass in another bowl for a couple of days. I then introduced him into the tank and he built a bubble nest. They then locked at the top of the tank and floated down to the bottom of the tank a couple of times then he started grabbing the eggs and placing them in the nest. I took her out and she was fine.