Aspirating a Betta with Dropsy

With our Betta fish pretty much at death’s door, we decided it was worth a shot to aspirate him to relieve his swelling. This is the document of the procedure, which was successful at removing the bulk of dropsy related fluid. 2 weeks post operation, he is doing pretty well and shows no signs of infection. Hopefully he’ll make a full recovery. If we had to do it all again, we should have definitely worn surgical gloves (instead of just an intense hand scrub) and potentially added more anesthesia. UPDATE: the actual total amount of fluid drawn was .5 ml not 70ml! DISCLAIMER: The following procedure was performed by amateur fish keepers with no training and no veterinary background. We are sharing this as a record of the procedure, and it’s for anyone who might find this information beneficial. Please be aware of all the risks involved in sedating and aspirating a fish if you attempt to perform this procedure yourself.