Anyone know what could be ailing him?

[BettaMomma]

Need some help with a betta.
Here are photos of him: (photos are courtesy of GrullaQuarters)...
He sits like this...

and lays around like this...

The story is that he's not in my immediate care, but I'm going to try to help save him.
He's (as you can see) got pretty good coloration, but just has no energy. Angie (Grulla) says he's been eating bloodworms, so that's a good sign.

I spotted him at the lfs a few weeks back for the first time, he was laying in the bottom of his cup like this:

and I was very sad that I couldn't bring him home because I'm maxed out - no more room at the fishy inn. SOOOO... she lovingly went and got him and brought him home to see if together we could nurse him back to health.

I had another fish in the same predicament (Jasper below) but he had lost all of his coloring, but had pretty much the same symptoms, but with spiral swimming. I also noticed blood spots on Jasper but can't tell if the new guy (still looking for a name, too BTW) has any of those cuz he's got such bright coloring.

Anyone have any ideas as to what this would be that'd cause him to lay on the bottom but not be able to move much, while still eating somewhat?

 

[webcat5]

I wonder if it might be a problem with his air blatter, and that it makes him unable to float to swim?

 

[WILDER]

Is he heavy breathing, and the blood spots do you mean blood blisters and where are they on the fish.

 

[BettaMomma]

I don't have him here in my care but I don't think he's heavy breathing. In fact, she said this morning she though he had died because he WASN'T heavy breathing. that's what's odd about him, is that he shows no signs of being sick except for 2 things:
1 ) a hunk of his dorsal fin is missing, which is completely fixable and
2 ) he lays/sits on the bottom

he doesn't have any blood spots that we've seen.
I really am stumped.

 

[WILDER]

When fish lay on the bottom it's not a good sign anyway, if he had lost colour I would of said a bacteria infection, nothing much to go on i'm afraid maybe add some melafix or salt to the tank.

 

[webcat5]

I wonder if it might be a problem with his air blatter, and that it makes him unable to float to swim?

It really sounds and looks like Swim Blatter Disease. If it is, they sell meds for it but it is rarely curable.

 

[BettaMomma]

Okay, so in that case what's the best course of action for us then at this point???
I've looked everywhere for answers on it and I've gotten everything from "just toss in some salt" to "must euthanize pronto".

And that's NOT happening any time soon.

 

[BettaMomma]

So I just got done reading something on it just now that says they can lead somewhat normal lives w/swim bladder problems.
And that it can be caused by several things - overfeeding (which I don't think is the case because his belly's not bloated at all, and this has been going on for weeks now), birth defect (which doesn't seem like it'd be the case, either, cuz he'd have been this way his whole life thus far and somewhere along the line he'd have been culled. right? RIGHT?), or injury. Which, judging by the compassion, knowledge and just plan "give a crap"ness of the store where he came from, it's a very good possibility that he jumped out of his cup and injured himself, someone looked around to see if anyone saw it, and tossed him back into the cup and onto the shelf and no one was the wiser.

It also said it can be caused by a bacterial infection.
Anyone ever experienced that?

Who's had someone with swim bladder and beaten it???
Anyone anyone??

 

[WILDER]

If you want to try and save him you could try the internal bacteria med, but I just hope he is strong enough for the med, good luck.

 

[BettaMomma]

Hmm....
internal bacteria med - what do you recommend for that?
And I'm confused - wouldn't the meds make him better, so I wouldn't have to worry about him being strong enough to handle them?
Or do you mean in case he does have swim bladder problems, the meds might be too much for him???

 

[WILDER]

Sometimes a med is to much for a sick fish and he is not strong enough to take it, and it can end up finishing them off quicker, maracyn 2.

 

[BettaMomma]

The more i'm reading about how he is acting, the more i'm thinking you are all right about the swim bladder problem. I am going to go ahead and get him started on maracyn 2 and hope for the best. I'm hoping it's from a bacterial infection that he's this way, because it apparently isn't from overfeeding or he'd be huge and bloated, which he's not.

Thanks for the advice.
i'm taking the camera tonight so I'll take some more good pics of him.
Hope for the best for us!

 

[WILDER]

Good luck, we should call you florence nightingale.

 

[BettaMomma]

Well....
wuv just messaged me today and said that with the number of posts I have, I can change my little slogan to whatever I want it to say...

heh heh!

 

[JacopoFishy]

what water temperature is the betta being kept in?
and how is the water aeration?