My Funny Picture - Are you a Betta expert? Sick betta

Are you a Betta expert? Sick betta - help!?

My betta is obviously sick, please help me figure out what is the issue and how to treat him. He has stopped swimming around actively as usual and mostly secures himself under the heater so he doesn't float at the surface. Sometimes he slips out and just floats at the surface limply (often on his side). He is still eating when I put food in. He perks up and comes around if I come to visit, but gets tired fast and has to float after. He is dull, has some fin rot going on, and some weird paleness to one side of his face/gills. Here are pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26569295@N04/...2457250/detail/ I'm sorry, but I didn't have a way to test for ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite at the time I noticed the illness. I could run a water sample to the pet store, but I have been doing water changes and if any was there it is likely gone now. I could go though if necessary. pH is 7.5 (I know I need to bring this down more to 7 but our water is stubborn and I don't want to do it too fast, any advice?) hardness of our water is 128 mg/L and alkalinity is 176mg/L, natural pH is 7.8. Tank size is 3.5 gallons (plastic), tank temp is 78°F , filtration is an Azoo Palm Filter for up to 5gals, frequency of cleaning is never - yeah, I know - I have basically just been replacing the water as it evaporates. The vacuum I have is too large for the tiny tank and I don't have hardly any time to do lengthily cleanings as I have 9 month old twins! Water additives used are - aquarium salt, Jungle Start Right, and Jungle Correct pH 7.0. Feeding him floating betta bits - 4/5 a day, no tank mates. He has always been healthy up to now. I've had him for a little over a year now. The only thing I've done so far to help him is a 50% water change with a tiny bit lower pH water and a little extra Start Right (b/c it has allotoin). I didn't want to treat him without knowing what I was doing. My last fish I treated with antibiotics and it seemed to make him worse. I do have some treatments on hand here - Maracyn, Maracyn II, Melafix, and Ick Clear Tank Buddies (tablets). Please let me know if you need any more info. to help out. Thank you so much!

