Help!! Betta: colour dull, swimming erratically!!!(sick)

I have noticed some odd behaviours in my betta but I wasn't so scared about that, he still looked healthy. Things have changed today and so my whole world did. He started swimming erratically, sometimes sinking, hiding and laying somwhere on the bottom of the tank, his colours are dull, he is not interested in food but will eat sometimes, I think his fins are becoming short, he started laying on thermometer near the water surface, he lost his curiousity (he is not curious any more), he is not interested in tracking down the shrimplets and protecting them, he poops white stringy poop (never saw him pooping before), he also started flashing against the silicone in his tank.

I have been doing 50% water changes since two days ago since I have still some planaria in his tank.

Ammonia is zero, I'm not sure to nitrites (they have been 1ppm), nitrates are low.
Will a salt bath help him? If not, what should I do, ethaunize him or just help him?

 

Can you test your nitrite levels specifically? 1ppm is much too high and means your tank is not cycled. He is likely suffering from nitrite poisoning and the symptoms you listed align with this.

 

Oh god, I am gonna move him to my other mature tank when I will first come back home from school. 1ppm nitrite.

 

Do you have Seachem Prime? You can use that to detoxify the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates for 24 hours for each dose. You should still move him somewhere else though if possible. And then I would get that tank cycled with no fish in it and then you’ll be able to put him back in.

 

Oh god, I am gonna move him to my other mature tank when I will first come back home from school. 1ppm nitrite.

Sprinkle sorry to hear this as it's a total shame when you can see your fish playing up and as trinity28 said 1ppm is to much.

The 4 Most Common Signs of Illness in Betta Fish - Fish Care

 

Sprinkle sorry to hear this as it's a total shame when you can see your fish playing up and as trinity28 said 1ppm is to much.

Do you have Seachem Prime? You can use that to detoxify the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates for 24 hours for each dose. You should still move him somewhere else though if possible. And then I would get that tank cycled with no fish in it and then you’ll be able to put him back in.

I don't have Prime and I'm not gonna buy it off Amazon. I'll look on eBay.

Tez, I agree with you. Its too much for fish, especially bettas.
I will move him to hatching box to my mature tank with other fish, but what I should with cherry shrimps and shrimplets then???? Will my betta survive this all?? :'(


I have tested his water for nitrites but NO2 is 0ppm now and nitrates are only 25ppm.
What am I supposed to do now?

 

I would do daily 75% water changes until the water levels out. The daily water changes will help the shrimp. Unfortunately shrimp can be very sensitive so I'd be more worried about them than the betta

 

I would do daily 75% water changes until the water levels out. The daily water changes will help the shrimp. Unfortunately shrimp can be very sensitive so I'd be more worried about them than the betta

I'm way more worried about my betta than the shrimp. The shrimp are doing great with those water changes. As I said in my second post about this, I have tested NO2 and is 0ppm.
I have started doing partial water changes on Monday, I did a tank flush, yesterday I did 50% water change and today I did about 40% water change. My betta is sinking to the bottom, stops moving, only breaths, sometimes goes to the surface. His colours are slightly faded, he is not curious anymore, he doesn't appreciate food, he has white flat spots near his gills on his right side and on his right eye, his eyes are not black anymore, they appear coloured now, he stopped exploring the tank, he stopped glass surfing.
What is wrong with him?

 

Can you take a picture of him and the white spots? It could be ich.

 

The white spots aren't ich. They are white and flat near his right gills and one of those spots are on his eye and his eyes are appearing to be blue not black like they were. Can't take a photo of him now, he is hiding and just laying.

And at the LPS I was told that my betta has some kind of a parasite. He said that partial water changes should probably work and that I should use some medicine for White Spot and Parasites. My betta is probably not going to make through it all, his condition is quite serious. I took my £8.00 and bought myself a festive guppy and a platy fish. I asked him to get me a FEMALE platy but he got me a MALE platy I didn't know this, I knew it only when I just came home to acclimate those guys and this is when I noticed that my platy is a MALE. I was literally swearing, I wanted to buy a FEMALE platy because I thought I could crossbreed platies and guppies together, but you cannot because guppies are Poecilia and platies are Xiphophorus, they are different families. But, I can crossbreed male or female platies with female or male swordtails and can make HYBRIDS, however for some time I will be getting only swordtails but some of the swordtail fry can be platies or just one platy, some of them can be deformed so they will need to be ethaunized. Now, the guppy is following everywhere the male platy But I think when I'll move them to bigger tank everything will change.

 

I’m not sure what your question is. Did you buy new fish and put them in the same tank as your infected betta?

 

Tez, I agree with you. Its too much for fish, especially bettas.
I will move him to hatching box to my mature tank with other fish, but what I should with cherry shrimps and shrimplets then???? Will my betta survive this all?? :'(

HI Sprinkle, when you mention cherry shrimps i've never add any sorry.

