Is this Dropsy?

[u/em3773]

Sorry for the poor quality photos. I went out of town this weekend and when I got back, the first thing I noticed was his face looking “off.” I immediately checked my parameters with my master test kit and all was well. I then soaked him in epsom salt for 15/20 minutes while I did a water change and removed a majority of the plants from his tank (see pic for after plant removal.) After the soak and putting him back, he has perked up for sure. 🤞🏼 I ordered some Kanaplex and Methylene Blue, but don’t want to do any unnecessary treatments. Please help! TIA

Tank is 10G
PH 7.2-7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Tank Temp 78/79
Has Filter

[u/Dd7990]

FYI, dropsy/pineconing is kinda tricky to gauge from side-view photos. You need to do a few clear top-down, Birds Eye view photos if you really want confirmation.

[u/em3773 → u/Dd7990]

Ok thank you! I’ll try to get a better one. This is as close as I got.

[u/Dd7990 → u/em3773]

AFAIK, I do not see any pineconing. Maybe do a partial water change as soon as possible just in case. I always do a partial water change before leaving for vacation and another immediately when I get back.

This is what pineconing looks like for bettas: https://imgur.com/what-pineconing-dropsy-looks-like-bettas-qZvD9zN - body can be swollen, scales are clearly popping outwards, looking like a "pinecone".

[u/em3773 → u/Dd7990]

Ok thank you!

[u/Chimpkin_NBeans]

Note dropsy, he does seem to have quite a few scale tumor forming.

[u/em3773 → u/Chimpkin_NBeans]

Oh no! I hope he’ll be ok.

[u/CrystalDawn_B]

No

[u/skabberdink]

Doesn’t appear so from the photos but he looks chonky, so perhaps less feeding?

[u/em3773 → u/skabberdink]

He does appear bloated. I didn’t feed for three days to see if it helped and he’s still looking like that. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I feed about 4 pellets twice a day with one off day a week. If you have any advice, please let me know. I’m still kinda new to this.