Sick Betta

[littlest]

HI, I hope someone can help me with my betta Galileo,

I've only had him a couple of weeks. A few days after I got him I posted because he wasn't very active. Modaz advised me to do daily water changes.
I have to admit I've not been doing them everyday (I'm not here everyday) but every 2 or 3 days. He generally perked up a bit and got used to me.

It's been a while since the last water change (4 days maybe). Last night he was nice and active though, swimming around, and seemed fine.

This morning I woke up and he was lying flat on his side on the bottom of the bowl. I've never seen a betta lie flat on his side, even when resting they aren't normally flat on their sides.

Did an immeadiate test. Ammonia =0, nitrite = 1 (it's a cycling tank).

Changed 100 per cent of the water, matched temperature, put him back him.

He's just kind of sinking to the bottom though. It's like he gives up swimming and just sinks. My old betta Archimedes did this a couple weeks before he died. He was old though, I've only just got this one.

The other thing is his face is quite yellow. Definately more yellow than yesterday. It's not like he's got something yellow on him, it's like his skin has gone yellow, like jaundice. (His face is normally a pinky/fleshy colour).Any ideas?

If it was just the nitrite, how long after a water-change would you expect him to perk up (It's only been ten minutes so far)


Edit: sorry forgot tank details:

Glass bowl containing 10 litres of water
Heated to about 79F
Filtered with low-flow filter (which is still cycling)
Only thing used other than water is Prime dechlorinator
Eats: Hikari Bio-Betta pellets
A betta flake
ocassional brine shrimp

 

[littlest]

I tried to feed him a bit of a pea but he wasn't interested. Wasn't interested in his normal food either.
He's more active than before the water-change. He's not lying flat on his side anymore, but for the most part he is sitting on his bum at the bottom, with his head pointing up. Still looks more yellow than normal. Most noticeably on his face but also on his body.

 

[liz2]

I have a ct that I got just before Xmas, that always rests on bottom of tank or on his bridge. like his bum is too heavy for his body. he also rests on his side. It used to freak me out but I am now used to it. If I put another boy next to him he has a little flare and then exhausts himself. He eats pellets, peas etc but not as greedily as rest of them do. I have accepted the fact that he is never going to be as active/healthy as the rest of my fish and was probably ill when I got him so I just do my best by him, and I dont think you can ask anything else of a fish owner

 

[WILDER]

If the fish looks like its tail weighing him down and he resting on the bottom and finding it hard to get off the bottom of the tank and top its swim bladder.

 

[dusky]

Start him on a course of internal bacteria meds,,,,,,worked for me, mine had same sypmtoms. good luck and hope he pulls through.

 

[WILDER]

Still looks more yellow than normal. Most noticeably on his face but also on his body.
The yellow on the fish does it look fluffy, just a bleached out yellow, or is it a dusting of yellow on the fish.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.

 

[littlest]

Thnanks for all your help. Unfortunately he was dead by the time I got home from work tonight.
Still a little stumped as to why. I realise the nitrite was unacceptably high at 1, but it was so sudden. Last night he was very active, this morning lying on his side.
And I've heard again and again about people with bettas in unfiltered tanks only changing the water once or twice a week. I was doing it more often yet he died very quickly.

If anyone's got any thoughts or opinions on what it is I'd still be interested. One thing I need to think about is if I need to disinfect the tank with bleach or not.

The yellow isn't fluffy at all, nor does it look like he's dusted with anything. It doesn't look like there is something on his skin, but his skin has actually turned yellow. It reminds me very much of a jaundice kind of yellow like you see in humans.

When I came home tonight I saw that his belly is distended and also yellow. Pretty sure that wasn't the case this morning.
The swelling is where females usually get eggy.

oh, and there weren't any signs of flicking or rubbing, but this morning, just before I left for work, I noticed his breathing was laboured and everytime he breathed with his gills he opened and closed his mouth slightly too.

any thoughts as to what it might have been, and on whether I should disinfect with bleach before using the tank again, much appreciated.

 

[liz2]

sorry about your fish, sometimes you get unexplained deaths like that. I would bleach the tank just in case

 

[littlest]

thanks liz,

think I probably would bleach anyway to be safe. Just hate doing it. The rinsing bit takes forever because I'm so paranoid about bleach residue. I only did it recently too, after my last betta died (he was 2).
I do have a just cycled betta tank ready to go though so my next one can go into that. Just need a light for it as it is very dark.