HELP!!! VERY sick Betta!!

HELP!!!! I have a very sick Betta!!!! last night I noticed my Betta was acting strange, He was hiding away, very slow swimming and just general very inactive!! usually he'd be very active, very curious and extremly brave!! skin wise he looked fine but placed him in my quarrentine tank anyway...

this morning I woke up and the first thing I done was check on him and he looks terrible!!! i've had a look at Isabella's disease chart but can't place what it is!! at first I thought it was fin rot but there are more sympthoms!

the symptoms are:

Decaying fins
Extreme weight loss (overnight!!!!)
Discolouration (golden yellow/brown)
slow breathing
inactive
looks like his skin has started to peel around the gill area.

ive atached some pics of what he was and how he has turned overnight! can someone help!!?!?!?!? why has this happened so sudden!?!?

sorry the pics not very good! the best I could get!

 

Is your tank cycled? It could be some form of poisoning and finrot for sure. He needs to have some medication like Maracyn and Maracyn2 together. The temperature of your tank also needs to be about 82 F or 28 C and he will need to have extreemly clean water and tank conditions during the process of treatment. I believe that the Maracyn2 specifies not to do water changes during the treatment so please make sure that the tank is cycled and then I would also do a pea treatment for possible constipation.

If the tank is not cycled, do a large water change before adding the medication and remove the carbon from your filter or it will remove the medication before it can even do anything.

The pea treatment is done as follows:

Take one frozen pea and put on a saucer and defrost it in the microwave with no water ~ 30 seconds or so.

Skin the outer skin off the pea.

Slice a small piece half the size of his eye into 3 pieces or so. Feed them to him. Do not feed any other fish food or anything while you are doing this as they need to be cleaned out. If he will not eat the pea, leave him with no food of any kind for 1 day and then try again. They turn up their noses at the peas until they have tried them and usually then they love them.

If you have not tested your tap water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates straight out of the tap yet you may want to do so as it could be a problem with the tap water. I lost a betta to tap water quality problems one time and it was a shock and happened overnight the same way you are talking about. Do not put anything in the tap water, just test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and please post the results.

Please let us know how he is doing. I am so sorry this is happening to him and you.

Rose

 

Thanks Rose! and sorry to hear that you lost a Betta!

My Tank is fully cycled but I have done some tests and they are as follows:

Tap Water Test:

PH = 8.0
Ammonia = 0.1
Nitrate = 50
Nitrite = 0


Tank Test:

PH = 8.0
Ammonia = 0.1
Nitrate = 50
Nitrite = 0

PH is high but I was advised not to change it now because fish acclimatise to the water?? or should I lower it?

He didn't go for the pea so I am off now to get some Finrot medicine, I will keep you updated on His progress.

Eddie

 

Your nitrates are very high. They should not be above 20 for a truly healthy fish and there should be no ammonia. Even the natural ammonia should disappear in a cycled tank, how long has your tank been running and did you cycle before adding the fish?

Do you have access to Spring Water? If he does not begin to improve with the addition of meds, then you may have to get some store bought water to do at least part of the water changes in his tank. The cheapest way to get rid on Nitrates is to put lots of real plants in the tank as they use nitrates for fertilizer.

Rose

 

WHOOPS!! sorry the tank nitrates is 25! just realised I copy the same tests! its still above 20 though but with the exception of my Betta the rest of my fish seem fine and healthy. I have a lot of plant life in my tank already (went out last week and bought alot).

my tank (my newest) has been running for 4 months now and was cycled (fishless) for 2 months, the readings have stayed steady since then, I don't have access to spring water but will buy some from the store tomorrow

Eddie

 

Sorry I did forget your question about the pH. No you do not want to mess with trying to change the pH. It really is much better to let the fish acclimate to the natural pH and they will be healthier and happier doing this.

I am glad your nitrates are not that high and you should start to see some change in about a month from the plants. So if you use Spring water (boughten if nothing else) it will probably not be for long and only a third or so of the water not all of it. The plants will take over and lower the nitrates but it will take a little while for them to grow enough to do it alone.

I hope I have helped a little. Please keep us informed on the little one. Does he have a name? We like to call our bettas by name as they have so much personality.

Welcome to the Betta Community and to Fishlore.com. I forgot to welcome you properly the other post. I get so wound up with the fish I get thoughtless, I do apologize.

Rose

 

hI rose! soryy I haven't replied! the internet connection has been down for weeks in my area! the water company disturbed the phone lines in my nieghborhood... luckily we were all compensated ;D ... a small amount

we have only just got connection again!

yes you have helped alot! thank you very much! all my water readings have dropped since using the store bought spring water which is great! what's not so great is that my Betta unfortunatley died I hadn't named my Betta but definitely will the next one I get! they're my favourite fish it's gutting that he died!

thanks again!

 

I am so sorry about your little friend. It is so distressing to lose a fish that we care about. I extend my deepest sympathies and hope you are okay. Please do consider staying with us and perhaps browse the posts while you are getting ready for the next little one and perhaps we can help you as you get another one. Being a betta owner is not a requirement for loving bettas and we welcome you with or without a fish.

Please do accept my sympathies for the loss of the little guy. :'( I am so glad that you are considering the adoption of another little one.

Rose
:'(

 

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. :'(

 

Eddie I am so sorry for your loss. :'( Natalie