Sick Betta

[Seahorse]

A snail recently died in his tank, I am not sure why, and now Teeny is sick. He's lying on his side, gasping for breath so hard it is almost like he is going to flare.

I put him in a smaller container (he was in a 5 gallon before) and he is going to the top for air a lot more often, and refuses to eat. He seems to be able to swim when motivated, but otherwise he just sits awkwardly at the bottom. There is salt and the water is around 80 F.

Just need some second opinions, thanks.

 

[AlexsDaddy]

I had 2 snails die from being in betta tanks. I am 100% sure it was becase of salt. I know there wasn't much in there cause I did, like, 4-6 50% wc's before I put them in there, but I guess it doesn't take much to kill them. If you haven't already, lower your water level so he doesn't have to go so far to get to the surface to breath. It could be an internal bacterial infection. Is there any other symptoms? Does he have white poop? Sorry to say, but if he is gasping, unless you figure out what is wrong quick, he may not last much longer. Untill then, do daily wc's with salt. What I like to do when trying to figure out what is going on with a sick one, I put 2 tsp's of salt to 1 gal of water in a well rinsed 1 gallon milk jug, then put about 3-5 inches of water in the tank if they are having a hard time getting to the surface to breath with daily 100% wc's. Sometimes, the high salt content is enough to get rid of whatever he has. That's only sometimes though. Good luck with him! Hold on little guy!!

Edited to add: I'm not 100% sure, but I read on a couple snail sites that snails can't pass diseases to fish. With the 2 that died on me, neither one of the bettas that I had them in with got sick. I'll search around and see what I can dig up.

 

[Seahorse]

Thanks!

Oh GEES, I never considered that the snail died from the salt. I never put much in, because I want it to be effective for when they are sick, but that makes perfect sense.

He is in a glass bowl, maybe 4 inches deep, with a perfect temp and higher salt content than normal, and I will make sure to do daily water changes.

Eh I hope he isn't suffering too bad, and if he is, he at least passes quickly.

 

[AlexsDaddy]

Grrrrrr ...... Sometimes I really hate the internet. A trillion things to look at, but you hardly ever find what you are looking for. Keep with the wc's and salt for now, and keep us updated on the symptoms, and hopefully we will be able to figure it out before it's too late for him. If not, hopefully he goes quickly with little suffering. Poor little guy.

 

[CDNFreelancer]

When one of my bettas started having problems recently, the death of a snail in the tank was one of the first signs that I had a problem ... the snail died about the time the betta became lethargic. I had this happen in two tanks, one betta died but the other lived because I basically took radical action which was 100% water change, extensive cleaning of the gravel and no chemicals except betta bowl conditioner. As I wrote in another thread, the betta perked up with 48 hours.

I don't have definitive proof but I think the problem was how I was treating water. Prior to this episode I was basically using a de-chlorinator and adding about 1/2 tablespoon of salt to the water. I was also doing 50% water changes weekly (the tank had an undergravel filter). I think maybe the problem was my local water and how I was treating it.

Now, I do 100% water changes weekly and clean the gravel every week and just use the betta bowl conditioner. It seems to be what the bettas need to thrive whereas my community tank thrives with a totally different regime.

I have decided that no matter what works for everyone else, this new regime seems to be what I need for success keeping bettas.

Something to think about.

- Ken

 

[CDNFreelancer]

Keep with the wc's and salt for now

At the risk of being controversial, I would consider cutting out the salt since the original poster has noted that salt content of the water is higher than normal. I don't think salt in the water is always a good idea given my own experience with a similar experince.

Again, food for thought.

- Ken

 

[gale]

Uh oh should I take the snail out of my betta's tank? I do put salt in but a very small amt. The sites I read said to just be sure to dissolve the salt before putting it in the tank. I was going to do a wc tonight and put more salt in since I didn't last time. Maybe I'll just skip the salt.

 

[CDNFreelancer]

Uh oh should I take the snail out of my betta's tank? I do put salt in but a very small amt. The sites I read said to just be sure to dissolve the salt before putting it in the tank. I was going to do a wc tonight and put more salt in since I didn't last time. Maybe I'll just skip the salt.

For what it's worth, I would say if you aren't seeing negative results then don't change what you're doing. I really think my experience is probably based on the nature of my city's water supply rather than a general situation. I wouldn't have stopped adding salt if I hadn't had negative results. So, if your bettas/snails are happy and active, don't change anything.

- Ken

 

[gale]

I'm really not sure, actually. I haven't had the betta very long and the snail has only been in there a week or two, maybe. The last wc I did, I didn't add any salt-I was going to just add it every other water change. So the snail has not been exposed to much of a salt concentration yet.

 

[f250fisherman]

The gasping for air is what I would be concentrating on. Thats usually a sign of gill poisoning from ammonia. Without knowing your normal routine, or if the tank went too long with out a change, it's hard to tell. Understand, a tank can become fouled quickly if you feed certain things you don't normally feed, so a person might not think that could be the problem.Any variable to the norm can affect your tank. I'm not pointing fingers here, just trying to help you understand what it might be. I don't think the salt is the issue with the betta, or the snail passing a disease. It sounds like the snail died from tank conditions, which would also affect the betta. You might put an airstone in the container with the betta. It will help put oxygen in the water. Even though bettas use a labrynth to breathe air, they also use their gills part of the time. Increase the o2 in the water. One thing to remember when using salt. It is winter now, and the heat is on in the house. You might notice that the tank water evaporates faster than in the summer time. Salt does not evaporate. When you refill the tank, using your normal salt mix, eventually the salt content increases dramatically. I always rotate my water changes in the winter. One time, I'll use the normal salt mix. The next I only use freshwater, no salt. This is only in tanks that do not get 100% water changes.

 

[ral]

Salt does not evaporate. When you refill the tank, using your normal salt mix, eventually the salt content increases dramatically. I always rotate my water changes in the winter. One time, I'll use the normal salt mix.

Actually I added salt to my tanks, and seem to have had more problems after than before. Could it because the acqurium salt here is not pure seawater salt but has additives ?

Have cut back on the Salt myself this week. Slowly replacing their water 15-20% dail changes with clean salt free water.

 

[ral]

Oh by the way, my GF and her sister live near the coastline and get water from a well. The water always has a "salty" taste to it. Their fish do well.

 

[Fiori]

I read somewhere that snails cannot tolerate salt in the water, so it might be an idea not to keep snails with a betta, if you want to add salt to the water.

I added salt to a tank of livebearers and my snails just curled up in disgust. So I bought a hospital tank and unsalted the water for the poor snails.

 

[Seahorse]

The gasping for air is what I would be concentrating on. Thats usually a sign of gill poisoning from ammonia etc

Hi, thanks for your helpful response. He was in a 5 gallon, and it had a filter. I did do water changes, but admittedly I have probably been slacking a bit more than I should.

I don't think he will pull through. He stopped gasping for the most part, but no improvement as far as lethargy goes. We'll see.

 

[Seahorse]

Okay, I am seeing improvement. He stopped eating for a few days and now he is gobbling food up like crazy. He is also swimming more, and not lying so awkwardly, though he is still doing that quite a bit.

Also I am doing 100% water changes per day, and no salt.