I think My betta is dieing..

Question

My red fishy(:   QUESTION: Okay when we got her she was healthy she is a female veiltail betta.. But then about 2 weeks later I started seeing flakes on her and she somehow started getting them on my other 2 betas that is inside the tank with her ( a purple male,and a black female beta). I raised the Heat in the tank  and i isolated her from the rest. The 2 other betas that had just a little flakes went away and we cleaned the tank. The female that we isolated has gotten worse she is bloated so much that her skin is tearing and she has a open soar on top of her eye. she has lost her red color completely and she is filled with flakes everywhere. I don't know what to do help.

ANSWER: Lilina,

To start, there should never be more than one Betta in a tank. They are solitary and need to stay that way. If you still have the male and other female in the same tank, please remove one immediately.

With the sick Betta, is her skin tearing or does it look like her scales are popping off. If they are "popping off" then she has whats called Dropsy. Look at her from above. If she looks like a pine cone, let me know. Unfortunately there is no cure for Dropsy. It is almost always fatal. All you can do is either use euthanasia or you can try to make her life a bit easier. If it is Dropsy, lower the water level so that she doesn't have to struggle to get air. Keep a heater on her. I will wait to hear from you about the "pine cone" looking scales. If it is not that, then we can find the problem and try to help her.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: When i woke  i looked at her to see her and she has a Poping eye out! And yes, now that i look at her, her  scales are like a pine tree. She looks bad. She doesn't eat, only comes  up to breathe, and is looking even sicker. Its just i don't know. Do you think she will survive because i don't want her to suffer. She was my little red baby):

And the female and the male are doing fine... its a big tank and the male is aggressive but i think they are playing?? Because the male shows off himself to her. I don't mind if the have babies I've researched enough to know what to do if they have any. But he hasn't made a Bubblenest. But they are happy the female goes up and down and side to side likes she is dancing(: The male does that too. The female has been doing that ever since my red female left? so she is happy...? when they start to get too aggressive i will separrate them. But please. Huhh my little red Beta is suffering.

Answer
Lilina,


  Pop Eye is yet another symptom of Dropsy, but by the time they get that, the disease well well into the body. It is my advice that you euthanize her. If you don't really want to, you can add a little aquarium salt to her water. Never more than 1 teaspoon per gallon. Dissolve the salt before adding it to  her water, if you don't the salt will burn her. The salt helps relieve some of the bloating. Drop the water level to make it easier for her to get to the top for air. You can add a plant, fake or real, that has large leaves. She will use it like a hammock. Dropsy is not really a disease, it is an internal bacteria infection, cause by poor water quality. I see you care for fish and I will be honest. Dropsy is preventable almost 100%. If the water quality is bad, your fish suffer. They cannot tell you the water is bad, so therefore you must test it weekly. By the time your fish show any sign of disease, it is advanced. You will get a heads up that a problem is going to happen just be testing the water. Ammonia and nitrites and nitrates are a fish killer. Since you have 2 other Betta's in that tank, i suggest you get a water testing kit. You can also take a sample of your tank water to your local fish store and they can test for you. I don't ever depend on the fish store, so I test my own.  

Now for the other 2 Betta's. They are NOT playing. He is a very aggressive fish and you might think they are getting along but unless you are willing to watch them the ENTIRE time they are in the tank together, I would remove one right away. They are called Siamese Fighting Fish for a reason. Betta's are their happiest when they are solitary. When you add another, then territory issues are brought in. That aquarium is HIS home in his eyes, not hers. Set the heater at 82 degrees. Betta's can and will get sick if they don't have a heater. When you do your 25% water changes every week, I hope you are using a good water conditioner. You need one that removes ammonia, chlorine, and other chemical that are in tap water. If you don't, the fish will get sick and possibly die.

They make bubbles nest for 2 reasons. 1. breeding, the other because they are happy. I have 7 boys all in their own tanks, and all 7 make me bubble nests. I even have to move the nests around just to feed them. Even my girls are making nests. That is a sign of very happy, healthy, and content Betta's. If you have not seen a nest yet, that is another clue that one needs to be removed. I would remove the female not the male.
Swimming up and down, or side to side is a sign of stress.  If you look at her close enough, you will see a horizontal stripe sometimes 2. If those stripes are there, another sign she is stressed. I can see the stripes on the sick fish.

As far as the breeding. If that is ok to you if they do, are you prepared? You will have to have a tank for the female to go to after all the eggs have been released. Then 2 days later, you will have to have a tank for the male to go to. The breeding tank, or the tank they are in now, can be no less then a 10 gallon. In about 2 to 3 months, you will have to have enough containers for each fry. That is one fry per container. She can lay up to 500 eggs. That is 500 containers, 500 heaters, and enough live food to sustain the fry for 7 months 3 times a day. Please, make sure you can provide all of that BEFORE you put the male and female together. I know how difficult it is breeding the Betta fish. I have been breeding for awhile, and what I read and what happened were not often the same thing.
Reading about breeding them, and actually breeding, are not even close to being the same.