# pineconing/dropsy



## Imbrium (Feb 7, 2005)

Is there anything that could cause pineconing scales besides dropsy? One of my bettas (smaragdina) has developed pineconing over her entire body within the past day. She doesn't look swollen at all, and she's still eating/acting normal. It just doesn't look like dropsy, but I can't imagine what else it could be.


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## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

My suggestion would be to make her comfortable as possible: Pristine water and proper temp. Feed her sparingly. She will probably get to the point that she doesn't eat. Give her a resting place where she can reach the surface easily and sit back and wait. As long as she is still active and eating, she is fighting it.

When it gets to the stage of pineconing, it is _almost_ always fatal. But, some fish do recover. Don't give up hope. I would not use any meds right now, because you really don't know what you are treating. 

Let us know how she is doing....


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## Imbrium (Feb 7, 2005)

Well, I think it is dropsy after all. She looks a bit different this morning. The last fish I had that got dropsy pulled through ok, so hopefully she'll make it too. She's actually been more active lately, seems less skittish than usual.


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## Imbrium (Feb 7, 2005)

Thanks for trying to help. I know what dropsy looks like, this just looked different. I think the problem was that I hadn't had her very long, so I didn't really get a chance to see how she looked without it. Anyways, she died.


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