Sick Betta?

[Morphkid03]

Hey guys,

I just returned from a week-long vacation and I unfortunately have noticed something strange going on with my new halfmoon betta, Oscar. He has been sitting in the corner wedged between the glass and my terracotta pot in his tank, not swimming about like he normally does. The only time he left that spot was when I went to feed him, but I noticed instead of floating normally he seemed to be swimming more vertically, plus his breathing seems fairly rapid and his color has paled. I'm extremely concerned- what do you think the problem may be? I will photograph him tomorrow for you all as well.

Oh, and all of the water stats are normal and his tankmates (9 corydoras catfish) are completely fine.

 

[fish_tank0311]

This sounds exactly like what happened to me. I went away for 4-5 days, got back and my fighter fish was looking VERY upset. After about a week..... he died, due to a fungal disease. I would recommend doing your regular water changes, stress coat, and ALWAYS check your fish, every hour or so, for fungal growths. If you see the slightest, take him out, and treat him with anti-fungal, if that doesnt help, give in 5min long baths in a small container with double the amount of salt required, and double the amount of medicine, then put him back into another small container with the normal amount of medicine and salt.

Thats only if it happens to be a fungal disease though, which is what happened to my poor buddy :'(

If you cant see anything like growths after a few days, and hes still lazy etc, take him to your local pet shop, and ask if they can help.

Good luck Oscar.

 

[Morphkid03]

Update: Oscar was lying on his side breathing heavily in his tank so I moved him into isolation in my 1gal hospital bowl with some aquarium salt so he would have less space to wear himself out in so he can heal and get to the surface easier... Seeing no improvement, hoping for the best.. Only have had him like a month and he's still young, He really shouldn't be having troubles so quickly.

 

[Haych]

where did you get him from?

I would (personally) treat the tank with myaxin (sp) as it can be added when adding new fish so I would treat as he may have something you can't see.

I would also (if you haven't already) post in the emergency section with water stats and how his poo looks too

 

[Morphkid03]

Purchased him from Petco about a month ago. I see his poop, it's dark and normal-looking but he still looks bloated even after he has gone to the bathroom.

He's got big stress lines now, and is having trouble doing anything but resting.
I'm suspecting it's swim bladder disease- what do you think/what's the best way to treat it?

 

[crissylou]

Sounds more like an internal infection. The symtoms you've listed sound exactly the same as my halfmoon Albert. He went lifeless, colourless and spent most of the time laying on the bottom on his side, unfortunately two days after showing any sign of illness he passed away.

Is he eating at all??

I could be wrong and it could be something totally different, the trouble with internal infections is the symptoms often make it look like another illness and by the time you get the correct diagnosis it is too late. If you have any internal meds i would dose him with them.

Good luck with him and i hope he pulls through for you x x

 

[Morphkid03]

Sounds more like an internal infection. The symtoms you've listed sound exactly the same as my halfmoon Albert. He went lifeless, colourless and spent most of the time laying on the bottom on his side, unfortunately two days after showing any sign of illness he passed away.

Is he eating at all??

I could be wrong and it could be something totally different, the trouble with internal infections is the symptoms often make it look like another illness and by the time you get the correct diagnosis it is too late. If you have any internal meds i would dose him with them.

Good luck with him and i hope he pulls through for you x x

His appetite was fine yesterday but he wouldn't eat peas today which is unusual since he normally loved them.
Just checked on him and he was floating upside down breathing heavily near the bottom of the tank, but he was able to swim to the surface to breathe, but just let himself float back down once he got to the top.

 

[Honeythorn]

If he's floating about upside down and is having trouble swimming, combined with looking bloated, I'd say this sounds like swimbladder.

It's usually caused by poor water quality.

Is his main tank heated and filtered and how big is it? Did you do a water change before going on holiday, and who cared for the fish while you were gone? Did he get fed by someone and his water changed?

 

[Morphkid03]

If he's floating about upside down and is having trouble swimming, combined with looking bloated, I'd say this sounds like swimbladder.

It's usually caused by poor water quality.

Is his main tank heated and filtered and how big is it? Did you do a water change before going on holiday, and who cared for the fish while you were gone? Did he get fed by someone and his water changed?

Main tank is 10gal heated and filtered. Did a big water change before leaving and had a neighbor feeding the fish and cats while I was gone....

 

[Haych]

sometimes it has nothing to do with water quality, and is just one of those things. Seems you may hane all you can. if it was overfeeding by the neighbour this would show in your water quality.

If it is swim bladder is near incurable

 

[Morphkid03]

Just noticed that he seems to have fin rot mainly on his dorsal and some on his anal and tail fin. Have started him on Maracyn and Melafix which has worked when Oliver got fin rot... here's hoping that it was just fin rot that caused all this...

 

[Haych]

He could have finrot due to being so ill, his immunity is low.

I really hope he pulls through for you

 

[Morphkid03]

Well he's losing the transparent sections of his tail and dorsal fin but the parts that are dead/rotted are black and falling off but already I see white growing in from the blue areas of his tail so that's a positive! He also is lying on his side at the bottom mostly but is swimming more vigorously up to the surface and is swimming back down, not just letting himself sink down. Continued Maracyn/Melafix treatment and gave him a 15 minute soak in diluted epsom salt water.

 

[theshadowinc]

Well he's losing the transparent sections of his tail and dorsal fin but the parts that are dead/rotted are black and falling off but already I see white growing in from the blue areas of his tail so that's a positive! He also is lying on his side at the bottom mostly but is swimming more vigorously up to the surface and is swimming back down, not just letting himself sink down. Continued Maracyn/Melafix treatment and gave him a 15 minute soak in diluted epsom salt water.

Both deal with bloat

Glugea and Henneguya is rare but I think googling this one might help you understand it more not really sure if its this

Hexamita is mistaken for hole in the head alot and shouldn't be its a disease on its own. What colour is the stoal if its white in colour and slimy??
intestinal flagellated protozoa is the other name it would be known as and would have to be treated internally, fish bloat up and other signs such as you are describing occur. Think it might be something along the lines of this however

I would also keep an eye out for this Ichthyosporidium, I doubt it but its internal as well and also effects the intestinal track, gives you something more to look at, especially what might be going on I think it could be one of the few I listed above what ones not sure need more signs, bloat leads to many issues later on like listed above especially if the bloat doesn't get taken care of right away

 

[Morphkid03]

Well he's losing the transparent sections of his tail and dorsal fin but the parts that are dead/rotted are black and falling off but already I see white growing in from the blue areas of his tail so that's a positive! He also is lying on his side at the bottom mostly but is swimming more vigorously up to the surface and is swimming back down, not just letting himself sink down. Continued Maracyn/Melafix treatment and gave him a 15 minute soak in diluted epsom salt water.

Both deal with bloat

Glugea and Henneguya is rare but I think googling this one might help you understand it more not really sure if its this

Hexamita is mistaken for hole in the head alot and shouldn't be its a disease on its own. What colour is the stoal if its white in colour and slimy??
intestinal flagellated protozoa is the other name it would be known as and would have to be treated internally, fish bloat up and other signs such as you are describing occur. Think it might be something along the lines of this however

I would also keep an eye out for this Ichthyosporidium, I doubt it but its internal as well and also effects the intestinal track, gives you something more to look at, especially what might be going on I think it could be one of the few I listed above what ones not sure need more signs, bloat leads to many issues later on like listed above especially if the bloat doesn't get taken care of right away

Confused about the Hole in the Head part, never showed signs of that illness.. Stool, when I was feeding him (currently fasting him) was normal, basically the same color as his pellets. Keeping vigilant watch over him, will keep the thread UTD.