Advice On A Sick Betta

[Morphkid03]

Hey everyone! A friend just let me know her VT Betta is ill... She bought him from a LFS approximately two weeks ago. Unknown to her, he came with mild fin rot that I had not noticed (only got to see him quickly, just saw that he was active and looked healthy enough, friend's roommates wanted advice on their fish so didn't pay too much attention to the Betta in the hustle and bustle )

Well she called me today worried because Nom Nom (the Betta...) had no appetite, was listless and dull, barely moving in his tank. I went to check him out and he's got Ick and a fairly bad case of fin rot. I had her clean her tank and remove all objects/gravel and change the water... and added Ick meds and a pinch of aquarium salt that I have on hand to the now-clean water (went through all procedures with acclimating him to the water and all, not to worry). He's showing progress already, swimming around much more and not laying on the bottom.

Being a novice she bought one of the tiny little Betta squares that aren't suitable for bettas...
But she's going to Petsmart to pick up a 1 gallon bowl and a small heater tomorrow, plus fin rot meds.
Checked PH, it's fine, don't know other stats.

Help? Tips? Suggestions? All are appreciated by me, my friend, and Nom Nom.

Pictures:

 

[Morphkid03]

Bumping this up because of that spammer... GRRR.

 

[Rufuss]

If you ask me that tiny little tank your friend has will be useful. Use it as a medical tank with less water it means using less medicine. Its such a waste to use so much medicine in a large tank when all your trying to do is cure the betta's diseases.

 

[Morphkid03]

Yeah, she's going to use that tank as a rehab tank and pick up a bigger one for regular use. I'm glad she's doing so. Saves her money and works well for him to recover in.

 

[Morphkid03]

Update:

Friend's betta got another 100% water change and medicine add. The Ick has pretty much vanished, but the fin rot progressed overnight. We've added Fin Rot medication but he's not looking too good... no appetite, listless, and is laying on the bottom, plus the rot worked it's way up all his fins and he looks more ragged now then he does in my attached photos.

 

[Netty]

Poor little chap he's certainly doesn't look too happy in the pics. If he's laying at the bottom and struggling to come up for air, I would lower the water level for him so it's not so far for him to go. It would also be a good idea to put him somewhere dark and quiet to keep him from getting too stressed.

Keep treating him and keep his water clean for the moment and fingers crossed he pulls through.

 

[ReMz]

Poor little chap he's certainly doesn't look too happy in the pics. If he's laying at the bottom and struggling to come up for air, I would lower the water level for him so it's not so far for him to go. It would also be a good idea to put him somewhere dark and quiet to keep him from getting too stressed.

Keep treating him and keep his water clean for the moment and fingers crossed he pulls through.

yep... that's about all you can do. He certainly doesn't look good. Just make sure that the water is getting changed frequently... that looks TINY.

If it were my betta, I would get him in the 1 gallon ASAP. 1 gal isn't so large that it is a hassle to treat and upping the temperature with a small heater will help him recover. Plus, ammonia levels will not spike as quickly in a larger setup.

 

[Morphkid03]

Poor little chap he's certainly doesn't look too happy in the pics. If he's laying at the bottom and struggling to come up for air, I would lower the water level for him so it's not so far for him to go. It would also be a good idea to put him somewhere dark and quiet to keep him from getting too stressed.

Keep treating him and keep his water clean for the moment and fingers crossed he pulls through.

yep... that's about all you can do. He certainly doesn't look good. Just make sure that the water is getting changed frequently... that looks TINY.

If it were my betta, I would get him in the 1 gallon ASAP. 1 gal isn't so large that it is a hassle to treat and upping the temperature with a small heater will help him recover. Plus, ammonia levels will not spike as quickly in a larger setup.

I've had her wrap the tank in black fabric to keep stimulus to a minimum and she's now doing frequent water changes.. She's on her way to pick up a 1 gallon bowl and heater along with medicines from Petsmart right now.
He's a mess and I feel bad for him, I'm trying my hardest to help him pull through but he just looks worse and worse. Ugh.

 

[Netty]

At least you're trying. Sometimes despite everything we do to help our little friends, we still lose them. It's so frustrating at times but just keep trying and don't give up yet......we've had Bettas that we thought wouldn't last the hour and have suddenly perked up and fully recovered.

Keep us updated

 

[Morphkid03]

At least you're trying. Sometimes despite everything we do to help our little friends, we still lose them. It's so frustrating at times but just keep trying and don't give up yet......we've had Bettas that we thought wouldn't last the hour and have suddenly perked up and fully recovered.

Keep us updated

Thanks. It's hard to watch him go so downhill
I'm trying really hard to be positive for my friend, but it just seems to get worse and worse. I'll be checking on him tonight, so I've got fingers crossed to see some sort of improvement, any sort of improvement..
I appreciate the encouraging thoughts. Thank you.

 

[Netty]

No probs.....I just hope he pulls through. These little guys are so easy to get totally attached to and it's really hard when they are so unwell

At least he is with people that are doing their best for him and not still stuck in the pet shop!!!

 

[Morphkid03]

No probs.....I just hope he pulls through. These little guys are so easy to get totally attached to and it's really hard when they are so unwell

At least he is with people that are doing their best for him and not still stuck in the pet shop!!!

Yeah. She's quite confused as to why my Betta (Oliver) is so healthy in comparison to her Nom Nom. I explained how we have totally different setups and that Oliver (my Betta) was bought healthy while Nom was bought ill.

Going to check on him in a few hours... hopefully he looks better when I do.

UPDATE:
She's purchased a Mini Heater and 1.5 gallon bowl for Nom. Yay!

 

[Morphkid03]

Sadly, not a good update to end the thread.
Poor Nom Nom died tonight, and my friend was very upset. I feel terrible for her... to take her mind off it we set up the tank she got (1.5 gallon filtered and heated tank) and I'm going to get her a (HEALTHY) betta for her birthday (which is the 20th, so it works out well).

So some good came out of the bad- she knows a TON more about bettas and their care and is much more prepared for her next fish.

 

[ThePiggy]

Sorry to hear about the poor guy
Good luck with the next one!

 

[Morphkid03]

Sorry to hear about the poor guy
Good luck with the next one!

Thanks, I've given her explicit instructions on caring for him, so it will be nice to see her have a fish and be prepared.