First rescue betta - any advice welcome!

Well, it was bound to happen. With 3 tanks already in my house, I now have my first Betta. I was in my local Petco to pick something up for my dogs and took a stroll through the fish section. I overheard two employees talking about how the Bettas in the back look about ready to die. So I couldn’t help myself - I just straight up asked them if I could have one of them for free. My quarantine tank is empty right now, so I’d be happy to take one off their hands. To my surprise, they immediately agreed. They asked me if I wanted to choose, and I said, nope just pick one (now I wonder just how many they had back there ).

So here’s Sam. According to the little cup he came in he’s a Stars and Stripes male (hence the name). He was mostly lying on his side on the floor of the cup, so I could barely see him. I went home, and set up my quarantine tank. It’s a 10g that is usually bare bottom with fake plants. So I quickly threw some stuff together that I had in other tanks. Some leftover sand, rocks, wood and live plants. It’s not a very pretty aquascaping job, but better than that stupid, tiny cup. The tank has both a heater and a filter. The filter sponges were kept in another tank so that I could set up the quarantine tank at a moment's notice and have a cycled tank.

What do you guys think? Looks like a bit of fin rot to me? As I said I never had a betta, but he probably shouldn’t be that thin, I guess? I already started “making” baby brine shrimp so he’ll get those as soon as they start hatching tomorrow (as well as other food of course). I do have Maracyn and para-cleanse at home as well as aquatic salt, but didn’t want to overwhelm him right away. I figured just being in clean water will be nice for him right now. Any advice?

 

Well, it was bound to happen. With 3 tanks already in my house, I now have my first Betta. I was in my local Petco to pick something up for my dogs and took a stroll through the fish section. I overheard two employees talking about how the Bettas in the back look about ready to die. So I couldn’t help myself - I just straight up asked them if I could have one of them for free. My quarantine tank is empty right now, so I’d be happy to take one off their hands. To my surprise, they immediately agreed. They asked me if I wanted to choose, and I said, nope just pick one (now I wonder just how many they had back there ).

So here’s Sam. According to the little cup he came in he’s a Stars and Stripes male (hence the name). He was mostly lying on his side on the floor of the cup, so I could barely see him. I went home, and set up my quarantine tank. It’s a 10g that is usually bare bottom with fake plants. So I quickly threw some stuff together that I had in other tanks. Some leftover sand, rocks, wood and live plants. It’s not a very pretty aquascaping job, but better than that stupid, tiny cup. The tank has both a heater and a filter. The filter sponges were kept in another tank so that I could set up the quarantine tank at a moment's notice and have a cycled tank.

What do you guys think? Looks like a bit of fin rot to me? As I said I never had a betta, but he probably shouldn’t be that thin, I guess? I already started “making” baby brine shrimp so he’ll get those as soon as they start hatching tomorrow (as well as other food of course). I do have Maracyn and para-cleanse at home as well as aquatic salt, but didn’t want to overwhelm him right away. I figured just being in clean water will be nice for him right now. Any advice

He looks so sweet! What a kind soul you are for taking him in. The fin rot doesn't look too bad, so I would guess whatever is making him lay on the bottom is more the issue. I am new to bettas myself, so hopefully some of the super smart, experienced people I have found here will help you out with suggestions. I would if I could!

 

Wouldn'tbe shocked of para-cleanse ends up being used, but i definitely wouldn't start with it. Maybe some stresscoat/stressguard with small daily water changes and watchfulness for a week or two, bet there is some improvements!

 

He is so skinny, probably why he’s on the floors. Fin rot isn’t too bad. Those shrimp may help fatten him up. I always want to save the betta, I just can’t do any more tanks.

 

The chain stores in my town have a program on the cash register that automatically orders another fish anytime one is sold / checked out as gone. Sorry to be on a high horse but it’s not a rescue in my eyes.

