Marty the Betta

Marty seemed to develop quite a little following when he was a young one so I thought now that he was having some difficulties I would post a progress report on him for those who have watched him "grow up" (physically at least - I think he is still in puberty by his actions LOL)

He has had some finrot due I believe to the high Nitrate readings in our water. It is now unusual for it to climb to 40 if I am not constantly on the watch. (even with the use of Amquel+ and half RO water). Right now he is floating around in a carefully monitored q tank full of sulfa water. His fins haven't shown any further deterioration since he went into the tank and I have been doing water changes every other day as the medication requires. It just was such a surprise to see his long flowing fins just disintegrating before my eyes!

I am glad to report though that he does not know he is ill. He is eating like he could tear the bloodworms apart and likes his vitamins. He also is liking having his old rock cave back and spends a lot of time swimming in and out of it. I even put a couple of his old (soft) plants in there with him. He almost acts like he is having a vacation.

I have to cut this short We are having a tornado = bye
Rose

 

a tornado!!!!!!! Rose!!!!!! Glad Marty is hanging in there with spirit
Carol

 

whoa tornado... hope your doin ok rose. that's gotta be scary.

I know what you mean about watching the long flowing fins disintegrate. So terrible.

I had a question... vitamins? Is there something I could be giving Satin that I'm not?? ;D. Also I had a question about what to do with satin now (the fungus clear is up today) but I'll do that in the other post.

 

A tornado??!! I hope everything's ok!! If there's one thing I'm scared of it's tornados...and we don't even get them that often up here!

Well, I'm glad Marty is doing better. My Otos got finrot from high nitrate levels too. I hadn't realized that was such a major cause of the disease.

 

Okay, I quit in mid-post and headed for the basement as it takes me a while to get there.  I have to admit I was a little nervous.  Those sirens make my blood pressure go up a bit.  The storm went to the south of town and was very small.  (3 miles south) but we had a really bad one a couple years back that took out about 30% of town so we don't take these things lightly.  EEK!  Anyway we are all okay and not even any buildings hurt.

The fish knew something was up.  They were at the bottom of their tanks and scared, wouldn't come up for anything.  I still really believe they react to weather.

Yes, I give my little ones Vitamins every day.  There are some who think I am a little overboard for doing this but it does say that it raises their immunity to disease and I am hoping they know what they are saying.  They mostly have been healthy.  I used to lose Otos almost all the time and I have kept this last bunch for quite a while and they are thriving.  As far as giving them to Satin or your other fish, it is your decision.  It wouldn't hurt them, but there are no guarantees on anything, I just do it for an extra insurance policy.  They aren't that expensive and I do so enjoy "spoiling" them a little.

I gave you a possible answer to the "what next" on the other post.

Thanks for your concern everyone, I was I admit a bit scared.

Rose

 

Don't even mention those sirens...they set them off for every thunderstorm we get here...which are always in the middle of the night...I swear each one takes an hour off my lifespan... (not to mention my sleep)

Well, I'm glad everything's ok.

 

Well he returned home to his tank today. He is a little smaller (less finnage) and a little quieter than the Marty I know and love but it did my heart good to see him chase the Otos a bit when they teased him. He is better but his fins haven't really started to grow back yet. I am hoping his return to his old digs will help his recovery.

Rose

 

Well, Marty has always been a bit of a brat and kind of popular on the site so I thought I would give you all a progress report. I have so far done 4 water changes of 75% to 90% and he is still not doing well. He seems to be having the trouble with using his Labyrinth organ that was mentioned in the Melafix alert that I posted. I have put a carbon filter in the tank and cleaned the sponge filter and the tank completely. I feel this is all I can do. There is no smell of the medication left in the tank and as far as I can tell no surface that the medication can have settled on or be on. The carbon has been running since last night and I even put a clean carbon in this morning after doing another water change.

I am just hoping that by evening he will show some signs of the Melafix working out of his system.

If any of you are having severe reactions in your fish because of the medication please let us know.

Rose

 

I'm sorry to hear about Marty. Mr Red has been acting the same way the last few days. What about the Pimafix, is that ok to use still? Since they are used together. Natalie

 

I hope and pray that Marty gets through this. I know that you are giving him the best care you can.

