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S.O.S

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hello, I need help immediately as to save my upside down laying lifeless betta. My husband noticed a few days ago that my betta looked un well and very lethargic. Today i tried to wake him when feeding him and he wouldnt wake and continued to stay sideways almost upside down at the bottom of the tank. I moved the bubbles to try and wake him and he would just spin round and round in them and float back down sideways or upside down. I did a little research..quite a bit actually and removed him from tank and put him into a smaller tank for now with clean water ..about 75 percent of it and filled remainder with his dirty water as to not shock him. I also placed bubble in small tank and he continued to go round and round due to bubbles, however after about an hour sunk to bottom upside down and is barley breathing; ..this is when i noticed that he has what pear to be small white spots on him,larger black areas on his fins and it almost seems as if his fins have holes in them. I am already beating myself up for this..not doing my proper research on beta care and therefore in a way neglecting him. I love him very much,he is like a puppy dog to me,with the best personality i have ever met in a fish. I am so very upset that because i did not take proper care of him or notice sooner that he was ill and it seems therefore he is likely to die. So, please if you can offer me some detailed help/advice on what to do a.s.a.p...someone, ..you may save his life. I am finding mixed and confusing info on what to do, i am hoping there may be someone with this knowledge that could tell me asap what exactly to do? :(
 
Okay so to start with can you please answer these questions.

Is his tank cycled.
How often do you do water changes.
What do you feed him.
How big is his tank.
Is it heated.
Is it planted.
Is it filtered.
How long has the tank been set up.

Oh and welcome to the forum.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk
 
Put him back in his tank; a small bowl, even with air, isn't going to be the best environment, as it's so small.

Most fishy problems are caused by poor water, so change half the water in his tank, every day, and see if he improves. Make sure the new water is warmed and dechlorinated.

Is his tank heated and filtered? Do you have live plants? Do you have test kits for the water?

I feel I ought to tell you that he might well die; once a fish is so sick it's can't swim and is upside down, it's usually too late, but giving him lots of good, clean water will give him the best chance.
 
Okay so to start with can you please answer these questions.

Is his tank cycled.
How often do you do water changes.
What do you feed him.
How big is his tank.
Is it heated.
Is it planted.
Is it filtered.
How long has the tank been set up.

Oh and welcome to the forum.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk
his tank had been filtering untill i realized to late that it broke and water became polluted. i fed him betta pellets,he doesnt eat much latley,nothing at all since last night. his tank was 1.5 gallons, he is now quarentiened in an unfortunatly small goldfish bowl with now all fresh water. i added his bubbler to the goldfish tank. his former tank was not heated,though we keep heat on high in our house. he had one fake plant and one hiding cave rock as well as large marble like stones for him to nussle down into,upon the top of his aquarium pebbles. I have had him for 4 years and his tank has always maintained a good envirnment prior to the filter breaking. He is still alive but barley breathing laying on his back. i keep trying to put the bubbles at his mouth and occasionally but not much he will take a gasp in and start to flutter around for a second before going back to floating round and round upside down and then sinking back down to bottom on back or side. i think i have identified that he has fin and tail rot and ich as well. i have no idea what to do for him,how to proceed with all my attempt to save his life. i dont have a car but have arranged for a ride to wallmart to hopefully find the right medicines and other things he will need to survive but i have no idea what theyd be or what to do next if i find out what meds he needs..such as what needs to be done in what order and exactly how. thankyou for responding. ps: sorry for typos im extreamly distraught and just trying to get this posted as quick as possible.
 
Put him back in his tank; a small bowl, even with air, isn't going to be the best environment, as it's so small.

Most fishy problems are caused by poor water, so change half the water in his tank, every day, and see if he improves. Make sure the new water is warmed and dechlorinated.

Is his tank heated and filtered? Do you have live plants? Do you have test kits for the water?

