It's a fishy MIRACLE!

so last Wednesday, my wild betta fish in my 15 gallon looked dismal! He had a serious case of fin rot and Popeye. I tried treating it with medication but he went missing on Thursday. I assumed he had gotten stuck in the filter or under a decoration and had passed away. I hadn't cleaned out the tank all weekend because relatives were in town and in the way plus I had no chance to disinfect my water change supplies, and I didn't want to contaminate any of my equipment in the meantime. Today I finally got around to cleaning out the tank and pouring clean water in there after making sure everything was cleaned out. & I stuck two guppy fry in there to help start cycling the tank. I fed the guppy fry a few flakes. Then all of a sudden I see this brown squirmy figure rolling around in the rocks on the bottom of the tank. It was my long lost betta! I seriously thought he was dead. I quickly removed the guppies and put them back in their main tank. I dropped a few more pellets into the tank for my betta to eat and he gobbled them up. I don't know what he survived on for 7 days since I hadn't put any thing in the tank as food Since last Wednesday. I can't believe he is still alive. His fins and eyes still look bad but are healing. He can't stay off the bottom but I assume he was quickly swimming up for air and then hiding the whole time. I am still in shock. What a fighter. I'll try and get pics of him later to show you how he looks.

 

That is really a sweet story, and I truly hope that all goes well with his recovery.
Actually, happy as your Betta, you, or me may be, I'll bet that the 2 guppy fry are sort of pleased just now-rick

 

I know. Thank goodness for them my betta was in no shape to hunt them down!

 

That is a fantastic story! I hope that he continues to heal. Reminds me how tough bettas are and gives me faith that my boy will recover from his fin rot too

It also tells me, haha, that I will never stop looking for a missing fish until I find a body hah.

I really hope your guy heals up. He's a tough one, for sure!

 

My other betta, his former tank mate before I sold him, was also a fighter. He came back from getting sucked up in a filter and shredding his fins to nubs. I was able to heal that one and sell him.

This guy just proved to me that you should never give up on these fishy wonders. I have dubbed him Popeye, because he had popeye, LOL. I am so not creative. But here is some pics I managed to take just now. He is preferring to hide around the filter, which is in the back left corner of the tank, so pics were not easy. I did catch him swimming up for a breath, so I got some good shots of him in action.

 

Beautiful!

 

April R - I think I heard someone mention your story to me about the betta sucked up in the filter who managed to recover. That's extraordinary!

Popeye is adorable. He looks a little rough, maybe the lack of fins is why he stays down cause it is too hard to swim? But he clearly is not giving up and I know you won't either. I am looking forward to seeing photos of his recovery

 

Glad to hear he's getting better. You can try a breeder's net in the tank, so he won't have to swim so far to get air and he will be off the gravel (can irritate the fins).



Good Luck!

 

Fortunately the gravel is smooth glass pebbles and before he went missing I tried to separate him into an in tank breeder box and the little bugger forced his way out. So I figured he is less stressed than me trying to catch him again. But I will definitely check that out for my other fish! Thanks!