Dire Straits For Betta?!

[groupiekilla06]

You have to treat the water if its straight from the tap!

Tap water has chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals in it. So you have to treat the water with something like Ammo-lock or Prime (or any other tap water treatment) before adding the fish.

 

[jimdandy]

You have to treat the water if its straight from the tap!

Tap water has chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals in it. So you have to treat the water with something like Ammo-lock or Prime (or any other tap water treatment) before adding the fish.

I did. 20 drops of the Beta Ultimate solution (the stuff in the clear bottle on the first page) The water is heating up right now. I'm getting ready to put the 2 teaspoons of aquarium salt in. after that settles in goes the fish..I hope this works...

Waiting is the hardest part...

 

[groupiekilla06]

2 tsps? How big is your tank? I use 1/2 tsp per gallon and its very effective. However you could use 1 tsp per gallon if your fish is really sick and it won't hurt it. I usually mix it in a cup and pour it in slowly and gradually or just let leave the salt crystals at the bottom of the tank to dissolve slowly. But I put the betta in there while its disolving. The salt melts slowly enough to not shock the fish.

 

[jimdandy]

2 tsps? How big is your tank? I use 1/2 tsp per gallon and its very effective. However you could use 1 tsp per gallon if your fish is really sick and it won't hurt it. I usually mix it in a cup and pour it in slowly and gradually or just let leave the salt crystals at the bottom of the tank to dissolve slowly. But I put the betta in there while its disolving. The salt melts slowly enough to not shock the fish.

its probably a little less than two teaspoons. Its 2.5 gallons. So a 1 tablespoon for 5 gallons is a half tablespoon for 2.5. that equals about two teaspoons. I'm letting it dissolve a little and settle before i put the fish in incase its a little much. The temp is about 80 degrees i want it a degree or so higher then im gonna stick him in there (in cup first so the water temperatures slowly match) and pray for the best.

Edit: His floating in his cup now (the same cup he came with in fact, throughly rinsed of course) So far so good he seems a bit more awake but still looks pretty bad off.

 

[jimdandy]

He is in his new tank. Um...hes darting around alot more...and more violently too i think. Like in twitches and spasms...I mean hes only been in there about 15 minutes but still he spends a larger ratio of time going up and moving around.

Hes going almost vertical when he goes to the top now... maybe having trouble keeping balance...or is really weak. Hes moving around alot more though. He still tries to lie down on his side sometimes.

So whats next? Water is at 80 degrees and is treated. I don't have anything to measure PH...

So I have two water treatment methods (fizz pills and liquid solution) and I have three kinds of medicine:

Aquarium solution Betta Revive (same brand as my liquid water treatment) It claims to treat and prevent protozoan, Bacterial and Fungal diseases (ingridents on page 1 main thing is neomycin sulfate)

Splendid Betta BettaFix Remedy...I used this yesterday and today about 11 hours ago...i dont really know if its been helping.

and I have also bought Mardel Coppersafe that says it treats Ich, Velvet nd external parasites. Its very highly concentrated and its main ingredient is Chelated Copper Sulfate.

Also...he hasnt eaten anything in a few days but I do have some frozen brine shrimp and i know where to find blood worms now.

Suggestions? When should I attempt feeding again? and what about medicine?

Updated Pics of new tank are on the way...

 

[ASDeLoughy]

My betta sushi lived with us for a while, when we got him he looked very mature in size. It's hard to tell the age. He lived with us for 8 months in a 55 gal tank with gourami's.

His last weeks resembled what your fish is experiencing. Hiding in the bottom, not eating for days and kinda looking like he was sleeping on his belly/ not moving.
He passed and when we found him he was bloated, like he ate a marble.

I'm sorry you're going through this, it's easy to get attached to these guys.

 

[jimdandy]

Here's how hes looking now...

 

[Amunet]

Bring that water down down down so he won't have to go up far for air. OR did you buy any decor for the tank? A fake silk aquarium plant would be nice for him. Something that reaches close to the top or one that floats so he can rest on it.
Poor lil guy.. I hope he makes it.

 

[jimdandy]

Bring that water down down down so he won't have to go up far for air. OR did you buy any decor for the tank? A fake silk aquarium plant would be nice for him. Something that reaches close to the top or one that floats so he can rest on it.
Poor lil guy.. I hope he makes it.

thanks....any advice on when to feed and medicate him? what i have is posted above the pictures.

 

[Amunet]

Bring that water down down down so he won't have to go up far for air. OR did you buy any decor for the tank? A fake silk aquarium plant would be nice for him. Something that reaches close to the top or one that floats so he can rest on it.
Poor lil guy.. I hope he makes it.

thanks....any advice on when to feed and medicate him? what i have is posted above the pictures.

I'd add in a dose of coppersafe... specially if you think it's velvet. I think coppersafe is safe to use with other mardel brand medication? At least I think I remember reading that in their pamplet. I'm not sure if it's safe to use w/ the meds you have though Hopefully someone who is more familiar with the other meds & with coppersafe will be able to tell you that.
As for feeding. Since you pretty much just put him into the tank, wait until tomorrow to try to feed him a little bit of the brine shrimp. If he doesn't eat it right away, leave it for an hour and if it's still not eaten by then take it out. You can keep on trying however much you want, but just make sure you take out whatever is not eaten so it doesn't foul the water up.

And don't worry about the pH. Most fish will adapt to a large range of pH so yeah.. that's just something you shouldn't worry about.

 

[jimdandy]

I'll wait before medicating and ill try feeding him tomorrow...also...there are alot of bubbles in the new tank...should i be worried about that too?

 

[Amunet]

I'll wait before medicating and ill try feeding him tomorrow...also...there are alot of bubbles in the new tank...should i be worried about that too?

No, that's nothing to worry about. That usually always happens when you set up a new tank.

 

[jimdandy]

I'll wait before medicating and ill try feeding him tomorrow...also...there are alot of bubbles in the new tank...should i be worried about that too?

No, that's nothing to worry about. That usually always happens when you set up a new tank.

Okay thanks again. I'm still looking for medicine info but other than that I'll leave the water alone for at least 2 or 3 days and try to feed him brine shrimp tomorrow. If that doesn't work for him to eat in the next few days ill make a run for blood worms.

He's still breathing heavily...

 

[WILDER]

I havent read through the whole post but it sounds like columnaris to me they can labour breath with columnaris if it affects the gills.
Velvet signs are.
A covering in talc, yellow to golden spots, or yellow to golden coating on the fish, can also look like brown rust on a fish.
Shine a torch on the fish with tank lights out to see if the patches glow up.

 

[jimdandy]

Thanks Everyone.

He died between 4AM and 7AM Central this morning and stayed sunken at the bottom (odd?). He was breathing really heavy when he was last alive and wasn't moving at all no matter what i tried to do for him...maybe he didn't have the strength to come up for air. I don't know. Should have tried feeding him maybe. If he ate maybe he would have had strength to hang on a bit longer.

I still don't know what sickness he had. Its my fault he got sick though. I'll probably go back to my hometown so I can at least give him a proper burial soon (weird and old fashioned I know...sue me.) he deserves at least that. Its been a while since I had a bettafish. My first one I had when I was 8 or so many years ago I sat around and drew him swimming around for hours. I was very upset when he passed.

Thanks everyone. Nothing left to do but clean out the tanks and put them up. I don't think I'll be getting more fish for a while. I'd give the tanks to my little brother so he could finally get fish if I didn't think he would forget about them between his dog and his video games and leave them all for my mom take care of (when she mostly takes care of the dog too...sigh...)

Thanks again everyone. I appreciate it.