Betta Fish Is sick ?

Question
My fish scarlet isn't acting normal.He usually is very jumpy , happy and cant stop eating.Now he is the exact opposite.He refuses to eat,he does not swim around and when I go up to his tank he doesn't blow bubbles at me like the usuall.He has gotten very puffy,he is losing scales,and his fins are ripping and turning brownish.(He is a bright red thats its name).I need help.I'm very attatched to this fish!Could it be the water temprature?Can fish have diseases?What can I do to help it?

Answer
Hello Brianna-

I'm very sorry to have to say this, but Scarlet may have a case of Dropsy. Hopefully it's something else, but you need to know that once a fish develops Dropsy, it's almost always fatal.  :(  I'll do everything I can to help you help him, and after that all we can do is hope for the best.

Here are some pictures of Dropsy-fish:
http://www.flippersandfins.net/Images/DropsySide.jpg
http://www.flippersandfins.net/Images/dropsy2.JPG

Here are some steps you can take:

1. Buy a 1 gallon heater for his tank. Set it at 80 F (you can use a small $1 stick-on thermometer to measure this.)

2. Check the levels of ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites in his water (before you do a water change.) Ideally, these should be 0 - PETsMART will check a water sample for free and will offer further advice based on your results.

3. Add just a tiny pinch of Epsom salt to the water.

4. Add a dose of Melafix to the tank to help his fins grow back, if they are frayed.

5. Wrap the tank in a blanket to shield his from loud noise and light.

6. (optional and possibly expensive) Purchase an antibiotic, like kanamycin (KanaPlex) or minocycline (Maracyn-Two) - A cheaper alternative is QuickCure, but it's not as helpful in curing Dropsy as the other two antibiotics.

This is all I can think of - This treatment should bring Scarlet back to normal if he doesn't have Dropsy, and may save him if he does.

-Amber Worman