Betta Fish is Sick... Help please!

[alycannan]

Hello,

I have had my betta fish for about a month now and since I have gotten him he has been very active and happy. I have him in a 5 gallon tank with live plants, drift wood, and clay slates. I have adjusted the water flow so its not too strong, do weekly water changes about 30% of the water with syphen. I have made sure to research and trying to make sure I do everything as well as I can.

Last week I went to go feed "Lupin" and I noticed his dorsal fin was split and slightly shredded. Of course I was worried and took out the large slate rocks, and sanded all the edges down to make sure there were no sharp edges. I put them back in and have been monitoring him. His fin kept falling off slowing I figured it was the fin taking care of its self.

I did a water change on Sunday and he was fine. Yesterday I came home and noticed he was at the bottom of the tank and not moving or reacting to me. I thought he was resting. This morning I woke up and he is doing the same thing, he is hardly moving and seems to have labored breathing. His top fin is now very short and he seems to have darkening scales or damaged scales. I tested the water and everything appeared to be in normal range, the temperature seemed to be a little low 72ish, so I will be getting a better heater after work. But, I have a feeling that there is a much worse problem going on....

I looked online but there are so many possibilities and possible solutions. I'm unsure what to do. Have any know what's going on or what I should be doing to help Lupin?

Thank you,

Alyssa

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Can you try and put a few photos of your Fish up?

I can’t help you but I know we have lots of Betta Keepers In the Forum

 

[BettaKitty]

What was his tank temperature before you noticed it was 72?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Hello,

I have had my betta fish for about a month now and since I have gotten him he has been very active and happy. I have him in a 5 gallon tank with live plants, drift wood, and clay slates. I have adjusted the water flow so its not too strong, do weekly water changes about 30% of the water with syphen. I have made sure to research and trying to make sure I do everything as well as I can.

Last week I went to go feed "Lupin" and I noticed his dorsal fin was split and slightly shredded. Of course I was worried and took out the large slate rocks, and sanded all the edges down to make sure there were no sharp edges. I put them back in and have been monitoring him. His fin kept falling off slowing I figured it was the fin taking care of its self.

I did a water change on Sunday and he was fine. Yesterday I came home and noticed he was at the bottom of the tank and not moving or reacting to me. I thought he was resting. This morning I woke up and he is doing the same thing, he is hardly moving and seems to have labored breathing. His top fin is now very short and he seems to have darkening scales or damaged scales. I tested the water and everything appeared to be in normal range, the temperature seemed to be a little low 72ish, so I will be getting a better heater after work. But, I have a feeling that there is a much worse problem going on....

I looked online but there are so many possibilities and possible solutions. I'm unsure what to do. Have any know what's going on or what I should be doing to help Lupin?

Thank you,

Alyssa

To begin, your research could have told you that a Betta needs to be kept at 75℉ at a minimum, so he's too cold and needs to be warmer than '72 ish'. Anything up to 80℉ would be better. Cold fish get very lethargic and will eventually just shut down and die.

So this is a stressed fish, currently confined in a tank that is really too small for him. As a consequence of that stress, his resistance to bacteria is compromised and I suspect that this is what's causing his fins to deteriorate. I'd also suspect that he lacks the room to swim properly and his large fins will actually be a hindrance.
(Good idea of treating the slate, by the way, but the damage may already have been done).

When you tested the water and say everything 'appeared to being normal range', what did you mean by that? Can you please give us the numbers?

For treatment and rescue;

• He needs some warmth as soon as possible.
• Some Aquarium Salt in the tank would also help him heal. This has to be Aquarium Salt, (it is the absolute cheapest 'medicine' on the store shelves). Dissolve a tablespoon of the salt in a jug of aquarium water and, once the salt has dissolved, pour the water back into the tank.