Sick Betta

[Bigd5482]

I've got oscar a male betta in a 5 gal tank with 4 ghost shrimp with him. The tank is filter but no heater temp is 72-73 F. Water stats that I just took are :

Nitrite 0
Amm between 0 and .25 but more yellow than green tint
PH 7.4

This came on all of a sudden starting yesterday morning. On Saturday he was showing all his fins and flaring at anyone who came by his tank or when I fed him and acting quite happy and well. Of course now as you can tell by the pic looks like he is dieing and don't know from what or if the pic will give any help. Thanks.

 

[kizno1]

do a water change there shouldnt be any ammonia and i think the tanks a bit cold they prefere to be 27C or 81F dose it have a heater and fillter

 

[Hawkins]

what is the nitrate reading?

when was your last water change?

 

[Bigd5482]

Did the WC like 20 mins before posting those stats and the thread. Nitrates are 10. He's been in the tank for a month now without any issues until yesterday. There is no heater in the tank but from what I've read and researched about bettas they adapt to temp ranges from 68f to 84f. In fact most sources I've read about them say they don't even need a filter but I don't agree with that hence why I got the filter in the tank.

The stats were tanken before WC obviously. Did a test on water like 10 mins ago and Amm is back at 0 and nitrite still at 0 nitrate 10 PH 7.4

 

[Forestpisces]

I really would get a heater in there as they do prefer warmer temps. Did you cycle your tank?

 

[Bigd5482]

I'll pick a heater up tomorrow morning but to be honest I don't know if he's gonna make that long what he got/has is taking him down quick considering he was fine night before last and now tonight he's dieing.

 

[Forestpisces]

has anything changed in the tank prior to him becoming ill?
Is he labour breathing?
Did you cycle your tank?

the last question is VERY important! i'm no expert but il help you with wat i can. i hope he makes it.

 

[Bigd5482]

Tank was cycled that trace of amm that came up when I checked the water when he fell ill was the first I've seen in a month. Nothing really has changed though feeding habits were still the same since him and the shrimp are only ones in tank I feed only as much as he'll consume in 2 mins with then some scraps falling for the shrimp who normally will go about eating when he does as some stuff falls. His breathing does seem labored and deep compared to usual which was the first sign I noticed before he started sitting on the gravel with his fins down. But since I can't for the life of me figure out what he has kinda hard to treat it I just did another WC even though stats were good figure best I can do right now until I see some sign that signals what he has

 

[loraxchick]

dont treat for anything unless you know what you are treating for. do you see any spots on him? fuzziness? fluffiness? look at him form the top...do his scales seem to be sticking out, esp around his abdominal area? is he still eating? when did you add the shrimp? how long have you had him?
any recent shrimpy deaths? what does his poop look like- is it "normal" or white and stringy?
for now, the BEST thing you can do is water changes to keep his water as clean as possible. also, sometimes fish just feel "under the weather".
is he clamping his fins? just trying to help figure this out instead of questioning cycling...ammonia at .25ppm is trace, but not extraordinarily high to make a fish act very lethargic and all of a sudden change their behavior. and 10ppm nitrate is not much at all.
good luck

 

[Bigd5482]

dont treat for anything unless you know what you are treating for. do you see any spots on him? fuzziness? fluffiness? look at him form the top...do his scales seem to be sticking out, esp around his abdominal area? is he still eating? when did you add the shrimp? how long have you had him?
any recent shrimpy deaths? what does his poop look like- is it "normal" or white and stringy?
for now, the BEST thing you can do is water changes to keep his water as clean as possible. also, sometimes fish just feel "under the weather".
is he clamping his fins? just trying to help figure this out instead of questioning cycling...ammonia at .25ppm is trace, but not extraordinarily high to make a fish act very lethargic and all of a sudden change their behavior. and 10ppm nitrate is not much at all.
good luck

He was in the tank fora month when shrimp were added then its been like a week and a half before he fell ill. Looking at him now he is taking deep breaths it doesn't seem normal and there is no white spots but he almost looks like he is getting white stripes and his color is defiantly fading. No scales are sticking out that i can see and he hasn't been eating the past 2 days. Have not observed his feces yet. I'm not treating for anything as I have no clue as to what is wrong with him. Only thing I can think of that made the amm go up that small amount was maybe extra food that I missed and collected on the bottom? Sucks watching him though and not knowing whats wrong or how to help him.

 

[LauraFrog]

Sounds more like your tank hit a minicycle when the shrimp were added, but that amount of ammonia (although not a good thing) would not be enough to do that to a betta. It sounds like it could be bacterial, so if you can isolate him (or move the shrimp) it might be worth trying an antibacterial med. This is sort of grasping at straws though. Sometimes this just happens (lethargic betta, fading colours and laboured breathing) and it's extremely hard to know why. This has been how a lot of my pet store rescues (that were already fairly old when I got them, and had suffered months of being stuck in tiny cups) have died, up to eight or ten months after I've gotten them. It's possible that this is just the natural end of his life.

A bit of warmth will definitely help him, a bacterial med MIGHT but like I said I'm really guessing there.

 

[CTlovesKS]

He doesnt look himself I can give you that. And it seems that he has lost some of his colours. Maybe he is bored in the tank (Some bettas act ill whne bored) or maybe the tank is too cold for him. This is what happened to mind and it put t much stress onto him.

Is the tank cycled and filtered and is heater turn it up a little higher

 

[loraxchick]

the shrimp might be stressing him out. even if hes not attacking them, they might be casuing too much "commotion" for him. doubtful that a few shrimp caused an ammonia spike- they are sooooo minimal on the bioload. can you account for all the shrimp? perhaps one died and is rotting in there producing ammonia which is why it's showing up on your tests. i know that no ammonia is good ammonia but .25 would hardly send an otherwise happy betta into fading color and lethargy (and most certainly wouldnt make them not eat-they are pigs)...is his breathing honestly labored, or are we grasping at straws? breathing fast? breathing hard?
the white stripes you are describing do they run horizontally? sounds like stress stripes. thats why i thought the shrimp might be stressing him out. some bettas cant even tollerate snails in with them.might also explain his loss of color.
i agree a heater is best for them, unless you are in a sub/tropical climate where the ambient temp stays warm.
i suspect the shrimpies
again i would not treat for ANYTHING unless you know what it is you are treating for. the stress alone from meds might be the worst thing you can do.
keep his water nice and clean, keep offering food (maybe get some frozen bloodworms- very difficult for them to resist eating them...just not the freeze-dried ones.). does he have a place he can go to hide from the shrimp? like a little cave or something like that?
can you remove the shrimp for a few days into a separate container and see if that helps?
he also might just have some preexisting condtion that otherwise would have gone unnoticed until stress is brought on. dont underestimate what stress can do on a fish's immune system (or our immune system for that matter).
just hang in there with him and keep your eye out for other symptoms...and try to see what his poo looks like-will help determine if it indeed an internal bacteria/parasite issue.
good luck with him

 

[Bigd5482]

Well he is more active today but still not acting right and color still not back. I went out and got a heater in the tank now as well. I could not account for one o the shrimp so it could of been decomposing but when I did the first WC I cleaned the gravel as well (or I could of sucked one up oops) I'm also moving the shrimp to my fry tank that only has one guppy fry in it currently. Going to see if that helps and look for any other signs as well. Thanks everyone for the advice and help will post one way or another what happens.

 

[loraxchick]

hopefully it was just the shrimp stressing him out and now he'll come around. good that he is a bit better. that's why its always good to have a backup plan when introducing new fish (or inverts in this case).
heres to a quick recovery!