S. Decoteau
- #1
HI Guys, I have a 2 year old male Betta fish that has been sick for a few weeks now and I feel like I've tried everything. It began with a move from Maine to Florida in which his fins got pretty torn up due to a serious miscalculation on my part. I immediately began adding a bit of BettaFix to his tank to help him rebuid his slimecoat and try to prevent infection. 10 days later he seemed pretty much his usual curious, hungry self, except that I kept finding large bits of fin at the bottom of his tank during daily gravel vac.
Two weeks ago, I noticed that he was acting far more lethargic than normal and I saw what looked like a fuzzy white patch on one side. I had stopped adding BettaFix by that point, so I started adding it again. When that did nothing, I moved on to Melafix, even as I was doing research and attempting to aquire materials for a more aggressive approach. At the same time I realized that the pH in his water, which I'd been fighting to raise for a few months at that point, was down to 6.2.
So we raised the pH (I can explain how if asked). We've been monitoring all of the other parameters throughout this process as well, and everything but the pH has been perfect (0 PPM ammonia, 0 nitrites, occasionally elevated nitrates but well below the threshold). I had a very well balanced and cycling tank for months before all of this. But now the pH had overshot the mark and was hovering around 7.4 - 7.6!!
My Betta got worse. While waiting for Kanamycin to arrive from Amazon since no one has it in store, I began treating with what I had on hand already: Fungus Clear tabs (active ingredients: nitrofurazone & potassium dicromate) and aquarium salt, both according to directions on the box. But my Betta kept getting worse; the white patch cleared up but he started laying on one side at the top of the tank when not swimming, and it seemed like it was hard to get his attention. Almost as if his sense of hearing and sight are not working right. After a few days of the fish steadily declining, I switched tactics and tried Betta Rescue on the days between the Fungus Clear tabs, while *still* waiting for the Kanamycin. After a full course of Betta Revive there was no improvement in his condition, so when the Kanamycin arrived I cleaned the tank and everything in it with hot water, changed the filter media, performed about a 60% water change, replaced the substrate altogether, and then began the course of Kanamycin. For about a week I was alternating Kanamycin and Fungus Clear tabs and performing a 1400ml water change daily (out of a 3 gallon tank which probably has closer to 2 1/2 gallons of water in it).
He still had an appetite even though I had to help him see his food & wake him up to eat it. Yes, before you ask, at one point I tried fasting him for a few days to see if it's his swim bladder, and nothing changed. I have been offering him 2 pellets of HikarI Bio Gold twice per day because he usually manages to eat them once per day (uneaten extras are immediately removed from the tank).
We had to go out of town for 5 days and just returned yesterday. My brother in law was looking after him, said he'd been eating, but I slurped a bunch of food pellets off of the gravel (grrrrr!!!!) along with a bunch of poop when I got home. I don't think he was eating. And he looks worse than ever, spending all if his time laying on his side at the top of the tank behind the heater.
When I checked the water pH last night it read 7.4, so I added pH down per package instructions. I checked all of the water params this morning and everything but the pH was spot on. But the pH *still* reads 7.4!!
He's not eating at all now, and he looks dreadful. He barely swims at all and when he does he immediately flops back over on one side and floats at the top of the tank. I think his eyes look a bit cloudy, and his fins still look ragged, and he's obviously lost weight.
Please, if anyone has any idea of anything else I could do to save him, please let me know. My family loves this little guy, and I'm out of ideas
In a last ditch effort I turned off the filter & added another full dose of Kanamycin as well as a full dose of Fungus Clear tabs a little while ago. Otherwise, I'm completely out of ideas.
Two weeks ago, I noticed that he was acting far more lethargic than normal and I saw what looked like a fuzzy white patch on one side. I had stopped adding BettaFix by that point, so I started adding it again. When that did nothing, I moved on to Melafix, even as I was doing research and attempting to aquire materials for a more aggressive approach. At the same time I realized that the pH in his water, which I'd been fighting to raise for a few months at that point, was down to 6.2.
So we raised the pH (I can explain how if asked). We've been monitoring all of the other parameters throughout this process as well, and everything but the pH has been perfect (0 PPM ammonia, 0 nitrites, occasionally elevated nitrates but well below the threshold). I had a very well balanced and cycling tank for months before all of this. But now the pH had overshot the mark and was hovering around 7.4 - 7.6!!
My Betta got worse. While waiting for Kanamycin to arrive from Amazon since no one has it in store, I began treating with what I had on hand already: Fungus Clear tabs (active ingredients: nitrofurazone & potassium dicromate) and aquarium salt, both according to directions on the box. But my Betta kept getting worse; the white patch cleared up but he started laying on one side at the top of the tank when not swimming, and it seemed like it was hard to get his attention. Almost as if his sense of hearing and sight are not working right. After a few days of the fish steadily declining, I switched tactics and tried Betta Rescue on the days between the Fungus Clear tabs, while *still* waiting for the Kanamycin. After a full course of Betta Revive there was no improvement in his condition, so when the Kanamycin arrived I cleaned the tank and everything in it with hot water, changed the filter media, performed about a 60% water change, replaced the substrate altogether, and then began the course of Kanamycin. For about a week I was alternating Kanamycin and Fungus Clear tabs and performing a 1400ml water change daily (out of a 3 gallon tank which probably has closer to 2 1/2 gallons of water in it).
He still had an appetite even though I had to help him see his food & wake him up to eat it. Yes, before you ask, at one point I tried fasting him for a few days to see if it's his swim bladder, and nothing changed. I have been offering him 2 pellets of HikarI Bio Gold twice per day because he usually manages to eat them once per day (uneaten extras are immediately removed from the tank).
We had to go out of town for 5 days and just returned yesterday. My brother in law was looking after him, said he'd been eating, but I slurped a bunch of food pellets off of the gravel (grrrrr!!!!) along with a bunch of poop when I got home. I don't think he was eating. And he looks worse than ever, spending all if his time laying on his side at the top of the tank behind the heater.
When I checked the water pH last night it read 7.4, so I added pH down per package instructions. I checked all of the water params this morning and everything but the pH was spot on. But the pH *still* reads 7.4!!
He's not eating at all now, and he looks dreadful. He barely swims at all and when he does he immediately flops back over on one side and floats at the top of the tank. I think his eyes look a bit cloudy, and his fins still look ragged, and he's obviously lost weight.
Please, if anyone has any idea of anything else I could do to save him, please let me know. My family loves this little guy, and I'm out of ideas
In a last ditch effort I turned off the filter & added another full dose of Kanamycin as well as a full dose of Fungus Clear tabs a little while ago. Otherwise, I'm completely out of ideas.