 

There was no mention about Pimafix in the article and so I cannot give evidence to it being bad.  I can only say that it will NOT be used on my bettas because I feel that since they are companion meds that I am too worried about it to use it.

I am sorry about Mr. Red. If there is anything I can do please let me know. I do hope that we are able to get our babies through this.

They do both remain safe for fish who are not on the list of Labyrinth fishes.

Rose

 

I hope your Marty pulls through this ordeal, Rose.  Barney and I are both thinking about you and Marty and wishing you the best.

CherryRose---Mommy to Barney Betta

 

I hope Marty and Mr. Red recover. Keep us updated.

 

From me & my fishies:

 

((Rose)) ((Natalie))

   I'm so sorry your Bettas are having a rough time.  It's terrible that a medicine meant to help them harmed them instead!
I will keep Marty and Mr. Red and the both of you in my thoughts.  Sending health and love energy your way. 

Namaste Dear Ones

 

Thank you for all of the wonderful thoughts and concerns. We can only hope and pray that both Marty and Mr Red will get through this. I have complete faith that they will. Natalie `

 

Thank you all. I am sure that both Marty and Mr. Red appreciate the sentiments as do I and I am sure Natalie.

It is sad that Marty has stopped eating and swimming in spite of MANY water changes and even transferring him to a tank where there has been no Melafix used. I do not think he is out of the woods by any means, but I have not given up hope.

Rose

 

I very much appreciate all of the sentiments. I came home and checked on Mr Red right away. My husband said that he has been doing good. That he seemed to be a completely different fish from last the couple of days. He watched him swim around like crazy this afternoon. I am just grateful that he is doing better. I am surprised that he is better so soon because he's been on it so long. I'm sure that he still has a long way to go as he is still hanging out at the top quite a bit, but he is looking better. He is swimming a lot more sturdy. Chickadee I have complete faith that Marty will pull though this. I don't know how long Marty has been on the med, but if he's been on it as long as Mr Red has I'm sure he will be just fine. My thoughts remain with you and Marty and of course my Mr. Red. Natalie

 

I got to thinking back and after my initial panic I realized that Marty had not made it to the first 7 day period yet!!! He was just not in good shape when he started it. He does not get sick often but when he does he gets sick fast and hard. He has also had Melafix more than one time in his life and I am wondering now if this may be why he gets so sick when he is unwell.

When I checked on him before the lights went out I got him to eat 1 worm and he swam about 1 1/2" then went back to floating. I will just keep an eye on him. I at least feel hopeful after he ate the worm.

Rose

 

I am so glad to hear that he is atleast eating a little bit. That is a good sign. There is hope yet. Natalie

 

I am so glad to hear he ate something. Don't give up on him. Let us know how he is doing.

 

Update on Marty ~

Marty is starting to swim a bit more. I think I have done so many water changes that I am going to have a mini-cycle in my sponge filter but I had to rinse it good to get the Melafix out and may have rinsed the bacteria down a notch or two with the bath. He is still not eating more than one worm at a time a couple of times a day but he is going to be okay with that for a bit.

He is still floating a lot of the time but when the water is stirred up he swims more so I put a new filter in the EHEIM Liberty and am leaving it on the back of the tank on low and he does a lot more swimming and besides I figure you can't have water that is overfiltered that I know of and hopefully soon I will have 2 cycled filters on that tank and it sure does a great job with clarifying the water.

Winky (the Cory) is loving all these water changes and all the clean water. Not that the tank was dirty before but he has been so active since the water has been changed so much I have been afraid he would jump out at me when I open it up to feed them.

(Just on a side note, my "pygmy" cory is now bigger than Marty and growing!)

Rose

 

I am glad he's doing better. Natalie

 

Thank you, Natalie. I know you have had a time with Mr. Red too and now to have to deal with a case of ICH. I do hope he is going to be okay.

Please do keep letting us know how he is doing.

