Next Steps for Sick Betta

[kcstaehle]

Hi there. I've been looking for advice for my betta fish over the past couple of days & found this forum. A couple of mornings ago I noticed that a large part of my betta's dorsal fin was missing. He didn't want to eat that morning and he seemed more sluggish. This literally seemed to happen overnight.

I've had the betta for about 5 months now. He's in a 6 gallon tank by himself. I change his water doing a 35-50% water change every 2 weeks. I use water conditioner each time. He does have a heater & thermometer - I set it at 76-78 degrees. I feed him one to two times a day using the very small micropellets as he won't eat anything else. He's had a couple of bouts of what I suspected were bloat as he had difficulty swimming - swimming erratically. But it's been a while since that last happened.

So when I noticed his fin 2 days ago I took some water to Petsmart & had it tested. They told me it was normal. I bought some Bettafix thinking that he had fin rot though I didn't notice any discoloration of the fins, just that a large part was missing. So that evening I did a 25% water change & added the Bettafix. Yesterday morning he seemed to be a little bit brighter and he took 1 bite of food. In the afternoon he seemed to be doing a bit worse again and was hiding more. I had done some research online & saw that many said to stay away from the Bettafix & to do frequent water changes using aquarium salt. I went to Petsmart again to buy aquarium salt and a couple of other supplies so that I could set up a "quarantine" tank. (I already had a 2 gallon unopened tank that I bought for my daughter but she hadn't opened.) I got a small heater & a few silk plants. So last night I set up this quarantine tank & added aquarium salt to the water. I started reading about fin nipping & since his seemed to deteriorate so quickly & his water had been ok, I wondered if this is what happened?

This morning he looks worse than ever! I don't know if it's the shock of a new tank, the salt, or what. He's hiding behind the heater, won't eat & when he did bolt away as I put food in he immediately went to the bottom & was gasping for air. Now he's back up behind the heater & looks pretty bad. Should I put him back in the original aquarium??? Thank you in advance!

 

[FishBearer9845]

Do you test your water daily or have changed anything about the tank?
What is the filter like? I've seen lots of people report their Betta's tails get sucked in by the filter, and if it's long and flowy it could be that.

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[FishGuest5123]

Can we get a pic? If you dosed the salt according to directions then it is not the salt. You should clean your tank once a week and do a 70% water change. Vacuum your substrate too. Once every 2 weeks, swish your filter cartridge in a little tank water but never change it unless it is literally falling apart.

 

[kcstaehle]

Thanks for the responses.

"Ollie" does have a really big tail. I think he's a half moon. I guess his tail could have gotten damaged in the filter. I never saw him around the filter though...he pretty much stayed on the opposite 2/3 of the tank. The filter is an Azoo Mignon 60 filter. It has an adjustable flow & I kept it at the slowest possible. I've used this filter with the included sponges for the past 5 months until last weekend I exchanged the sponge for an Aquaclear and added Biomax. About a month ago I added a cave with a coral like surface. He would spend quite a bit of time in the cave. I did remove that the night before last & put a smooth arch in there instead. I just don't see how that could have damaged the top part of his dorsal fin though. Unfortunately, I don't know most of the actual values of the water testing results as I had it done at Petsmart. The girl did say the pH was a bit high but everything else was normal. I had been doing water changes 50% or 3 gallons every 10-14 days & using the API Stress Coat conditioner in the water. I always used a vacuum to clean the gravel. I keep his water between 76 & 78 degrees. The heater in the tank has an adjustable thermostat but I still find I have to mess with it from time to time.

Here are some pictures - the first I took last night when I had him acclimating in the small (2 gallon) quarantine tank. This morning I thought he was dying - he at first was lying on the bottom of the tank breathing heavily then ultimately swam up to the top & was listless. Ollie wedged himself between the filter & heater before I had left for work & seemed to have stayed there most of the day. This is where he is now. I'm sure that transporting him to a new tank to be able to add the salt & do complete water changes more easily was very stressful for him. (I also wanted to put a tank in my bedroom close to the bed so I could keep a closer eye on him. His actual 6 gallon tank is in our main living room area/foyer where I don't see him nearly as much.) Like I said, I had planned on doing daily complete water changes & each time adding the salt. The dose recommended on the box is 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water. On another forum I read to do 1 tsp per gallon so last night I did in between & added 1 1/2 tsp total (3/4 tsp per gallon).

So I'm torn as to whether I put Ollie back into his normal 6 gallon tank or keep him in the smaller tank & do 100% water changes adding the salt (and water conditioner). He hasn't eaten in several days now. (He is very picky and all I've ever been able to get him to eat is a very small micropelleted commercial food. He refuses the mini pellets - I soak them in water for my other betta & he refuses the brine shrimp.) Any recommendations?