I feel I ought to tell you that he might well die; once a fish is so sick it's can't swim and is upside down, it's usually too late, but giving him lots of good, clean water will give him the best chance.

thankyou for your reply, i unfortunatly can not put him back into tank because i havnt known how to clean the bacteria or parasitic infections impurities out and i have no water left as i dumped all the bad water. i will have a ride to wallmart to get more at 12 noon but have no idea what meds he needs,he seems to have fin and tail rot and ich as well and i dont even know how to properly clean the tank or what to put in it or anything im panicked and clueless as im just finding much conflicting info when trying to research what exactly to do. ...no test kit yet ir heater, his tank was filtered and maintained a good habitat for four years untill i didnt realize the filter broke and i dont know when this happened but that is when all went down hill real quick. no live plants.
 
thankyou for your reply, i unfortunatly can not put him back into tank because i havnt known how to clean the bacteria or parasitic infections impurities out and i have no water left as i dumped all the bad water. i will have a ride to wallmart to get more at 12 noon but have no idea what meds he needs,he seems to have fin and tail rot and ich as well and i dont even know how to properly clean the tank or what to put in it or anything im panicked and clueless as im just finding much conflicting info when trying to research what exactly to do. ...no test kit yet ir heater, his tank was filtered and maintained a good habitat for four years untill i didnt realize the filter broke and i dont know when this happened but that is when all went down hill real quick. no live plants.

if i have diagnosed this right: poor water quality due to filter breaking and parasitic or bacterial infectious toxins in tank as i believe from my research he has fin and tail rot and ich as well...could you tell me what i will need to pick up exactly for meds and anything else i need to treat tank..how to do that correctly and what steps to take when in as much detail as and instruction as possible? i truely appreciate your help!
 
if i have diagnosed this right: poor water quality due to filter breaking and parasitic or bacterial infectious toxins in tank as i believe from my research he has fin and tail rot and ich as well...could you tell me what i will need to pick up exactly for meds and anything else i need to treat tank..how to do that correctly and what steps to take when in as much detail as and instruction as possible? i truely appreciate your help!
 
his tank had been filtering untill i realized to late that it broke and water became polluted. i fed him betta pellets,he doesnt eat much latley,nothing at all since last night. his tank was 1.5 gallons, he is now quarentiened in an unfortunatly small goldfish bowl with now all fresh water. i added his bubbler to the goldfish tank. his former tank was not heated,though we keep heat on high in our house. he had one fake plant and one hiding cave rock as well as large marble like stones for him to nussle down into,upon the top of his aquarium pebbles. I have had him for 4 years and his tank has always maintained a good envirnment prior to the filter breaking. He is still alive but barley breathing laying on his back. i keep trying to put the bubbles at his mouth and occasionally but not much he will take a gasp in and start to flutter around for a second before going back to floating round and round upside down and then sinking back down to bottom on back or side. i think i have identified that he has fin and tail rot and ich as well. i have no idea what to do for him,how to proceed with all my attempt to save his life. i dont have a car but have arranged for a ride to wallmart to hopefully find the right medicines and other things he will need to survive but i have no idea what theyd be or what to do next if i find out what meds he needs..such as what needs to be done in what order and exactly how. thankyou for responding. ps: sorry for typos im extreamly distraught and just trying to get this posted as quick as possible.
 
thankyou for your reply, i unfortunatly can not put him back into tank because i havnt known how to clean the bacteria or parasitic infections impurities out and i have no water left as i dumped all the bad water. i will have a ride to wallmart to get more at 12 noon but have no idea what meds he needs,he seems to have fin and tail rot and ich as well and i dont even know how to properly clean the tank or what to put in it or anything im panicked and clueless as im just finding much conflicting info when trying to research what exactly to do. ...no test kit yet ir heater, his tank was filtered and maintained a good habitat for four years untill i didnt realize the filter broke and i dont know when this happened but that is when all went down hill real quick. no live plants.
 
here is an html link to my fb where i posted a video of him in the 75 percent clean water with remainder of dirty as to not shcok him, however ended up putting him in totally clean water when i thought he was barely breathing and about to go, he seems a tad better,not much but a tad now. ..link:
 
Put him back in his tank; a small bowl, even with air, isn't going to be the best environment, as it's so small.

