Sick Female Bettas

[NinjaSmurf]

I don't test my water, I do have harder water.

Tank has been set up for two years total, various fish in it over that time. Filter is power, rinse the pad out once a week when I vacumn, doing a 25% change. It is a 20 gallon tank 'long'.

Current fish are:

BN pleco (in since I set up)
5 female bettas (in since Oct)
5 Ghost shrimp (also in since Oct)

Currently two of the girls are having issues, as well as a little flicking from some of the others.

One has not put weight on since I got her, I thought perhaps it was because she is the least aggressive so I try to make sure she gets food. Now she is looking very beat up (fins torn and eaten somewhat) and with some ich. I can deal with with ich, but should I also salt bath her and keep her seperate, and if so how will that affect the present order of things?

The other is healthy except for two sharp pointy things sticking out from the section of gills beneath her chin. They were hard to notice, and I have not seen it on the others. I'm not sure what these are.

I have added a dose of melafix in the hopes that it would help stave off any infections on skin and fins, but I'm at a loss on the pointy things in the gills.

Thanks for any help.

 

[loraxchick]

on the fish with the "pointy things" under the gills. are you certain that is a female and not a male? could the pointy things be the gill filaments that are his beard? that may explain the shredded fins in the other female. males and females should not be kept together as aggression can ensue.
could you post a pic. it might be helpful.
cheers!

 

[WILDER]

What does it look like when your fish go to the toilet.
is the anus enlarged or red and inflamed.
Is the belly sunken in.
Does the fish swim on it's side.
Is there any worms prutruding from the anus.

The pointy thing does it look hard of soft.
Does it look like a strand of cotton.
Does the pointy thing have a y shaped tail.
Does the pointy thing move.
Any redness around the area of the pointy thing.
Any red pin prick marks or sores on the chin area or gill area.
Do the gills look pale with excess slime or red and inflamed.
What colour is the pointy thing.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I do not have a camera, so no pics . I can almost guarantee it's female, she's very full of eggs.

I have not seen the fish actually pooing, so I don't know. Nothing seems inflamed on either of them, the first one does have a sunk in belly, both are swimming upright and eating, with no worms.

The pointy things look hard to me, they do not look like cotton and I have not seen a 'y' shaped tail on them, however she doesn't hold still so it's hard to tell. I have not seen the things move. I'm not sure about the redness, as the betta her self is red and green, same with pin pricks. The gills look like they aren't closing quite the way they should be and they might be inflamed, again hard to tell because of the coloring. The pointy things are a darker color that almost blends in with her lower jaw, kind of a darkish silver black.

 

[WILDER]

Sunken in belly can mean the fish is starving, bacterial, internal parasites.

Have you every used an internal parasite med.


If the fish are flicking the pointy thing could be parasites.
It's really hard to say.

I think I would add a parasite med that treats a wide range of parasites.

What's your location?

 

[NinjaSmurf]

USA

Update: the weird pointy things aren't there anymore. I checked, and they are gone with no marks. I'm wondering if her gills were just inflamed and sticking out funny.

The other fish is looking better, but I've noticed she doesn't get the food like the others, so I've begun feeding her something special till she puts more weight on.

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
Just keep a close eye on the fish then.
Good Luck.