Betta injury from the filter

Hi all, my betta was found stuck to his filter the other day and got some pretty bad fin damage. His fins are looking a little better today but he has no energy and is frequently just laying on his side near the surface in his log. I’ve been putting in aquarium salt but haven’t seen much improvement. He’s breathing and he can right himself and swim when he wants but he has not eaten. I feel bad watching him and want to know if you guys think he’ll get better? I have already changed the filter but I’m worried that he was sick before as he should have been able to get unstuck from the filter before.

 

When ever I have an issue with my fish's fins I put in something called Darkwater, it is almond leaf extract so it heals the fins quickly and it is comforting to betta's.

When ever I have an issue with my fish's fins I put in something called Darkwater, it is almond leaf extract so it heals the fins quickly and it is comforting to betta's.

Sorry about the spelling errors!

 

Hi, and Welcome to Fishlore!

So sorry about your betta!


I would do some frequent small water changes to make sure his water is pristine. I agree with the recommendation for tannins as well. You can use actual Indian almond leaves, alder cones, or even rooibos tea. All of these will give you the desired tannins.

Aquarium salt will help with his fins and any other body issues that he may have. Sounds like maybe something is up internally, if you don't see anything else on his body.

Can you post a pic? What are your water parameters? Size of tank and water change schedule? Is the tank cycled? How long have you had the betta? What and how much do you feed him? Heater? Filter? Temperature?

More info will help us give better advice.

 

Hi, I will get some pics later when I’m home. He was upright when I left this morning! He is in a 10 gallon tank and I’ve tested the water and all parameters are normal, I do about a 30-40% water change once a week. I’ve had him for a little over a year and he’s never had problems before this. I feed him small pellets 3-5 in the morning and at night. He’s super picky with food and it’s the only thing he’ll eat. He has a filter and heater that set to 78’. Let me know if you need more info! Thank you for the help!

 

here’s what he looks like now, I’m not really worried about the fins but this is the position he’s been in mostly. He can get upright to swim when he wants but he hasn’t been swimming much.

 

Hi,

Poor little baby!!! I'm glad that he is not leaning any more and is swimming better!

You can try soaking his pellets in some garlic juice if you have any. Usually you can find minced or cut garlic in a jar at the grocery store. Garlic is used for fish that are picky eaters, and it really gives the fish an immune boost.

Ok, so has he always had that black part on his analfin (underbelly) and on his caudal fin (tail fin)? That dark part all the way at the very bottom of his caudal fin?

Blue bettas can sometimes have a lot of black or gray coloring that comes through, so just trying to determine if that is rot, or his original color. It looks like he may have a tail injury. The way it is split seems like he may have caught it on something. They do try to squeeze into places that they shouldn't, and can easily injure themselves that way!

I see what you mean about his fins. You could try to dose him with an antibiotic. API fin and body cure (doxycycline) is good, and so is Maracyn 2 (minocycline). Both fight gram negative bacteria, and that is usually what most fin rot is caused by.

If you do want to dose him, I would recommend setting up a hospital tank for him because the antibiotics will kill off a lot of the beneficial bacteria in the main tank. If you don't mind going through a mini cycle with the tank, then you can dose him in the main tank. If you don't want to fool with that, then you can use a container of some sort for a hospital tank. Lots of people use plastic totes. If you decide to use a hosptial tank, it would be good to have a small heater and an air stone. You can use the aquarium salt and the antibiotics at the same time. The thing to remember is when you do the water changes per the med instructions, keep track of how much water you do change. Aquarium salt is only removed through water changes, and you wouldn't want to over dose him on the aquarium salt by accident.

If you want to try an antibiotic, I would follow the dosing instructions, and do one full round of treatment (for many meds, that means dosing 3 times over a period of days). Then I would wait to see if his fins improve. It may take a little time to see the improvement. Sometimes you will see regrowth that is translucent. Color comes back after a while. I would continue with the small frequent water changes in order to stave off an further bacterial issues.

Let me know what you decide, and if you have any more questions!

 

Hi, thank you so much for the help! His fins are all like that from being stuck in the filter which started all of this. They were all blue before, they actually look better than they did a couple days ago. I’m worried that he’s still sideways most of the time. I do have some salt in his tank now just to prevent infection. Is there anything I can do about him floating on his side?

 

I think that he is still getting over the stress from the injury.

There may not really be lot that you can do about the situation with his floating on his side, unfortunately. It all depends on the cause. That sounds like a swim bladder injury, or some type of internal organ issue. Either it will get better with time, or he will possibly remain that way. If it is an internal bacterial infection causing the problem, then meds (antibiotics) might help with that. If he is just injured, then you may need to deal with him like he is, providing places for him to lay on towards the top of the tank. The floating betta log is great for that.

I had a betta with a swim bladder injury that I kept for a while. He had no buoyancy. I had to lower the water level, put things all around for him to lay on towards the top of the tank, and hand feed him very carefully, and make sure that the water was oxygenated enough since it was hard for him to swim to the top for air. So I adapted in order to meet his needs.

Bettas tend to be fragile in that they are very genetically weak due to over breeding. Sometimes they bounce back after a bit of time. Other times, the injury is too much for them, and they don't do well at all.

It sounds like you are doing everything that you can for him. I do hope that he gets better and bounces back in a few days!!!!