How To Save My Betta Buddy?

[M'al-finny]

My Betta had a rough day yesterday. He came home with me from LFS, got acclimated to new tank and was put in. (New tank, so it's just him and 6 Danios in a 55 gallon)

He was settling in, exploring and even snoozed by some of the decor. He ate a little bit of food.

Sometime during the evening news, he was sucked into the wet/dry filter and went all the way through -- my hubby discovered him between the filter plates getting rodeo-ed in the huge rush of incoming water. I got him out with a drinking cup and put him back in the tank. At first, things looked grim and we thought he would die immediately.

We turned off the filter to create still water rather than current and just waited and waited. He was still right side up and seemed to recover from his daze a bit.

Today, he is hanging out about mid-tank and is really tattered. His gills on one side are cut up and his fins are really rough. He also was not interested in going for food, although he looked at the flakes, he didn't take any bites. (I will get him some Betta ball food today.) But his attitude is dull, although I think he has a reflection which is distracting him (he's not quite flaring, but he definitely is "watchful" toward the front of the tank.)

What can I do to help him? Stress coat? Slime? Leave him be? Is 55 gal too big for a little Betta?

Any advice appreciated!

 

[kittytehpirate]

Do you have a smaller "hospital" tank that you can set up? I'd keep an eye on him for infection and keep his water at a comfortable temp. I'm not sure what else you can do except hope that he's comfy.

My prayers and sorries to you and your dear fish.

Edit: Perhaps you could try the salt-shock idea. You'll need to do the proper research, but i've read that salt shocking helps the fish recover, and since betta's are more accustomed to brackish water it might be worth a try. Read up on it though, since i don't remember the specifics.

 

[stang1]

I'm not aware of Bettas being more accustomed to brackish water and many people don't use salt in their Betta tanks.
I would put him in a hospital tank and treat with Melafix to help with his fins and wounds.
Your Danios would prefer the water current whereas the Betta prefers still water, which is one of the reasons that they are not ideal for a community tank. With it being such a big tank, you'll probably find that he is constantly patrolling it as they are territorial. You will also find that you may be restricted to what else you can put in the tank with him.
I'd recommend getting a 5g+ tank to keep your Betta in, he'll be more than happy on his own and you can also control the water flow to how he likes it.