Need Some Help.. Not Sure What Is Wrong With Ill Betta

[worsley]

We have a male betta that we've had for about a week and a half. We are very much novices in fish care- I've had fish growing up but wasn't a serious hobby. Buster (our betta) was fine at first. We put him in his new bowl, with conditioned water, made sure the pebbles and the bowl were clean, good water temp, etc. The only issue we had at first was that Buster would not eat his food pellets. After 3 days of this (we realized on day 2nd that the pellets were accumulating at the bottom) we bought some flakes to see if he would like those better. He did, which was great. We tried alternating pellets with flake, and he still would not eat the pellets.

Then, about 4 days ago, he stopped eating all-together. This was the day after we changed his water (it was really cloudy due to the uneaten food). He started behaving odd - spending a lot of time at the surface poking his mouth out of the water, will only swim along the walls of the bowl. About a day later he started floating at odd angles (as if he possibly had dropsy). We noticed 2 small spots on his scales so we started using BettaFix at the recommendation of a friend. That cleared his spots up, but he is still not eating, follows the walls, floats at angles, and is continually popping his head out of the water as if he was gasping. Occasionally he will float on his side... we actually thought he wad dead a few times.

We did some research online and thought maybe he has dropsy, but he is not puffing up or having his scales stick out. In addition, his gills seem to be inflamed. Two days ago I noticed dark fleshy material at the edge of one of them, and today, the entire length of the gills, on both sides, have the dark material sticking out. When floating around, he also bends into a slightly "S" shaped curve- when he swims or has just stopped swimming he is normal, then reverts back.

If anyone has some suggestions, or maybe knows what is wrong with Buster, we'd really appreciate the help. Even if it's something that can't be remedied and Buster ends up in the "big fishbowl in the sky", it will be helpful to know as we plan on adding to our fishy collection in the future.
Many Thanks!

 

[zoekin8yg]

Most likely he has a swim bladder problem, although possibly something else going on there with the gills, are you sure the dark fleshy stuff isnt just his 'beard' that he used when flaring?

Forgot to say bettas can breathe air so thats possibly what he was doing, he could maybe have been trying to build a nest but unlikely if hes poorly.

 

[worsley]

Most likely he has a swim bladder problem, although possibly something else going on there with the gills, are you sure the dark fleshy stuff isnt just his 'beard' that he used when flaring?

Forgot to say bettas can breathe air so thats possibly what he was doing, he could maybe have been trying to build a nest but unlikely if hes poorly.

It''s possible it is his beard, I've never had this type of betta before (crowntail), and the last time I had betta's was almost 10 years ago. Thanks!

 

[jess6905]

i am no expert and am not pretending to be one, but it kind of sounds like it could be a swimm bladder problem and possibly a sort of bacterial infection........try posting this in the fish emergencies section. between the members in both sections hopefully you will be able to get the help you need. best of luck to you.

 

[Keavy]

I have no idea what it is, but I have read that curved spines could be tuberculosis...

I hope your fish gets better ~_~

 

[Maxsmom]

I was thinking swim bladder too... b/c it could also be caused by a bacterial infection - not just from overfeeding. If the water was cloudy enough from the uneaten food - it's highly probable the ammonia levels were too high and the betta was slowly getting poisoned.

I'm new to betta-keeping as well... but I've learned it's imperative to keep their tanks clean... 0 ammonia. Anything above can start problems. You might want to invest in some water testers... most importantly ammonia (the 2 bottle testers - some only have one - they give false positives) and pH.

I've also learned to make sure you scoop or suck out (with a new/never seen soap turkey baster) any uneaten food right away between water changes so it doesn't rot in the water - producing ammonia.

Water changes should be performed before the ammonia starts to climb. For example, a 1.5 gallon tank should be changed - 100% - every 3-4 days. The smaller the tank - the more often you should change the water. Sometimes frequent water changes help to rectify the problem. But if it's beyond that... you'll need medicine advice from the experts.

You also have to try to match the water temp when changing their water so they don't get shocked or stressed from that.

This is all from what I've learned in the last month from a couple of different betta websites/message forums.

Hopefully, when your betta gets better - if he's still a picky eater after he's better - try frozen (but thawed) bloodworms. You can get them at most aquarium/pet shops that sell fish... most bettas have a hard time turning their nose up at them. My Max almost didn't eat for a week and a half when I brought him home... but the bloodworms turned him around... now he'd look like a blowfish if I let him!

Good luck with Buster! Pictures would be great! We'd love to see him - and it's always helpful for diagnosis.