Betta - Is it ick?

Thanks for the tips, in fact I have been using Myxazin (we are well into day 5 of the recommended 10-day treatment).

He seems to be doing better: he is coming out of his cave more often now, swims around a bit more and somewhat more actively. There is only one sore left, the rest have been healed.

Regarding his food, I was also concerned in giving him something like protein to strengthen him, but worms seem an unlikely choice for the time being: his mouth, although better today, only allows him to eat the smallest pellets. They have 36% content in protein though.

Thanks again, we are not out of the tunnel yet, but we are starting to see a little light

 

I'm glad to hear that he's improving. I hope he'll be all better by the time the meds are done.

 

This is turning into a disease compendium of sorts, but we have a new symptom; all day yesterday he was standing upright, glued to the side of the filter and just underneath the water. When I tried to move the filter this morning he just went and sat just next to it again. He would even sit at the bottom of the aquarium, totally upstanding!

Now when he comes out of the cave he swims with strange, short, somewhat spastic movements; I think he's having problems staying properly afloat... May be from all the drugs, or should I worry about something else?

 

I don't really know much about fish diseases and I've never kept a betta. This is for the more experienced people trying to help both of you through this, but should they have used activated carbon between the different treatments (I think they've used about 3 different treatments for various diseases) to remove them? Maybe the medications are mixing together?

Please wait for the more experienced people to help you further. That was just a suggestion for them to think about as I've heard that AC should be taken out of the filter when using medications and put into the filter when the full treatment is complete to remove them from the water.

 

Hello Nitz, thanks for your feedback...

No carbon running all these days (actually the carbon filter has broken down and we're using a plain sponge one till we replace it). Maybe you have a good point, though; tomorrow we're going to try some salt treatment (3 grams/litre?) so I'll maybe clean the water from the chemicals...

 

Hey gryzor, I read somewhere that bettas need about 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon of tank water but that could be wrong (and seems like a lot actually). How's your betta doing?

 

I got APi's aquarium salt; it says it needs one tablespoon per 19L, which is about my aquarium size, that's what I used (ok, a tiny bit more). Would you suggest to add more?

Little fish is kind of stable. He looks and appears very tired, hasn't eaten in a few days unfortunately (so I was considering maybe vitamins in the water? Or, as my girlfriend suggested jokingly after we added the salt, maybe some sugar now? ) but he does come out every now and then, swims a little and goes back in his cave. We finished the treatment and it seems to me that after the white spots started getting away yesterday they were worse. Darn. So we started treatment again...

In the meanwhile I ordered a 'serious' water tester to take accurate measurements, I hope I get the chance to use it

Thanks for your interest...

 

I wouldn't add more the the amount listed on the package.

 

He has only one small persistent sore left... I gave him another round of anti-fungal treatment + salt (1 and half tablespoonfull in total of 19 L water) but the urgent problem is that he does not eat at all ...5 days now..

I checked again today water parameters, everything is OK.

He is so hanging in there... I am so worried because from yesterday he has been losing his color and becoming pale. He swims around with effort, regularly surfacing for air and each time I try to feed him but nothing... he ignores it.

If only I could make him eat... How long can my fishie survive without eating?

 

I've heard that fish can go a couple weeks without eating but I'm guessing that would be healthy fish. I don't know if this works for bettas but I've read on this site that if you soak the food in garlic juice before feeding, it should be more appealing. It's worth a shot I guess?

 

thx for the feedback in any case desparate times call for desperate measures... as a pharmacist I happen to know that garlic posesses antibacterial properties too... That couldn't hurt, right?

I wonder... where could I find fish mints afterwards for his breath? (sad smile)

thx again

 

I really hope he comes around. You guys are doing so much for him.

 

Garlic is an appetite stimulant as well but he may be having a reaction to the salt. Bettas do not do well in salt water sometimes so you may want to cut down on the concentration of the salt water if the sores are pretty well cleared up. You really need to find some way to put some carbon in that tank even if it is no more than a sock filled with carbon and an airstone put in the sock to help move the water through the carbon. The meds do need to be removed from the water when they are not any longer needed or your fish will be overdosed.

Rose

 

Not doing well

At first, when we started with salt and a new anti-bacterial treatment course he seemed to be doing better; but then he started losing his colour, and today he looks like this... notice the white clouding of his eye... It's been two weeks now!

He goes up for air very frequently (and then just drops to the bottom) and yesterday he appeared to be more responsive to external stimuli, but...

