Betta Severely Injured !!

My betta got stuck in filter and his anal and tail fins are severely injured. Also his side scales are ripped off. What should I do?

Befote


After



He is breathing and eating fine but has problem moving.

 

Not much you can do other than keep up the good husbandry and wait for the fins to grow back. If you notice any kind of fin rot then maybe use melafix. Do people still use melafix or is that old school? I would address the filter issue. Are you able to add a sponge to the intake?

 

Do not use melafix.

I would suggest fixing your filter issue, and doing daily 50% water changes, and treating your tank with Stressguard. He will heal slowly.

 

Thanks a lot.
What if I temporarily remove the filter till he heals and do daily water changes?

 

in healing my fish I remove the filter and put in medication if required so try to remove the filter.
what temp is your tank?
and how did he get stuck on the filter??

 

Thanks a lot.
What if I temporarily remove the filter till he heals and do daily water changes?

I wouldn't do that - if your tank is cycled (which I hope it is), your filter contains colonies of beneficial bacteria (BB), so if you remove the filter you will basically remove/destroy all the BB and crash the cycle. This will NOT be good for your fish in any state, especially when injured.

What kind of filter do you have? (to have an idea of how your intake could look like). I never ran into such an issue myself, but I've heard of simple temporary solutions like a piece of pantyhose or mesh dryer bag put over the intake to shield fish from getting there.

And I second CanadianJoeh about not using melafix - again, I haven't ran into this situation myself, but I read multiple reports of melafix severely damaging fish with labyrinth organs, so unless it's absolutely necessary (and, as doctors like to say, unless potential benefits significantly outweigh potential harm), I'd stay clear of melafix for now...

 

I wouldn't do that - if your tank is cycled (which I hope it is), your filter contains colonies of beneficial bacteria (BB), so if you remove the filter you will basically remove/destroy all the BB and crash the cycle. This will NOT be good for your fish in any state, especially when injured.

x10

 

Add some stress coat or something like that my bettas got into a fight and the samething has happened

 

BBF96F4D-8B0A-489C-8726-1713F4146113

• The fish adviser
• Feb 17, 2018

D0D85A96-5A21-42FB-9672-1A95C8B4C95B

• The fish adviser
• Feb 17, 2018

E72419F5-0B3A-4D3B-A1DB-F73D5AB6B590

• The fish adviser
• Feb 17, 2018

A picture of him

 

Unfortunately he passed away .

 

oh no!!!
I'm so sorry that is so sadead:

 

I'm sorry he passed away (I'm having a bad fish night too one of my fish died inexplicably and another jumped from the tank, and was found by my dog).

If it helps, the filter didn't kill him. He would have had to already be sick to get stuck in it. A lot of times, especially with bettas, these things come on very quickly and there is nothing you can do.

 

my betta died not too long ago of some sickness he was already sick with and got stuck in the filter.
day later he died

 

Unfortunately he passed away .

I’m so sorry. These things happen. Happened to me too. I’m sure you gave him a good life. Try to remember the good times

 

before he got sick he was cute

 

sorry for your lose, I'm fed up with these filters. Its like you hear these storys everyday on fish lore...

 

I know it's too late for this fish baby, but for everyone else having a similar problem:

I keep my fish out of the filter with a pre filter sponge over the filter intake. They're only a couple dollars and have saved so many of my weak babies while their health was compromised.

 

I know it's too late for this fish baby, but for everyone else having a similar problem:

I keep my fish out of the filter with a pre filter sponge over the filter intake. They're only a couple dollars and have saved so many of my weak babies while their health was compromised.

I just use sponge filters. Ive never even tryed those filters with my bettas.