Betta Has A Chunk Hanging Off His Cheek,gill,face

[dem0nz]

i was just lounging around and my girlfriend pointed out that my beeta had a bit of red on him so naturaly i went over to check it out

and bloody hell!!! one of his gills has kind of like ripped up towards his face,its around 7mm and its a big chunk and its hanging off the left side of his face
it has gone back a few times but it is horrid,its like a slice off him and its bright red underneath,no sign of rot or infection as far as i am aware

his tank is 28 liters and has been set up for a few months,he has been eating fine and as far as i know his behavior has been normal.
in his tank is 2 tall pointy leafed plants (cant remember what they are called) a cave with moss attatched to it and the moss is being held on with thread
the only thing i can think of is the thread but its nowhere near sharp enough or strong enough for him to shred himself on it
the tank runs on a underground filter that leads up to a spraybar aimed backwards to reduce current

i have no idea on my water stats but i change his water 50% twice a week

any idea what is up,how it could have happend or anything
can this be fixed?

-monz


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[WILDER]

Bless him I would remove it if he's only hanging on with a thread.
Red infamed gills can be bad water quality, parasites to bacterial.
Size of tank in gallons or litres.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, ntirate, and ph.
Any ornaments in the tank with sharp edges.

Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
Any excess mucas on the gills or body of the fish.
Any red patches on the fish or red streaking in the fins.

Without water stats its going to be hard as its the first thing to rule out.

 

[WILDER]

Fish can survive with a missing gill plate but the gill can get easy infected with losing its protection.
Excellent water quality.

 

[dem0nz]

its not hanging on by a thread,it just all lifts off when he flares exposing all the underneath of his gills,it looks like it hangs off tho
i suppose the title is a bit misleading but i was in a bit of a panic when i posted

the tank is 28 liters and has been set up for a few months and was cycled with mature media
i'm using an under gravel filter
it has a 50% water change every week
he is alone in this tank
sadly i am a fool without a tester kit so i dont have any stats

for ornaments it has a cave with java moss tied to it by normal black thread and 2 live plants

he seems to flick a little every now and again
no mucus or redness except for the red inside his gills


i got a pic of him when it first came out but the pic was really blurry then it went back to normal again
on average i've seen it happen arung twice an hour

 

[WILDER]

I would do a water change and get your water tested.
Gills can look inflamed with bad water quality.
I would add a bacterial med just incase of infection of the gill.
Don't know what to suggest about the gill looking like he going to fall off when he flares never came across it before.
I would phone a vet and see what they suggest.

 

[dem0nz]

thanx,i will do a water change 2moz to be on the safe side,ive got pictures and a video now if you would like a look
they are in my topic in the betta section
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=259627
thanx

 

[WILDER]

Is the betta in his own tank as if he is I would try a bacterial med.
Hows he doing.

 

[dem0nz]

he's not doin so good here the pics and videos that are in the othe thread
yeah he has his own tank and i'm planning a 50% water change tody and i will dose with anti bacterial,at the very least it may stop him getting infected

here he is when he was healthy

here he is now

and here is the video,look at how much it keeps flapping and how much he struggles in the corn er althought he current has been reduced quite a bit.
he has never had any trouble with the current before and he has been in this tank for around 3 or 4 months.

 

[WILDER]

That looks awful.
Does the gills look swollen as it does to me.

 

[dem0nz]

worse to be honest,should i go for internal or external anti bacterial?

 

[WILDER]

You could use both melafix for external and anti internal bacteria med by interpet.
I would just try the interpet med first to see how he handles it.
Has his breathing changed.

 

[dem0nz]

it seems a little bit more rapid than usual but i might be imagining it because i am looking for it...if you know what i mean

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
I would just try the anti internal bacteria med by interpet them.
Don't forget to increase aeration in the tank.
Get you a gill link to see what you think.
http/www.koicrisis.com/symptoms/gill.html

 

[dem0nz]

yeah i will increase airation and and dose with internal antibacterial after i have done a water change
i will update later on

 

[WILDER]

Ok good luck.
Keep us all udated on his progress bless him.