 

I am afraid that maybe some of the medications may be fighting since you have not been able to carbon the first ones out before adding the second ones. This is one thing that I normally do not ever do is mix types of meds in the water. The only other way that I know of that might possibly help is to do a major water change like almost a total one and remove the sponge filter and put it into a clean container of dechlorinated water while you do an almost total water change with new dechlorinated water. It may even be advisable to see if you can remove the fish to that new container of water while you change out almost all of the tank water to remove the salt and meds that are in the tank. Don't rinse or wash anything down as you don't want to disturb the bacterial bed on the gravel but just add new water and then when (make sure the temperature of the new water is the same as the water removed from the tank) the tank is full replace the filter into the tank and when you can see the temperature is right for the fish to be placed back in the tank gently add him back into the tank like you did when you first put him in after purchasing him. If this does not perk him up in a little bit (day or so) then I am at a loss. But the possibility of his being over medicated with too many types of medications is the only thing I can think of at the present with the way the treatment has been described. He acts lethargic and color is not good and those are signs of this. You really need to invest in a filter that will run carbon somehow if you need to medicate or put your fish in another small container to medicate other than the big tank so as to have an unmedicated place to put him when the medication is finished. I know this is sometimes not easy to do, but most of us do usually put our fish in a quarantine or hospital tank to medicate them and then the major tank is not affected by the medications. It is sometimes not more than a new bucket that has not had cleaning supplies used in it with a heater in it. (at least in my case when I was desperate)

Rose

 

Hello Rose,

Thanks for yet another time for your help.

Regarding carbon: we could just put some carbon in the sponge filter, but the problem was the treatment schedule that made us stick to the plan. In any case, after reading your post we started readying the secondary aquarium.

In the middle of the process, I discovered... that the little fish finally went away... sigh.

It wouldn't be so bad if - well, the other day we lost a guppy. It was almost comical: Maritina started feeding, he became totally crazy (as usual), then, in an instant, he just went immomile and sank to the bottom. What a way to go. So I wasn't so sorry about him, he lived a good life, happilly chasing around, and then died in an instant (didn't even know fish can go that way). But this little betta... the suffering is what hurt most

Anyhow, once more thanks for your kind advice, everyone, and for all your help. I really appreciate it and hope we learned something from it...

Kind regards
Themis

 

I am so sorry that we were not able to find a way to help you and him sooner. I do know how hard it is to lose these fish. And to watch one suffer and then to lose them is even harder. But the description of the death of the guppy seems to indicate a problem with the water. They will act like this when the run into a pocket of water that has something not to their liking in it. So he could have been giving you a signal that perhaps the cycle is not good or the aeration in the tank needs to be increased or there is something else that is not to the fish's liking in that tank. Perhaps that would bear looking into.

Again I am so sorry about your fish. Please do feel welcome here any time.

Rose

 

Regarding the guppy: I don't think it was the water - it was in a separate tank, and he used to run around all day long, so he would have passed through the pocket several times by then. We did take some measurements afterwards, water was more than ok, so it was really a surprise incident. Again, sigh.

 

I'm sorry for the loss of your fish. You really went that extra mile for that Betta and really did all that you could for him.

 

I'm so sorry you couldn't save your poor fish -- you guys worked so hard for so long for the little guy.

Kelly

 

:'( I'm sorry you lost your little Betta boy. :'( They are hard to lose.

 

Hello guys,

Thanks for your kind words, we really appreciate them as much as the help offered...

It's still so sad - whenever we pass by the aquarium, emtpy as it is now, we instinctively look into it to see our little fish, or the corner of our eye will catch a movement in it... *sigh*

Not thinking of getting a new one at the moment, we need this to sink in. However, I'd like to ask, how do we go about cleaning the aquarium properly? I looked around and found no real information on it. Emty the water and gravel - then what? Wash it with normal dish detergent and then wash it off with plenty of fresh water? Or some other method?

Regards
Themis

PS I thought I'd share something about snails: a fellow member here told me that he lost a betta to snails - they got on him and kept him down so he couldn't get any air. I happened to talk to a fish breeder and mentioned this to him; he told me that snails don't do that, but if a fish dies they will indeed get onto it and start consuming, so that the effect looks like they did it. Just thgouht I'd share!

 

Hey gryzor. So sorry to hear about your betta.

When you're cleaning the tank, make sure you don't use any soap or detergent to clean anything. You can use some vinegar or even bleach (I think it's something like 1 part bleach to 10 parts water then you use a lot extra water conditioner to remove the chlorine from it later). The soap is not good for the fish and can remain in there for a really long time even if you can't see it.

I'm sure someone else can give you some alternative ways to clean but I hope that helps for now.

 

I agree with Nita only I have heard 1 part bleach to 19 parts water. Rinse well. If you can still smell bleach (chlorine) keep rinsing. When refilling use a heavier dose of water conditioner to neutralize any residual bleach.

You could also use an ammonia solution and rinse well. Never mix bleach and ammonia it creates Mustard Gas which is lethal to humans!