If you can buy a small bottle of stress coat by API it's good for infection, it puts a slime on their coats and moving your betta to better water readings should help...hows your betta been today?

 

I’m not sure what your question is. Did you buy new fish and put them in the same tank as your infected betta?

Noo, I have a second tank too. I'm putting the platy and guppy in my second tank.

HI Sprinkle, when you mention cherry shrimps i've never add any sorry.

If you can buy a small bottle of stress coat by API it's good for infection, it puts a slime on their coats and moving your betta to better water readings should help...hows your betta been today?

My betta is worse. I was told at the pet shop, Pets At Home, that it might be a some type of a parasite. It is some kind of an unknown type of infection. I wonder if he will be still alive. They said that I will get a free betta if this one passes on.

 

Partial water changes are always good for the general health of the fish, so you should always be more aggressive with water changes if you have any kind of problem in your tanks. But changing water won't do anything to eradicate ich. Medication is an effective method of treating ich. Ich is not always fatal but it's not uncommon to lose some fish depending on how fast you react once you see the white spots.

I try to avoid bashing LFS employees, they're too easy a target and they're just trying to earn a living, but if this person sold you more fish when you came in to talk about the ich outbreak in your tank, you should look elsewhere for decent advice. Ich can be treated by medication, salt, or temperature, but water changes themselves won't kill the parasite. All your fish will come down with ich unless you have multiple tanks and keep all the buckets, nets, siphons, and everything else completely sterilized and isolated. You really shouldn't add more fish until you have cured the disease, and you should quarantine new fish so all your tanks won't be infested.

 

My betta is worse. I was told at the pet shop, Pets At Home, that it might be a some type of a parasite. It is some kind of an unknown type of infection. I wonder if he will be still alive. They said that I will get a free betta if this one passes on.

Oh well if they've said that, then they know they're at fault, I hope he can recover but if not except another and make sure fins and the body looks ok...my fingers are crossed.

 

I hope he can recover too. Thank you for all those kind words❤️

 

I hope he can recover too. Thank you for all those kind words❤

Oh your welcome as I have lost four guppies in the past but their life span isn't long and then I don't know how old they are as I don't like buying young ones, I like more mature.

 

Ammonia reading?

With Nitrite at 0 Nitrate at 25 this would suggest its cycled if ammonia is 0. I would keep checking that daily to confirm cycle is complete. Nitrates at 25 is fine and would be about ready for a water change

As for the erratic behaviour, if nitrites were that high then damage may have been done as invariably there would have been a high ammonia level to produce them, stop adding any chemicals (only dechlor) and only keep the water immaculately clean for the next week or so to assess any change. If no change with clean heated water to the required temp for Bettas, minimal water flow and easy to reach surface, then potentially as a last resort meds may be required. During this week I would also cut feeding to once every 2 days

Meds wise, I believe your in the U.K get some of the esha range on order if the water changes don’t help, also Seachem Paraguard is a mild med which is filter safe

Good luck

 

Partial water changes won’t cure a parasite.

 

Will you be able to provide a picture of it?

 

Thanks for the reply. Ammonia is 0, when I'll come back home I'll check the water parameters to make sure that everything is alright.

Will you be able to provide a picture of it?

Unfortunately not, its only few seconds when he is coming out. I don't have any chance.

 

Unfortunately not, its only few seconds when he is coming out. I don't have any chance.

Hows your Betta been today?

 

Hows your Betta been today?

This night, my little guy has passed away.

 

This night, my little guy has passed away.

Oh I am sorry to hear it Sprinkle but things happen for a reason in life and as long as you know he was cared for and did your best that's what counts

 

Oh I am sorry to hear it Sprinkle but things happen for a reason in life and as long as you know he was cared for and did your best that's what counts

Thank you so much Tez for your all kind words❤️

 

Thank you so much Tez for your all kind words❤

Well I know how you feel I have add the odd Guppies just suddenly die on me and there's been nothing wrong with their bodies but there again the span life is not good and you don't know how old they are when you do buy them.

 

Well I know how you feel I have add the odd Guppies just suddenly die on me and there's been nothing wrong with their bodies but there again the span life is not good and you don't know how old they are when you do buy them.View attachment 651457

I agree Tez. I will be getting soon a new betta and I will ask the workers how old he is. Maybe I'll get a female, they have some baby females. Well, it depends if there will be a beautiful male.

 

I agree Tez. I will be getting soon a new betta and I will ask the workers how old he is. Maybe I'll get a female, they have some baby females. Well, it depends if there will be a beautiful male.

Well I hope you drop on a nice one and also ask how long they've had them and also been out of quarantine, as it does help the fish going sort times from one tank water to another but this is the risk we take when buying them

 

Well I hope you drop on a nice one and also ask how long they've had them and also been out of quarantine, as it does help the fish going sort times from one tank water to another but this is the risk we take when buying them

Thank you Tez for your help