Betta fish sick :(

Hello! I’ve recently bought two betta fish who where both in individual bowls without heaters or filters. This living situation they were in lasted about four days after doing intense research on betta care, which of course should’ve been done before, but I had my girlfriend convince me they were “easy” fish...far from it. Now they’re both in 6 gallon tanks with a heater and filter. The problems started then. My black mustard had 1/3 of his caudal fin missing when I bought him. The weird part is his fin was healing while he was in the bowl but now that I’ve transferred them to their own 6 gallon tank they’ve BOTH been getting sick. I initially thought it was fin rot, both their fins started receding so I’ve gone ahead and tried treating them with API Erythromycin. My blue one was lethargic and not eating before the treatment so I thought he was getting better, now he’s developed red on the white part of his fin. My black mustard has developed red streaks and receding fins as well. They’re only on the second day of dosing, is it possible that it could get worse before it gets better? Could it be septicemia instead?

Both fish where acclimated to the new tank correctly, there just wasn’t nitrogen cycle(SORRY!) due to what I mentioned at the start.

I just looked at the pictures and realized you can’t see the top of the dorsal fins, they are receding much faster than the rest. Don’t want to take anymore pictures as my red iPhone really freaks them out. Also the black mustard has developed red streaks along all fins that can’t really be seen in the pictures for some reason.

 

Blue one won’t stop being bloated tried fasting for a day and peas. Also gained a brownish color around gills and maybe eyes?

Blue bettas bloat hasn’t gone away and I haven’t fed him someone please...

 

Well your Betta buddies have moved several times in a short period of time. No one likes moving, much less over and over (I speak from personal and fish experience).
I’ve had to move fish more than once in a week and it rarely goes over well with the fish - just in that they’re stressed out to the max. So you need to be sure it’s as easy on them as possible every step of the way

Many folks have various ways of doing this but, if it were me...

I would stop using erythromycin. That is very strong for fin rot.
Do 1 75% wc (and I’m not a fan of big wc) then a 50% wc each day or every other day for several days.
Make sure to add in prime or stress coat for dechlorination and something like stress guard.
After wc add in proper dosing of aquarium salt
Add in a tannin like Indian almond leaves or rooibos tea
Let them fast for several days.

Are your filters too strong? They don’t need a strong current and the pull can harm them and stress them out.
Did you use a bio booster to make sure the new tanks were ready?
do you have parameters?
take a deep breath. We as caretakers can way overdo it for our little friends.

 

Well your Betta buddies have moved several times in a short period of time. No one likes moving, much less over and over (I speak from personal and fish experience).
I’ve had to move fish more than once in a week and it rarely goes over well with the fish - just in that they’re stressed out to the max. So you need to be sure it’s as easy on them as possible every step of the way

Many folks have various ways of doing this but, if it were me...

I would stop using erythromycin. That is very strong for fin rot.
Do 1 75% wc (and I’m not a fan of big wc) then a 50% wc each day or every other day for several days.
Make sure to add in prime or stress coat for dechlorination and something like stress guard.
After wc add in proper dosing of aquarium salt
Add in a tannin like Indian almond leaves or rooibos tea
Let them fast for several days.

Are your filters too strong? They don’t need a strong current and the pull can harm them and stress them out.
Did you use a bio booster to make sure the new tanks were ready?
do you have parameters?
take a deep breath. We as caretakers can way overdo it for our little friends.

Thank you for the response, I’ll stop the erythromycin right away. I’ve already been doing 25% water changes the past two days and did a 50% today. I’ve been using stress coat for dechlorination and will purchase stress guard tomorrow along with the almond leaves. I didn’t want to go to the aquarium salt route as I have live plants in their tanks but if I have to I’ll put their plants in their old bowls until I’m done with the salt treatment.

The filters are definitely not too strong as I added a baffle and I’ve seen them stay completely still in front of their filters. I have not been able to go buy a test kit for the parameters but I’m sure the ammonia is low as they haven’t eaten (because I haven’t fed them) or pooped (gave them pea chunks and still nothing). Not sure as to the pH. And no as I mentioned it was too late for me to add bio boosters or let my tank cycle.(Wasn’t informed )

 

Thank you for the response, I’ll stop the erythromycin right away. I’ve already been doing 25% water changes the past two days and did a 50% today. I’ve been using stress coat for dechlorination and will purchase stress guard tomorrow along with the almond leaves. I didn’t want to go to the aquarium salt route as I have live plants in their tanks but if I have to I’ll put their plants in their old bowls until I’m done with the salt treatment.

The filters are definitely not too strong as I added a baffle and I’ve seen them stay completely still in front of their filters. I have not been able to go buy a test kit for the parameters but I’m sure the ammonia is low as they haven’t eaten (because I haven’t fed them) or pooped (gave them pea chunks and still nothing). Not sure as to the pH. And no as I mentioned it was too late for me to add bio boosters or let my tank cycle.(Wasn’t informed )

I know I never used bio boosters or had a properly cycled tank when I had aquariums years ago, and for the most part that was fine (kept the tanks spotless, had live plants, low load, etc). That being said I think they’re awesome and use small amounts in my newer tanks after most water changes. Fluvals bio boost worked great in my 45 to start (all of the parameters were spot on for a tank fully cycled within 24h), and seachems stability in my smaller tanks. (Just a thought if you can snag one now) Stresszyme from apI is ok too I believe, though it’s more of a questionable use to some.
Unless you have some incredibly unique and sensitive plants, you can dose with aquarium salts in a planted tank. Some may lose a few leaves but will grow back, some other plants you may find are happier with the low dose of salt here and there going forward. I’ve only had a couple of oddball plants that looked unwell with it and they were already soft at the roots. I have swords, crypts, anubias, aponogeton and water lilies among others in the tanks with salt dosing.
Salt also adds in the necessary electrolytes and can help your fish get oxygen through their system. Also the plants themselves can be great stress relievers for the fish!!

Don’t stress too much, you are learning and trying which is more than many betta owners think to do sadly. And some fish aren’t given the best start to life, we’re just there to hopefully give them a good middle and end... (preferably years down the line but... things do happen)

 

I know I never used bio boosters or had a properly cycled tank when I had aquariums years ago, and for the most part that was fine (kept the tanks spotless, had live plants, low load, etc). That being said I think they’re awesome and use small amounts in my newer tanks after most water changes. Fluvals bio boost worked great in my 45 to start (all of the parameters were spot on for a tank fully cycled within 24h), and seachems stability in my smaller tanks. (Just a thought if you can snag one now) Stresszyme from apI is ok too I believe, though it’s more of a questionable use to some.
Unless you have some incredibly unique and sensitive plants, you can dose with aquarium salts in a planted tank. Some may lose a few leaves but will grow back, some other plants you may find are happier with the low dose of salt here and there going forward. I’ve only had a couple of oddball plants that looked unwell with it and they were already soft at the roots. I have swords, crypts, anubias, aponogeton and water lilies among others in the tanks with salt dosing.
Salt also adds in the necessary electrolytes and can help your fish get oxygen through their system. Also the plants themselves can be great stress relievers for the fish!!

Don’t stress too much, you are learning and trying which is more than many betta owners think to do sadly. And some fish aren’t given the best start to life, we’re just there to hopefully give them a good middle and end... (preferably years down the line but... things do happen)

Had to order stability since the only booster petsmart had was from tetra which has horrible reviews. They also didn’t have almond leaves so those are coming in too. Other than that picked up aquarium salt from API and some more plants. Hopefully they get well soon, thank you so much for your help!!!