What Is Wrong With Him?

[RackinRocky]

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 2 years or more.
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 80F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) I betta and 4 ghost shrimp

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Once every 7-10 days
How much of the water do you change? 30-40%
What do you use to treat your water? Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Vacuum also

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:10
pH:8

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Once a day.
How much do you feed your fish? Just a few bites.
What brand of food do you feed your fish? NLS, Omega One, and various frozen.
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Frozen yes. Freeze-dried, no.

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? About 9 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? Two weeks ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Less active, progressed to laying on bottom a lot. Color is greying.
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? Yes, not as 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) At first I noticed him being less active about 2 weeks ago, but was still eating. Now he lays on the bottom a lot, and he is a marble, but his color is weird looking. His mouth looks grey and so does some of his body. Still eats.

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[Crispii]

This is an extremely vague explanation. Please go and answer half of the questions.

 

[RackinRocky]

 

[RackinRocky]

Sorry. I didn't see the other half at first!

 

[Npiche3]

Poor little guy. Hope you find out what the trouble is. Good luck

 

[RackinRocky]

To give you an idea of the change, this is him in June.

 

[CheshireKat]

Hmm... I can't really see the graying you're talking about; I see nothing unusual. Do you have before pictures?

 

[CheshireKat]

Oh yeah, it looks like a normal color change. You must've posted the before right as I posted.

 

[RackinRocky]

But is that fin rot? They look so ratty to me.

 

[CheshireKat]

Because of how the tail is positioned in the before photo, I can't tell how much of a difference there is. There does seem like possible fin loss, but it doesn't quite look like rot.
Because you're concerned about this and because he's lethargic, which could be a sign of bacterial issue but not necessarily, you could try treating with aquarium salt as an antiseptic (I prefer salt baths but if you don't have live plants or snails, you could salt the tank, although salt is only removed through water changes and can build up if not properly removed), Paraguard which is gentle but often effective for my purposes with bacterial and fungus issues, or a stronger med like Maracyn 2 or furan-2, Kanaplex, there's several options. I don't like to jump straight to antibiotics when I don't know what, if anything, is wrong, but it's up to you, as is treating in the first place.

You've had him for 9 months. I'm not sure how old he was when you got him. If he was older, like close to a year, he could be aging. But there's no way to tell unless you happen to know his age at the time of purchase.

 

[RackinRocky]

Here is another "before" pic where you can see his tail. I didn't start antibiotics because he wasn't obviously sick, just lethargic, compared to how he was before. He was hyper when I brought him home and up until he started acting and looking strange. I didn't want to start antibiotics because it concerns me. I don't like using them unnecessarily, when there is concern about antibiotic resistance all around us. I will buy some Paragard, but as for the aquarium salt, I have it, but will it injure my ghost shrimp? Thank you.

 

[RackinRocky]

Oh, and he's grown since I got him. He was only about half grown when I got him.

 

[RackinRocky]

Well, I was ordering Paragard online, and figured I'd better see how he is before actually buying it. He's on the bottom, and he's breathing way too fast. I wish I'd ordered it two weeks ago when this first started! I feel terrible now. I don't think he's long for this world, but thank you to all who tried to help.

 

[CheshireKat]

His tail does look a little shorter. Having meds on hand for future fish is never bad, so you can still order if you want. I think an antibiotic is needed more right now, but I still am not sure what's wrong with him. Bacterial issues aren't always visible or obvious though.
I hope he makes it though. He's very pretty.

 

[RackinRocky]

I'm going to do a water change, even though one was done four days ago. Might help him. I'm desperate at this point. He was almost pure white when I got him, with a couple of spots. So cute. My hubby pointed him out to me, and he's not at all interested in fish or bettas. I always wanted a marble. And he is so friendly and interactive. A real lover of a fish. Yes, I suppose the bacterial infection could be inside, and it wouldn't show outward physical signs. I think I WILL go ahead and order Paragard. It seems every time I order something, I never use it because no one gets sick, then of course the minute it expires and I throw it out, I have a sick one again! Can't win.

 

[CheshireKat]

Yeah, both times I've ordered meds, the fish died before I got them. But I have ended up using General Cure and Paraguard afterward, so it worked out. I haven't yet needed to use Kanaplex, but I have used the medicated flakes once just in case.
Just a note, Paraguard isn't an antibiotic and isn't absorbed internally. I've used it for minor cloudy eye and minor fungus, both on new fish and both caught and treated immediately. I treated the fungus with salt, too. How effective it is with fin rot, I've no personal experience.

 

[RackinRocky]

I've used Kanaplex before too, along with Metro. I didn't realize at the time that it would not cure fish TB. NOTHING does. I tried everything. Spent a lot of money--more than I did on the fish. I lost a whole tank to TB. Ended up catching it myself too! Now THAT was no fun! Have to use just the right antibiotic, and for a LONG time. 9 months. I got abscesses on my arm too. Learned my lesson! Always use watertight gloves now!