Betta Fish In Trouble!

[rosieposie]

HELP! I'm hoping there's a Gregory House for Bettas out there!

I've had my betta for about 6 months and he's been absolutely fantastic!
He lives in a 10 gallon tank that has a bubbler that's always on its lowest setting and he also has a heater. I feed him freeze dried bloodworms because he wouldn't eat ANYTHING else i tried (and i tried lots of different types). I would do complete and thorough water changes about every 2 weeks and would use 2 tablespoons of aquarium salt and a little water conditioner.

[FYI ALL SYMPTOMS ARE IN COLOR]
But lately I've had some issues with him. I've had bettas my whole life and i've never had one that i couldn't figure out or fix.
A little over two weeks ago i noticed he was lethargic and leaned on the side of the tank, and when he did swim he more just floated on his side. Then when i looked really closely i noticed his fins were a ragged and torn (one rock was a little sharp so i removed it)and on his side fins there was a small dot of fuzzy white stuff (i assumed a fungus)
Once i noticed this i immediately moved him into 3 gallon hospital tank with no rocks or plants.
I was thinking he had a little bit of fungus, fin rot, and swim bladder (no idea how he got them all at once!)so i treated the hospital tank with a TINY bit of melafix and something called E.M. Erythromycin Anti-Bacterial medication. He wasn't eating so i tried a little bit of a microwaved pea and he ate it once i wiggled it around. Then when that dosage was done i noticed the fungus was gone, but nothing else seemed to really change so after a few days i tried Fungus Eliminator by Jungle which is suppose to help with everything i thought he had and gave him another SMALL bit of pea, but i finished that treatment and still no change so i put him back in his old tank with a VERY thorough clean. He still doesn't really swim a whole lot, but he's able to stay more upright, however, how when he does swim its VERY frantic and spins in circles and he runs into the glass and swims so fast and sporadic he pops out of the water it seems like maybe a internal parasite but im afraid to treat him anymore and i don't get how he'd get all of these issues at once. He hasn't eaten real food (not including pea) in a little over 2 weeks and I'm at a loss of what to do next.
PLEASE help!!!
Rosie

 

[SlyPolak]

Sounds like WAY too many meds to me..... to get better help i recommend you provide with PH/AMMONIA/NITRITES/NITRATES and maybe hardness and Temp... Also I think that nothing but BLOODWORM would cause bloat---- GOOD LUCK

 

[robryb]

Hi

It could be that the diet of freeze-dried bloodworm has ruined his digestive tract. It's pretty harsh, and it blocks them up and constipates them. This could be the accumulation of all that. If he's swimming like that it sounds like he's in discomfort or maybe pain.

Perhaps try frozen fresh bloodworm when he does eat again.

I'm no expert, but I'm guessing no medicine is going to help him now. You could carry on with the pea-thing. You could try daphnia as well. Another thing you could try is epsom salt, it acts as a laxative

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Try defrosted frozen blood worm, or brine shrimp (you can also buy live of both which will go down well as well)

 

[Jenste]

i would also recommend peas - - take a frozen pea, chuck it into a cup with water, pop it in the microwave, pop it out of its shell, mash it up and toss it in his tank - - he needs some TLC for his belly.


also, bettas do not react well to salt. I would stop doing that...

just keep up with water changes to get the salt out of his tank, and add more veggie matter into his diet...freeze dried bloodworms (freeze dried anything) would be like us living off of mcdonalds for every meal....yummy, but awful for our bodies!!!

be stubborn - -if he won't eat the good stuff, don't cave in and give him the bad stuff! when he gets hungry enough he will eat what you give him...

its like dealing with a child....would they rather have the broccoli or the cookie? let him have his little tantrum then he will settle down and eat what's good for him!

also, do not make frozen bloodworms a staple of his diet - - its best to use them as a treat because they are fatty

 

[WILDER]

How long did you use the E.M. Erythromycin Anti-Bacterial medication for?

Water stats would be good.
Does the fish also look bloated.
What does it look like when the betta goes to the toilet.
is the anus enlarged or red and inflamed.

Freeze dried foods cause constipation and swim bladder.
Don't over feed freeze dried foods.

Keep feeding the peas.

Spinning in circles can mean bad water quality, ph shock, parasites, bacterial, swim bladder, the fish is dying, brain damage.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I use betta pellets (hakairi or hakari they are called) I get them from e-bay as they don't seem to sell them anywhere.

Mine gets pellets, and then every few days he gets blood worms.