Rescued betta, need advice.

I only went in to PetCo to buy supplies, whoops... Anyhow, I saw a beautiful dumbo ear who appeared to be dead in the cup, and I thought, "how sad he died of neglect, I'd have bought him if he were still alive..." then he twitched. That tiniest sign of life was enough for me to take him home and give him a fighting chance. I set up the 20 gallon long I've been waiting to do something with, pilfered some live plants from my other tanks (they look like jungles anyway!) Tossed in some seeded media and safe start, a big piece of mopanI wood, almond leaves, let the heater do its job and started acclimating him. I tested the water in his cup, and the ammonia was literally off the charts, the API test vial turned a deep peacock green . Poor dude. I went slow since I didn't feel like he could handle any shock at this point. He's been in the new tank since about 2:00am last night, and he's still lying listlessly on the substrate, occasionally mustering up the will to go up for air. His fins are clamped so it is difficult to assess how damaged they are, but I see some curling at the ends and he looks a little underweight and grayish. At one point he half heartedly wiggled after a piece of hornwort that floated by, which I took as about as good a sign as I'm going to get from him right now. But I'm wondering if there's more I can do to up his chances, would anyone recommend dosing him with something? I have Pimafix, Metroplex, Kanaplex and Tetra Liefegaurd on hand, or should I just play the waiting game and see if he turns around? I'll take any advice I can get, I can't say this is the first time I've pity-purchased a sick fish, but he's definitely the worst.

 

I wouldn't dose him with anything other than fresh clean healthy water, which you have already done. Not saying that there isn't some medication that might help, but I do feel that medication should always be a last resort after trying good water first and foremost.

It's actually quite nice to read a "fish rescue" thread that actually sounds like a possible rescue, rather than a case of some poor critter going from the frying pan into the fire. Good luck and best wishes for you and your fish.

 

I’d hold off on meds. I would add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per every 5 gallons of water. Be sure to dissolve it first so it doesn’t burn your fish. Contrary to what many believe, Aquarium salt improves gill function, is an astringent to fight bacteria, and reduces stress. Please keep us posted. Thanks for rescuing him.

 

I’d hold off on meds. I would add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per every 5 gallons of water. Be sure to dissolve it first so it doesn’t burn your fish. Contrary to what many believe, Aquarium salt improves gill function, is an astringent to fight bacteria, and reduces stress. Please keep us posted. Thanks for rescuing him.

Will the salt hurt live plants in the tank?

 

Usually doesn’t but you may want to cut the dose down to 1/2 tbls for every 5 gallons.

 

Don’t add salt, bettas are 100% freshwater and can’t handle salt. Salt baths may help but don’t add salt to the water.

 

I wouldn't dose him with anything other than fresh clean healthy water, which you have already done. Not saying that there isn't some medication that might help, but I do feel that medication should always be a last resort after trying good water first and foremost.

It's actually quite nice to read a "fish rescue" thread that actually sounds like a possible rescue, rather than a case of some poor critter going from the frying pan into the fire. Good luck and best wishes for you and your fish.

Thanks! I figured if he stands a chance at all, it'll be in clean filtered water with plants and driftwood. He would've died in the cup for sure, there is no way anyone had been changing his water with that ammonia level.
I'm glad I didn't decide to dose him with anything last night, I almost did but decided 2:00am wasn't responsible decision making time.

 

Don’t add salt, bettas are 100% freshwater and can’t handle salt. Salt baths may help but don’t add salt to the water.

Do you think he'd be able to handle being transferred in and out of the bath? It's cold here right now and I'd worry about the temperature change. I'm not planning on doing anything other than water changes as necessary in the immediate future, but that could change depending on his progress or if I notice any spots or injuries I may have missed.

 

I’d hold off on meds. I would add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per every 5 gallons of water. Be sure to dissolve it first so it doesn’t burn your fish. Contrary to what many believe, Aquarium salt improves gill function, is an astringent to fight bacteria, and reduces stress. Please keep us posted. Thanks for rescuing him.

I'm definitely going to hold off on meds unless I see any specific signs of disease, the more I look at him the more I think he's just suffering stress from ammonia poisoning and low temperatures. He's holding himself up right now instead of laying on his side, and when a catappa leaf sunk to the bottom he wiggled over to it. He also has gotten up to check out his surroundings a couple of times, so it's not much but it's progress compared to where he was last night.

 

You might dI'm the light while he's recuperating, light can be stressful to sick or new fish. Is he warm enough as well? If you have live plants in your aquarium I would avoid salt, or you could temporarily take the plants out and replace with silk plants if you want to provide shelter and comfort for your Betta.

 

Do you think he'd be able to handle being transferred in and out of the bath? It's cold here right now and I'd worry about the temperature change. I'm not planning on doing anything other than water changes as necessary in the immediate future, but that could change depending on his progress or if I notice any spots or injuries I may have missed.

You could float the bath in the tank (when I say bath I mean large tubaware or something of the nature) so that there is no temp change. But that may be too much stress for him. I would dI'm the lights and leave him alone for a bit, some fish get really stressed when moved to a different environment.

 

Well guys, this is a huge bummer but the little guy didn't make it. :/ I can't say I'm shocked, since he was so far gone when I got him, but I was hoping he wasn't too damaged to make a turnaround. Yesterday I found him dead near the catappa leaf he'd been hanging out by, at least he had a comfy spot and I was able to closely monitor the water conditions while he was still alive since it was the weekend. I know it was at least better than dying in the cup of ammonia with no shelter and the stress of other bettas within sight, so the poor guy got a little dignity in his passing. Sucks though, even though I've kept fish since I was a kid, I've never been able to remotely desensitize myself to when a betta dies. I have such a weakness for them. RIP little guy.

 

Even though you had him for a short time, you did give a fish a better ending... and you are to be commended for your kindness and effort ElVictor

 

I agree. You kept him comfortable in his final days. Kudos to you!

 

Omg I did this exact thing myself...not once but twice. The first guy was like yours and lived about four days. I tried everything I could think of but he wouldn’t even eat. The next time was two months ago, I rescued a pitiful translucent, thin, listless betta and did all the things you did for your poor guy, and this time it was a happy ending. Ted the betta has completely rebounded and come back to life and is happily living in a split 20 gallon with my other betta.

You did everything you could. He spent his last couple of days in clean, warm water with someone who cared about him.

I know from experience how much that sucks though...so sorry.

-Stacia