Betta in a bad way

[Epona]

Firstly apologies, this'll be a long post...

 

So my little betta is 2 years, roughly 7 months and I've been told lifespan is anywhere between 2-5 years so I'm hoping he's not 'past it'...When I first got him he had fin rot, and it took an aggressive series of treatment with Furan2 to finally nix it and for the last 2 years, no problems at all, a really easy keeper...Except the occasional constipation, but that was easily dealt with, and the fact he's a tail biter but that always healed over again nice and quickly with no need for treatment.

About a couple months ago he decided to give himself a good going over and it just got crazy out of hand, fin rot set in again and progressed rapidly, his tail is in two pieces, completely up to the body in the middle and was starting at the very tip of his dorsal. Cue freak out. Tried the Melafix the store said would help, nothing. Resorted to the Furan2 again and it stopped it technically getting *worse*...But hasn't helped it get better.

I was doing a 50% change every 2 days to keep him as clean/ammonia free as possible, but he's not getting better, fin wise. And then he started to swell up and have real difficulty swimming. So right now I've got him in a lil floater in his tank so that he's nice and close to the surface which has helped, a bit. On store advice doing 90% changes every day, with tonic salt added (is that the same as Epsom salt?) He's in a 20L tank and getting 6 tsp per change which I thought was a heck of a lot but tail doesn't seem to be deteriorating anymore...But no sign of improvement, either. Really concerned about his swimming - he gives a mammoth effort to get up to the surface, takes his breath then just sinks back down again. He spends all day laying on his side or kind of propped against the side (his poor body in a U shape) of the mini tank (its one of those breeder/quarantine ones) taking what seems to be big breaths, sometimes fluttering his fins, sometimes not. He's terribly swollen and I thought at first he may have been having a swim bladder issue from constipation so I did what I've done in the past, starved him a day then given him a bit of pea (luckily he likes peas) - sounds terrible to be discussing fish bowel habits, but worse to know your fishes patterns lol..And this wasn't normal. The times I've had to give him a pea, he's had a big poo (he does massive ones, for his size) that looked exactly like they normally do, just green...This time it took 24 hours, and then he passed the peas, literally coming out the same way they went in. He didn't have a poo, he had a piece of pea. Well, 4 pieces of pea, looking just the same as I'd fed him, just a little paler. Is that normal?

And it didn't help, he's still bloated as anything. Still has his appetite but I'm hesitant to feed him (he had poo-peas yesterday and no food today) in case it makes it worse. I looked it up and he doesn't look 'pinecone' like (the best I can tell) so not sure if it's dropsy...His eyes are bulgy, but they've been bulgy all the time I've had him so I don't know if thats an underlying problem or just how he is?

 

I'm really not sure what to do for him to help him get better. He's in a bad way, and I feel even more sorry for him because in desperation I took everything out of his tank (he only had silk plants, nothing live) to try and keep it as clean as possible/make these water changes easier. I was told to do the big water changes/heavy salt for 10 days...He's on day 3. His temperature is pretty stable at 25C (it goes down a degree or 2 during a change) should it be higher or lower? He has a filter, set on its lowest flow as possible because he always struggled if he swam too close.

If anyone can give me some advice/suggestions I'd be really grateful. I can try and get a photo tomorrow but my camera is terrible so not sure how much help it will be.

[JaSa]

Sometimes saying “Goodbye” to end their suffering is the most loving decision that we can make for our pets.

[Adrienne]

From your description I would think he has had a stroke.  I had a female like that for months - probably six or seven before I used clove oil and put her down..

I don't believe tonic salt is the same as epsom salt, however tonic salt may have some epsom salt within the mix.

[Epona]

He's as active as he can be, given the swelling/two piece tail...He'll scoot himself along the length and 'pop up' if I lift the lid (expecting food)...When I was trying to take pictures just now he caught his reflection and 'sat' up, eyeballing it the way he would do with a mirror induced flare session (I only did that about once a month, for maybe 3-4 minutes...Move the mirror around to let him chase the intruder fish and finally scare it off)

 

Would it be better to try Epsom salt? Is there anything else I can do for him?

 

JaSa, I'm in full agreement with that, I've had to euthanise my dog and cat and it was hard but the right thing - but we did fight to keep them healthy and comfortable all their lives and I don't want to give up on wee fishy yet, if there is something I can do for him.