Public Comments

i hate to be the one to tell you this but it is problem going to die they dont live for very long=( sorry
sounds like he is just getting to an older age. a little over a year is still about middle age for a betta, but if he has been in a big enough tnak to move around alot he could be hitting old age. my betta did all the same things jus tbefore he died, but he was about 3. keep the water clean and try getting dried blood worm food for more nutrients, and get some bettafix drops for treatment of the finrot. :) hope that helps.
Is he acting any better since the water changes? I think he looks a bit swollen/bloated as well. In one picture, it almost appears that may be what's causing the color loss, since it appears in the same area as the bloating is. First, stop using the salt. Only use aquarium salt if treating for parasites or if there's nitrites present in the tank. Also, stop using the ph adjusting product. Those are junk, and will actually cause more harm then good unless you know what you're doing by altering the ph. Usually, after using those products, the ph will bounce back where it was originally in a short time, causing further stress on the fish. Most fish will tolerate ph from 6.0-8.0 just fine. Leave it be what it's at naturally for your home. I would suggest picking up a smaller gravel vacuum for your tank size, and start doing weekly water changes. Even if the betta doesn't make it, if you plan on getting another, all fish really need to have their tanks cleaned out weekly. Without knowing what the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates were that very well may be what the probably was. All the symptoms you've described from the color loss, bloating, clamped fins, etc. can be signs of poor water quality. I would continue with the frequent water changes for the next few days. Then get on a weekly schedule. Pick up some epsom salt as well, and add a bit of that to the tank. I'd add about 1/2 teaspoon. Epsom salt helps with constipation, and also helps to draw fluids out. Aquarium salt retains fluids, so again, don't use that anymore unless treating for what I specified above. Also for the next few days, only feed him a small portion of the inside of a pea. That helps with constipation as well. That's all I would do at this point for treatment. If he's gonna make it, it'll be because of the improvement in water quality. If he's too far gone, the other stuff most likely won't help, and I don't see a need for using any med at this point since it really doesn't sound like a bacterial or parasite problem. Good luck!
It does sound like he has a bacterial infection. I also think that part of the way he is acting is due to the disease he has. I would put his disease down to the fact that you havent changed his water. Treat him for bacterial disease and he should come good. Try get a smaller piece of pipe for draining the water out or the problem will come about again. good luck
Okay, don't panic. You have multiple symptoms here so I will adress them one at a time. First, I see a swim bladder disorder. Bettas with a swim bladder disorder will have difficulty swimming, because their swim bladder (located alongside the spine between the belly and the tail) is either too short (causing them to not be able to swim horizontally) or it is swollen (causing them to float on one side). Double Tail bettas, because they have a shorter body, are especially prone to the “floaters” problem. In the case of a short swim bladder, the bettas will not be able to maneuver and swimming becomes so difficult, they prefer to just lay at the bottom, sliding on their bellies, which is why they are called “belly sliders”. And they do look like a pathetic bunch, at that point. :) TREATMENT: Bettas may recover on their own, but since overfeeding induces swimbladder disorders in most cases, the first thing to do is feed a lot less. Brine shrimp and too much of it is the biggest culprit, so if your bettas are bellysliding, stop the brine shrimp for a while and thereafter learn to have a more balanced diet, alternating brine shrimp with microworms or worms (depending on how old your bettas are). Do not kill a betta with a swimbladder disorder. It may recover on its own at any time, and is not suffering. Further more, the ailment is NOT contagious. To help the fish if it cannot eat, lower the water level. Adding some BettaMax to the water for a few weeks may not hurt either ;). Second- Bacterial infection due to poor water quality. Not changing filter media and not keeping up with weekly water changes is the leading cause for Bettas to develop internal or external bacterial infections. There is no excuse for poor water quality...NONE! We keep Bettas in relatively small aquariums. Changing 20% of 3.5 gallons weekly is only three quarts of water. How long does it take to fill and empty three Quart size jars? 10 minutes? Out of 10,080 minutes per week if we can't spare 10 minutes to change water then we can't spend 10 minutes veiwing the fish and it is pointless to own it. It was better off in the tiny cup in the store that it came from. They change 100% of the cups water daily! GENERAL INFO: If the betta‘s water becomes fouled with uneaten food and fish waste, if it is not well filtered or if the jars are not kept sparkling clean, bacterial bloom will promptly occur and infect your fish. Sometimes you keep the water clean and the fish still gets a bacterial infection!! >8[. Why? because bacteria is resident in your tap water, in the air, on your hands etc... Usually healthy bettas have their immune system to protect them against these attacks. But bettas with a deficient immune system (when a betta is stressed, because it was scared, or moved or shipped, its immune system will become deficient) will catch whatever is lurking in the water, including the bacteria. They will have a “bacterial infection”. SYMPTOMS: Betta may have clamped fins, lay at bottom or at surface, not eat, lose its color, turn gray, barely swim around. In more advanced cases, its body may start developing red patches, open sores and all kinds of nasty looking stuff. (Even holes in its head!! YIKES!!) Different bacteria affect fish differently. Some will attack the internal organs while others prefer to munch on the skin. TREATMENT: Do a full water change for jars or a 70% water change for tanks. (To get rid of some of the bacteria present). Clean filter, change filtering system, remove any uneaten food rotting, or any dead fish!!! Isolate any bettas with symptoms if in a community tank. You should also treat the whole tank. There is a wide variety of antibiotics available for fish. REMEMBER: Remove carbon from your filters before you add the meds!! The carbon would otherwise absorb all the medication and you would be flushing your money down the tube. Oh, and did I mention money?? Yes, brace yourself, cause your little fishies are gonna cost you a bundle, fish antibiotics can get pretty darn expensive - just as people's antibiotics are, as you well know!! If the sick bettas are small fries, I truly recommend using Tetracycline or Triple Sulfa combined with Fungus Eliminator or whatever you find at your store (look for “broad spectrum” antibiotics, though a good one is Kanamycin if you can find some). Follow manufacturer’s instructions and don’t stop the treatment until your bettas are well again. If betta is jarred, then as usual, figure out how much water your jar contains and divide the quantity of medication accordingly. Capsules are easier then tablets, because one can open a capsule and just sprinkle a tiny itsy bit of powder in jar or aquarium.
I don't want to sound preachy, but you should really try to get on top of those water changes. I know life gets really hectic sometimes, but as a pet owner your pet is completely dependent upon YOU for care. If you cannot give your pet, even if it is "just" a fish the care it needs, you should give it to somebody whom is better equipped to take care of it. Replacing the water that evaporates does nothing to remove the wastes that probably made your fish sick in the first place. I would not bother with the pH down. Bettas are very hardy fish and can survive a wide range of pH. What they cannot handle is /change/ in pH, so unless you are very careful to keep the pH EXACTLY the same, don't bother with the pH correcter. pH is an exponential quality, so a pH of 6 is ten times lower than a pH of 7. Chances are that your fish is better off at the high pH level. What probably happened is that a combination of poor water quality and perhaps changes brought about from pH fluctuations stressed him out and made him succumb to a bacterial infection. Your picture doesn't work for me...but I know that columnaris, which usually manifest itself as fuzzy growth, will occationally show up as pale splotches on the fishes body. Columnaris is a bacterial infection, and can be rapidly fatal, especially to a fish that is already weakened. I would start antibiotic treatment (maracyn II) ASAP. Chances are that the first fish you treated was simply too weak to deal with the treatment. I find that antibiotic food works better than "bath" style treatments that you add the water, but it's better to treat him sooner with the bath treatment. The fin rot (also caused by poor water conditions) will probably clear up by itself with good water conditions. I personally use aquarium salt in my tanks--it helps to ward off fungal infections. However this subject is debated in the hobby. Chances are that it is better to keep his conditions as stable as possible, sudden changes in salinity would probably stress him out...and hamper his immune system even more. Lastly, it sounds like he his having some swim bladder problems. This is usually caused by overfeeding, however some bettas have somewhat delicate digestive systems. I would try to fast him for a few days and see if he improves. It may be useful to soak his pellets in water before feeding them to him. Good luck :)