Most fishy problems are caused by poor water, so change half the water in his tank, every day, and see if he improves. Make sure the new water is warmed and dechlorinated.

Is his tank heated and filtered? Do you have live plants? Do you have test kits for the water?

I feel I ought to tell you that he might well die; once a fish is so sick it's can't swim and is upside down, it's usually too late, but giving him lots of good, clean water will give him the best chance.


im not sure how this forum works yet but i have posted new posts including a video of him last night
 
Okay so to start with can you please answer these questions.

Is his tank cycled.
How often do you do water changes.
What do you feed him.
How big is his tank.
Is it heated.
Is it planted.
Is it filtered.
How long has the tank been set up.

Oh and welcome to the forum.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk


im not sure how this forum works yet but i have posted some new posts and one includes a video of him last night
 
if i have diagnosed this right: poor water quality due to filter breaking and parasitic or bacterial infectious toxins in tank as i believe from my research he has fin and tail rot and ich as well...could you tell me what i will need to pick up exactly for meds and anything else i need to treat tank..how to do that correctly and what steps to take when in as much detail as and instruction as possible? i truely appreciate your help!
 
I'm in the UK, so I don't know exactly what medicines you can get, but it will say on the bottle. You want a medication that will treat bacterial infections. I would recommend either Esha 2000 or Esha Exit, if you can get them; if not any other will do, but NOT Melafix or Bettafix; they won't be strong enough for your fish. Get an Ich medication as well, but don't use it yet.

You don't want to be using multiple medications at once, as they might react with each other. Are you sure he has ich? It will show up as very bright white, raised spots, that look almost like grains of salt or sugar, and they will be all over the fish.

He needs to go back into the bigger tank; that little bowl is far too small. Just fill his tank up with new, clean warm water; the more water he has, the more any toxins will be diluted. Any medication will treat the tank as well as the fish.

Don't worry about trying to feed him; he'll feel too sick to want to eat, and don't keep prodding him or moving him around, or trying to get the bubbles near his mouth; those things are stressful for him and he needs peace and quiet.

Try and get some live plants when you're at the shop; they'll help keep the water cleaner, and if you can possibly get a bigger tank (even if it's a plastic container) that would be good too.

Let us know how things are going x
 
4 years is a decent age for a betta, he would be considered and old man so the poor water quality really effected him.

When looking at your video you need to remove the bubbler. The flow is far too strong and it is making it very hard for your betta to get to the surface for air. I'd also put him in something else. That is far to little an amount of water and even by just breathing the water will go bad in a day. Put him in something at least a gallon, be it a container or back in his tank. You should also add his fake plant so he can rest closer to the surface. Try not to have the water more than 4 inches deep. Right now the priority is clean water and the betta can easily reach the surface for air, so that means little to no water movement.

Bettas need heaters, end of story. Pick up one of those mini heaters, it will work wonders. 78F is perfect for them.

To clean his tank all you need to do is empty out the water with a siphon. Seeing as your filter is broke you might as well take out all the gravel and wash it with water (not hot or cold, somewhere in between). You can rinse out his tank as well and use it for his hospital tank. The critters that caused the ich are in the gravel while the thing that caused the finrot was the water itself. By adding all fresh water and keeping it fresh with daily water changes you can cure the fin rot. As for the ich, might as well pick up some Quick cure and use as directed. It can even help with the fin rot.

If he ever recovers enough to eat then you have a good chance of saving him.

So here's the things I would do:
1. get him in a different, larger container.
2. add something for the betta to rest on near the surface
3. get a heater
4. decrease water flow
5. get quick cure or other ick med
6. water changes, water changes, and more water changes to keep the water clean. Daily water changes of 50% is good.
 

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