My pet fish,Beta Fish is...

Question
My pet fish,"Beta Fish" is sick!  He and his "buddies" share a 20 gallon fish tank.  He was our first fish, we slowly added the others.  We've  had Beta for 6 months.  His buddies are 4 neons, 4 tetras, I don't know what kind but they are purple with long orange tails (they seem to eat eachothers tails is this normal?) , 2 catfish, and a sucker fish.  They all get along great!  Beta is the only one that's sick.  I've been reading your e-mails, and I am pretty sure he is either constipated, or a much worse, has dropsy.   As his beta min sais to feed him 6-8 pellets up to twice a day, I'm hoping he is just constipated.  we only feed him apprx. 6 pellets once a day but he eats some of the other's food too.  How can I tell which is his problem?  They both seem to have similar symptoms.  He is swollen and his scales are sticking out.  His colors have faded some and he doesn't eat or swim around much.  It seems like he can't breathe, he gasps, and he has, excuse me for lack of a better word, poop hanging from his belly.  It appears hard for him to move at all!  We keep the tank at around 80 degrees.  There are 2 monitored heaters, and the tank has a light.  I'm not sure of the ph, amonia and nitrite levels.  Last time I checked about 1 month ago they were fine.  we have vaccumed the tank, and as I know know, unwisely treated for parasites before we knew what the problem was bec. we saw a worm thing in the tank.  Sorry for rambling, I'm just very worried about him and want you to know every detail.  Please help!  We bought the little guy bec. he looked so sad in his 1 inch of water a t walmart.  Since then we've spoiled him as relentlessly as a fish can be, a big and equipped tank with cool stuff, buddies, and food.

Thanks for anything that may help,

Melissa

Answer
Hi Melissa;

Oh, it's not good at all I'm afraid. Poor Beta Fish has dropsy. Dropsy is not actually a disease itself, but is a symptom. It can be caused from organ failure, internal infection, genetic deformity, injury, etc. Even if the disease that caused the dropsy is treatable, once the fish gets swollen with the scales out they are just too sick to save. The damage the original disease caused is irreversible. I wish I had better news. If he is suffering and you want to consider euthanasia (putting him to sleep) below are some links to helpful articles. It is a very personal decision and I hope I haven't offended you by offering the following sites..........

http://www.fishjunkies.com/euthanization.php
http://www.vetcentric.com/magazine/magazineArticle.cfm?ARTICLEID=1387
http://www.gsas.org/Articles/1999/title-euthanasia.html
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-most-humane-way-to-euthanize-a-fish.htm

Sincerely;
Chris Robbins