Rose

 

Barney and I are hoping for a speedy recovery for Mr. Red and Marty.  It's so hard on us when our babies are sick!  I know you are doing all you can, so keep on hanging on. Please continue to keep us posted!
CherryRose

 

MARTY IS A LITTLE FAKER!!!! I spent the entire night with getting up heating microwave warming pads for him because I had to remove him from his tank and put him in his Critter Keeper for the night until I could set up the tank I had sterilizing and running. I put EVERYTHING new into the tank....filter, airlines, airstones (2) as he was acting like he couldn't breathe, gravel, even a new heater in case it had been touched by tea oil. A new silk plant and then I felt really sorry for him and gave him an early Christmas present and gave him his new Covered Bridge that Santa brought him. He has a new ammonia detector and digital thermometer even~~~NOTHING that could have ever have been touched by MELAFIX. He was swimming around well in the Critter Keeper and had an airstone in there so was breathing well too ~~~ no coughing, but I couldn't warm it so I heated the microwave pads and wrapped them around the little tank and had to do it about every 90 minutes ALL NIGHT LONG.

This morning he goes into the tank in the den where he can see Alex and Emma and I all day and has a warm and pretty new tank with everything new. I had Bio-spira so it is even cycled. I watched him with a cosmetic mirror and he was swimming around happily. He had eaten like a little pig. Then I made the mistake of turning around and letting him see me watching him and he stopped swimming and started floating like he could not swim at all. Then he started coughing. Now he has 2 air stones and a sponge filter putting oxygen into the water and he had been fine until he saw me so I am wondering what is going on so I ignored it. I turned back to work. After a few minutes when I was watching in the mirror again, he was swimming and going through the bridge and all over the place. I do believe that he has gotten used to the attention and decided that being sick is pretty nice. Anyway, I am sure he was very sick when this first started and he does seem to still have a really strong reaction to the old tank so I won't be putting him back until I break it down and put all new equipment in it. (and the Covered Bridge) It may be after Christmas but he is fine here and seems to like it and he was sick enough that it doesn't hurt for him to be in a little smaller tank for a little while.

It really is a very good thing that he is not a child though or I would have been very tempted to send him to bed without supper at the least. (but I am so relieved that he is okay...I was so afraid he was not going to make it there for a while.)

Rose

 

What a little STINKER!! I guess Betta's really are smart little fish and know exactly what's going on. I am so glad that he is better. I knew that he would pull through it. Natalie

 

YES!!!  I am so happy for you and Marty.  Changing warming pads for him every 90 minutes shows real love.  He was truly being spoiled.  I'm very happy that he seems to have recovered.

CherryRose

 

Oh my goodness Rose those naughty little Bettas of yours... ;D Somehow I'm not entirely surprised though that he was just faking it...
Well, I bet you are just exhausted after being up all night with him. sheesh let's hope he starts showing you a bit more sympathy. ;D
Just tell this story to anyone who says fish aren't smart. I've only ever heard of animals like horses and maybe dogs playing sick...and then Bettas...
Well I am so relieved he is not sick. Now hopefully he will start being a nice Betta and not nearly giving you a heart failure (and me too...), so Santa will put him on his "nice" list... ;D

 

OMG, that is just so adorable Rose. .. erm, I mean, bad boy...lol.

It taught me something. I have Zen on my computer desk right in front of me in a 2 gal. glass container (round and tall) and seems to magnify him (and me to him no doubt) so it's time for him and I to have a lil quality time and a 'get to know each other betta' time.

But because of Marty being such the ham : I'll be careful not to give him too much attention or he may act up when he goes back into the 10 gal.

I can't stop smiling!

I'm so glad he's doing better. And your a great mom...keeping an eye on him through a mirror. That's an , pun intended, that'll stay with me awhile.

(((((you and yours Dear One)))))

 

I'm sure you're torn between being relieved and wanting to...well it's kind of hard to punish a fish except with lack of attention. That's kind of funny in a way, and I'm glad that he's all better. Reminds me of some people I have known...

Glad he's back.

 

Well he pulled the "I am a sick little fishie" at breakfast this morning so I didn't want to leave the food in the tank to just soak up and sink and so I removed it after about 10 minutes. I gave him a bloodworm at noon and he was still "sick" so after 10 minutes it got taken away too. Tonight at suppertime he was HUNGRY and did not wait at all until he was KILLIN' those bloodworms and chowing them.

