My new betta is flashing, i'm unsure how to treat

[PaprikaFish]

hello everyone!

i recently purchased a new male betta and he's been swimming happily in his 6 gallon tank for a little over a week now. on friday i noticed him flash once and today I noticed him flashing many times. i inspected his body for ich or visible flukes but didn't see any, so i am unsure how to treat him. he continues to eat and swim normally, aside from when i saw him flashing. i'll fill out an emergency template below:

What is the water volume of the tank? 6 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 1.5 months (it is cycled using established filter media)
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What is the water temperature? 79 F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 1 male betta, a handful of pond snails

Maintenance
edited to add: last water change was 2/17, but these parameters were taken last night
How often do you change the water? 2-3 times a week
How much of the water do you change? ~30%
What do you use to treat your water? prime dechlorinator
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? substrate and water

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? yes (it cycled quickly because i used filter media from an established tank)
What do you use to test the water? API freshwater master test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: ~5-10 ppm
pH: 7.4

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? twice a day, with breaks every 4 days
How much do you feed your fish? enough for a visibly full stomach, or 3 pellets
What brand of food do you feed your fish? omega betta pellets
Do you feed frozen? yes, brine shrimp and bloodworms
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 10 days
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 3 days ago he flashed once, today i witnessed it many times
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? he is flashing against plant leaves but otherwise swimming normally
Have you started any treatment for the illness? no
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? no
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? fins are still held normally (not clamped) and he swims normally and is active.

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
my new male betta has been swimming happily in his 6 gallon tank for a little over a week now. on friday i noticed him flash once and today I noticed him flashing many times. i did my best to check his body for ich or visible flukes but didn't see any, so i am unsure how to treat him. he continues to eat and swim normally, aside from when i saw him flashing. he also flushed his gills after rubbing against a plant, so i am suspecting gill flukes at this point. i have a few meds on hand, including kanaplex, tetra lifeguard, API antibiotics, and aquarium/epsom salts and can get more if necessary. i'm really not sure how to treat him since i don't know what kind of infection/parasite he has.

if anyone could help out that would be great! i have the ability to set up a quarantine tank (using either a 2.5 gallon, a 5 gallon bucket, or a ten gallon. the only problem is i don't have any extra sponge filters, so the 2.5 gallon and bucket would be heated but unfiltered but i am willing to do frequent water changes. there is a HOB filter in the ten gallon, but it's pretty light flow)
thanks !

 

[MrMuggles]

How many times total have you seen the behavior? Is it excessive? Sometimes my fish have an itch to scratch and I’ll witness them flashing only a few times. It can be totally normal if not excessive and/or continuous.

flashing due to poisoning or parasites would look quite a bit different from just “scratching an itch”, especially as it progresses

your pH and chemistry are likely not the problem, given those numbers

IMO do not QT or medicate the fish if you don’t know the cause with certainty. Netting and moving the fish will introduce stress, so you should be be certain it is necessary before proceeding.

 

[PaprikaFish]

i've been observing him since i posted this, and i would say its definitely excessive. he rubbed his side on one of the rocks and then seemed to take a break for a little before i saw him quickly flash on the plants 5 or 6 times. i dimmed his lights and he seemed to relax a little, but he is still breathing pretty heavily.

i'm not sure what in the tank would cause poisoning, as my last water change was the 17th and he seems to really be showing symptoms now. should i do a 40% water change as precautionary or would that be too stressful for him?

 

[MrMuggles]

A water change is a good start. Large water change is possible, good, but be careful to match temperature and pH pretty closely. You could try sustained increase in water change frequency for a time, maybe doing 10-20% daily. If something in the tank water is irritating the fish this should have an impact pretty quickly and will provide valuable info about the possible source.

 

[PaprikaFish]

A water change is a good start. Large water change is possible, good, but be careful to match temperature and pH pretty closely. You could try sustained increase in water change frequency for a time, maybe doing 10-20% daily. If something in the tank water is irritating the fish this should have an impact pretty quickly and will provide valuable info about the possible source.

i just did a ~20% water change with a temperature change like you said, and he was definitely feeling well enough to get angry at the water siphon. he ate some pellets completely normally this morning, and is currently swimming and investigating the plants and snails like normal.
how long should i continue to change water for?
thank you for all of your help btw!

 

[PaprikaFish]

I wanted to do an update because i think he needs treatment now...

his gills are inflamed, and he is breathing quite heavily/rapidly. he is definitely not as active as yesterday, but still ate and swam out to see me throughout the day. he seemed to be hanging out around the bottom or resting on leaves whenever i wasnt engaging him. i noticed him rubbing/flashing against a leaf again so there is definitely something bothering him. in addition, i think theres a small scratch on his side, probably from flashing against a rock (its teeny and should go away with good water quality)

anyways so the only medicine i currently have that can treat gill flukes (and also bacterial gill disease if that is what he has) is tetra lifeguard which is sold as an "all in one" treatment. i could have prazipro delivered on sunday, but I'm afraid it might be too late by then. should i set up a quarantine bucket and treat with lifeguard and aquarium salt or should i leave him be in his current tank? the quarantine bucket would have a heater but not a filter because i don't have any sponge filters that small. what do you guys think i should do? im very worried about him.

thanks!

 

[kansas]

Since there are no other fish to protect, I wouldn't move it. The stress will not help.

 

[PaprikaFish]

Since there are no other fish to protect, I wouldn't move it. The stress will not help.

I agree and I’m hesitant to move as well, but the medicine says it is not safe for invertebrates and I have a bunch of ramshorn snails in there. it also warns against use in newly set up tanks, and mine has only been running for about a month (cycled using established filter media) so I’m not sure if that counts or not

 

[CindiL]

Hi, do you have a fish/pet store near by? Prazi Pro is good but something like API General Cure might be better as it will take care of flukes (invisible to the eye), worms, lice, velvet etc. It has both praziquantel and also metronidazole in it which both treat parasites (both inside and out).
I always treat my tank for parasites when I introduce new fish. It seems like so many of them have flukes or other parasites when you bring them home that I think of it like a preventative.
SeaChem Paraguard would be another good 2nd option.

Also, I have used prazi pro and metro personally and not had an issue with my snails though I don’t have rams horns, I have nerites and apple.

Tetra lifeguard doesn’t seem like the right solution for you.

 

[PaprikaFish]

i have an LFS nearby, i can call them and confirm that they have API General Cure. if i were to treat with general cure would it take care of the gill fluke eggs as well? i'm worried about a possible relapse if all of the eggs hatch.

thank you so much!!

 

[CindiL]

If they don’t have that, see if they have paraguard and use that while waiting for prazi pro. If neither, malachite green will treat a variety of parasites, thats the main ingredient in Paraguard but other medicines might have it. Just thinking of alternatives.

Most of them have you treat long enough it will take care of any eggs. For instance for ich they recommend dosing daily for 2 weeks with paraguard.

 

[MrMuggles]

to reduce population of parasites, and increase chances of a sustainable cure, a small UV filter could be introduced in addition to the medicines mentioned alive. After the fish improves you could remove it or run it only periodically to help keep parasites in check.