You have saved one and put another in its place.

i have a couple of betta but do not claim to be any kind of “ super smart expert “

With limited medications available in my town all I could do is small daily water changes. No electric light. Indian almond leaf and as much variety of food as possible . In a fortnight if he is still alive and swimming up the right way I would dose with meds for internal parasites. He is way too thin . Surely the shop assistants have been feeding him something?

On a brighter note .
Enjoy him while you have him you are definitely making his time in the next few days more exciting?
Good on you for firing up the brine shrimp hatchery. Let’s hope it’s not his last meal but i feel I should say be ready for the worst outcome.

 

Sweet looking boy!!!!

Clean water, temp set at 79 to 80 degrees, and high protein live or frozen foods will do him a world of good.

The brine shrimp is a great idea. Adding some type of garlic soaked food might give him an immune boost and encourage him to eat.

It's amazing how fast some really neglected bettas bounce back once they are in a decent living situation.

Sending good thoughts your way!!!

 

Sam made it through the night. He nibbled on a bit of food. But only seems to want food that's on the floor. Probably what he's used to from his cup. He had a few bites of BugBites pellets yesterday and this morning ate a frozen bloodworm that I wriggled in front of him. Look at the color of his fins though. I'm surprised at how quickly that happened. Thank you, everybody, for your kind words and advice!

 

The chain stores in my town have a program on the cash register that automatically orders another fish anytime one is sold / checked out as gone. Sorry to be on a high horse but it’s not a rescue in my eyes.

You have saved one and put another in its place.

i have a couple of betta but do not claim to be any kind of “ super smart expert “

With limited medications available in my town all I could do is small daily water changes. No electric light. Indian almond leaf and as much variety of food as possible . In a fortnight if he is still alive and swimming up the right way I would dose with meds for internal parasites. He is way too thin . Surely the shop assistants have been feeding him something?

On a brighter note .
Enjoy him while you have him you are definitely making his time in the next few days more exciting?
Good on you for firing up the brine shrimp hatchery. Let’s hope it’s not his last meal but i feel I should say be ready for the worst outcome.

I see your point. My son (9) is starting a letter to our local stores that keep betta's in poor conditions. Not that it will change anything, but at least he is learning to express himself!

 

How's Sam doing? Any updates?

 

Sad Sam update: he didn't make it He'd been doing so well. He gained weight, his fins seemed to be healing and he was coloring up so beautifully. Over the course of the week, I had bought some silk plants to make his tank more interesting for him and he loved swimming around them and the Indian almond leaves. Yesterday at noon I fed him a couple of blood worms then went to do other things. A couple of hours later the floating betta log I had ordered him arrived and I went to show him his new toy - only to find him belly up in the tank. I've only had him for such a short time but my heart broke. I have no clue what happened to him or what I might have done wrong. But I wanted to thank you all for your support and advice - it was greatly appreciated. SIP, Sam

 

So sorry for your loss!!! You tried your best, but he was probably not well, based on your original post. Sometimes, no matter what you do, the damage is such that they just don't thrive!

SIP, Sam, sweet boy!!!

 

Kinda update-ish: After staring at Sam’s empty tank for a while, I went back to the big box store. The manager remembered me (or more accurately, remembered my dogs) and asked after Sam. I told him what happened. Just like you guys/gals, he said that while it certainly wasn’t the outcome we wished for at least Sam had a week of being cared for properly. And then he immediately told me about this guy in the back who was in really rough shape and could use the same kindness as Sam. Of course, I agreed to take him (again, for free). I had told myself I went to the store to pick some stuff up for the dogs, but I think part of me was hoping for exactly that. So I went home with a white opal male, with pretty bad fin rot who was floating on top of the cup on his side.

I’ll make a separate post about him if any of you are interested to see how this goes - Albus and I would certainly appreciate your support and kindness again

 

You probably could just about do this indefinitely, sad as that sounds! Will be following you new thread!!! Hopefully you will get a much better outcome!!!