I KNOW he was sick in the other tank and I have written the woman who wrote the article about the Melafix and compared notes with her. She and I have both come up with the notion that neither Mr. Red or Marty had the reaction that was specified in the article as she said that usually the fish dies within 30 minutes of seizures. But she said she felt that he had a severe allergy to it, and I feel she is correct due to his continued use of it. This is his third bout of fin rot and he has been too exposed and over sensitized to it.

So he is not going back to that tank probably until I can take the tank apart and clean it thoroughly and make sure that there is no surface that contains even the smallest trace of tea tree oil.

Rose

 

Rose,

Doesn't Betta Fix Remedy have Tea Tree Oil in it?

I suppose the Melafix has that plus. It seems that Betta Fix Remedy must be ok. I've read so much about it and used it to treat Zen way back when he got sick in his 1 1/2 qt. acrylic tank (fin rot because I left food in there and didn't change the water enough = ammonia) and I only had to use one dose before he sprang back and started eating and swimming again.

 

Yes, BettaFix has tea tree oil, but it is in a concentration that is 50 times weaker without diluting the other ingredients. It has been tested and tried specifically on Bettas and Labyrinth fishes. While it is rated much less dangerous there is still some risk in using any of this oil, in my opinion. It only makes sense that an animal (fish) that needs a clear and clean surface of the water to BREATHE that whether someone poured a drop of oil or a quart on the surface would not make a lot of difference. Some of the oil is still going to get into their Labyrinth organ (top of their head). I have decided to use the old fashioned method of treating fin rot for my fish.

Clean water (many water changes...whatever it takes to keep it clean)
Clean tank (vacuum the tank at least weekly before a major water change)
Good water parameters (even if I have to buy the spring water)
Warm tank (at least 82 degrees F/28 degrees C)
Good Food and NOT Overfeeding
Lots and Lots of Time

If it becomes bacterial then I will look into a regular antibiotic. It is not the best answer but it is a safer answer to my way of thinking.

Rose

 

Marty has had a steadily harder life since his run-in with the Melafix and Pimafix a while back. He stopped swimming except at meal time and then only long enough to eat one or two pieces of food and then back to floating. Two days ago he stopped eating all together and nothing I offerred him made the slightest difference. He gave up the fight tonight and was found on his side floating at the back of the tank when I went to feed him tonight.

I have done all that I could to try to make his last few days as good as possible, after acknowledging the fact that he was probably not going to be better. I could not bring myself to euthanize him as he really did not appear to be suffering and up until the last couple of days, he ate like a little trooper, "killing" his food at every meal just like always. His life was a struggle though as he was at the top all the time and just floating. He did not enjoy his life anymore, I think.

I am so sad, but at the same time happy for him as he can rest now. We had 7" of snow yesterday but I still managed to get to the dirt so he could be put in my little betta burial ground.

I am not sure what I will do about the tank, but since I had ordered a new betta for the tank in the bedroom with the loaches, I will have a new baby soon anyway. I just do not know about how I am going to find a boy to take the spot Marty filled.

R.I.P., my little boy. :'(

Rose
:'(

 

:'( :'( :'( :'(

Oh I am so sorry to hear that! You lost Emma not too long ago too. This must be so hard for you. I'm looking around now at all my babies, knowing that someday I'll lose them too and my heart feels heavy.
Marty had a great life and was luckier than so many other Bettas in the world who never find homes (or go to bad homes).  He is in a good place now and not suffering.

My thoughts are with you in this sad time.  :'(

 

I'm so sorry about your loss, you can rest assured you gave him the best life possilbe and his death was a sacrifice for many other bettas who will not be treated with the bad medicine.

thinking of you

Austin

 

I am soo sorry Rose :'(

{{{Marty}}}

 

Oh Rose!  I am so sorry!  I know you've been struggling with Marty's health for a long time.  You did everything you could for that little guy, so don't blame yourself for anything.  He had a great life, and it couldn't have been better with anyone else.  I am tryly sorry for your loss.   :'(  

 

Rose I'm so sorry!!! I know he's been struggling for awhile. I just don't know what to say except I'm truly sorry
Carol