Betta seems paralyzed

[bujeeboo]

Well, now my betta, in his own two gallon tank with a heater, is suddenly appearing to be paralyzed in his back end.

Here's what I noticed. He's been laying in his plant alot and also on the gravel. Didn't think anything of it until this evening when I gave him his evening meal and he could barely get the momentum to jump and grab the food off the surface of the water. His back end is completely lame.

He gets weekly complete water changes. I've had him for about 8 months. His color is still beautiful and vibrant and otherwise doesn't show any signs of a disease. I have had one other betta in the past who ate his pellets and died of old age. This one NEVER liked pellets. He would taste them and spit them out and they would accumulate. Preferred blood worms instead. Is a steady diet of blood worms perhaps not a good enough diet for him? What could this be? An accident?

Please help me. I love this fish and it's heartbreaking to see his attempts to eat. He wants to and can't.

 

[semper fi]

is there anything in the tank that could of injured him? or another fish that could of beat on him?

maggie

 

[bujeeboo]

Nope. I have a feeling this one will be a mystery. It does seem like injury is the likely answer. He jumped out of his tank once, and landed on the carpet below. But that was 3 months ago. And he's covered now. Who knows? Maybe it's all catching up with him.

Last night, I really felt that his water temp was low, so I turned him up to 80 F. This morning he was sleeping on the suction cup bewtween the wall and the heater, so he seems to want to be warmer. Poor guy, it's the saddest thing. He wants to eat, and so far has managed to get a couple of bites. But it's difficult.

His color is still gorgeous and vibrant, full tail and fins. He just drags the tail sort of listlessly and when before he was endless movement all the time, he now just sort of scoots from place to place.

No one gave me an answer about fish euthansia, and how to do it. (Read my circling glass cat post.) I really don't want this guy to suffer too long if it turns out he can't be cured. Is there something more humane but just as effective as 1/2 water and 1/2 alcohol solution?

 

[angelphish]

you can help a fish go quietly by placing it in a cup of water and putting it in the freezer. it's body temp will slow and it will fade away.

 

[wetwetwet]

Hi bjb,

I'm not overly familiar with bettas been kept in small tanks (mine in the community) but is a complete water change the norm? Would this not cause the same problems of cycling a new tank? Do you test the water?

Another thing you mentioned was that he was resting on the heater - if there is no guard then he could easily have burnt himself - consider putting a guard arround it.

fish euthansia is allways an immotive subject and comes up frequently - usually causing big disagreements - it came up recently, use the search facility or if I can find the thread I'll post it here.






fish euthanasia - this thread may help, contains other links.

 

[bujeeboo]

Thanks for posting that link on euthansia.

It would seem the contention is over 2 ways of thinking, quick and hopefully painless, or slow and sleep inducing.

Not to open another kettle of fish (oh ho ho), but the 1/2 alcohol 1/2 water was quick when I did it the one time, and if having a choice of that versus chopping a head off, I would prefer the alcohol. Even still, while it was quick, the method was high on the "Owner Trauma Scale" and freezing it would seem more in line with inducing it to sleep and death which mimics what chemical euthanasia does.

So for those who are of the "quick" preference, I would do the alcohol as opposed to head cutting.

Okay, it's lunch time here in the States. On to more pleasand thoughts.

 

[semper fi]

i think you put him into shock by raising the temp so quickly. whenever you need to raise the temp it should be done gradually. about a degree every three days at the least.

maggie

p.s. whenever it is necessary to euthanize a fish it is never easy on the one doing it. the fact that you care is shown by your feelings over the act.

 

[bujeeboo]

I think bettas are a little more resilient on things like temp changes and complete water changes (someone else was inquiring about that). I have heard that they don't even need a heater if one has fairly stable temps and that's why they make good bowl fish. My room temp is stable in the summer, but in the fall and winter the room gets mighty cold and had recently dropped dramatically due to the season changing and perhaps it caused his illness. He's at 79 F now, and he's sleeping on his heater. Poor guy. The water changes are because he is does not have aeration or filtering. Again, this is all stuff that I have read. And certainly, he is sick. Something could be wrong with what I did. He's my second betta. And the one before him lived about 2 years. He seems otherwise healthy and it's almost as if his problem is orthopedic or neurological. He has no spots, fuzz, tears or fading.

Anyway, I fear the end is coming for the poor thing, and it really tears me in two. They are such wonderful fish. Almost like dogs the way they get excited to see you and eagerly jump for food. Bettas are what got me hooked on fish, and a year later I got a tank with the glass cats, rainbow shark and a tetra. But little did I know they really don't have the "personalities" that bettas seem to have.

 

[Erich Ognjan]

Ok. So, Semper fi is incorrect about the temperature raising. It doesnt have to be 1 degrees every 2 days or more. Thats not a huge deal. 1-2 degrees every hour is norm. A big chanhe would be 5 or more degrees within minutes.
I've had a few fish with these problems. The thing I noticed is "spooking" a fish nd they jump out of the tank or swim fast into something. When swimming into things it can damage their brains, spine(highly rare), but most commonly THAT DAMN FISH BLADDER!
Betta have a touchy swim bladder. Swimming into something or even slightly over eating can disrupt the swim bidders functions.

Not to speak much about myself, but, I have been in this hobby for nearly 30 years and have consistently had bettas for the entire time. I breed live bearing fish. I have worked in 3 "mom and pop" pet stores, 1 Petco(only to rescue the bettas) and a Meijer(only to run the fish dept).

If anyone has this issue please pue the fish on a wet towel and massage the side just above the anus very softly on both sides. For up to 5 seconds both sides. Do that once every few hours. Make sure the temperature of the towel and atmosphere are adjusted to the tanks temperature.

So. In conclusion 1. Concussion. 2. Swim bladder.

That is all.