What's Happened To Giles' Fins ?

[Glod]

You can only do the best you can for them - as long as you can go to bed tonight and say to yourself that there was nothing else you could have done (knowing what you knew then), then you can't beat yourself up over it.

I know, but it won't stop me wishing I had noticed it sooner and acted. It's amazing how quickly we get attached to the little guys

He's still fighting, I guess I better not give up on him yet.

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

Good luck with your lil' guy, he sounds like a trooper so maybe he'll pull through.

 

[Kittles_yang]

I think the thing that is eatin' up the fins is a bacteria...it happens to all of my fishes too...but not anymore...there are two possibility, it is either the Fish Lice or Achor Worms...*WARNING* IT IS REALLY HARD TO HEAL THEM IF THEY DO HAVE IT....I have tried everything like changing their water and giving them medicine, the medicine i use is called "Clout"...its in a blue small box...it MIGHT help...but i do know...give it a try...

 

[Glod]

Giles passed on to the big bubble nest in the sky last night.

Giles.

 

[SPLiSH]

Giles passed on to the big bubble nest in the sky last night.

Giles.

I am so sorry Glod. Giles.

Have you had bettas in this tank before? If so, how did they cope with the filter?

 

[Glod]

Have you had bettas in this tank before? If so, how did they cope with the filter?

Thanks for your comments SPLiSH, and to everyone else who offered advice. I really do appreciate the help.

I've never had a Betta before. I've kept tropicals on and off for years but this was my first attempt with a Betta ( a bad start ). I'm not saying the flow wasn't a factor, it may have stressed him and made him more susceptible to whatever he actually had wrong. With the spray bar I can't see it being an issue now, there really is almost no water movement.

The tank was brand new, I only bought it a couple of weeks ago. Ran the filter in my big tank for a fortnight before buying the Betta. Guess I'll need to strip the whole thing down and decontaminate it before considering another fish. No way I'm going to put the filter back into the big tank now.

 

[Ravenwing]

Awww I'm sorry to hear you lost him =( Sometimes even the healthiest looking fish have some underlying disease that you can't pin point in the store.

And the fungus you discribed, I've seen it quite a number of times...Usually in my LFS with the fishies that aren't doing so well. Perhaps there was something in the water he didn't like?? (Amonia, etc) Always make sure you use the water conditioner with each water change =) (Though I'm sure you probably did this already)

Anyways.... little buddy

 

[RandomWiktor]

The rapid, sudden loss of so much fin, paired with the fuzziness, makes me think your fella had an extreme, severe bacterial infection; fin rot should not eat away that much fin overnight, and the fish usually recover rapidly with water changes and aquarium salt. The fact that your boy went from healthy, to a pale, lethargic, fuzz-covered mess with massive fin rot practically overnight suggests something fast and ugly, probably a lethal gram negative bacterial infection like flexibacter (which does sometimes manifest itself internally, killing in a short period of time with no obvious columnaris symptoms). So sorry for your loss.

 

[Glod]

@Ravenwing Yes bud, I use water conditioner/dechlorinator, the same one I use in the community tank and had no problems there.

Thanks for your comments

The rapid, sudden loss of so much fin, paired with the fuzziness, makes me think your fella had an extreme, severe bacterial infection; fin rot should not eat away that much fin overnight, and the fish usually recover rapidly with water changes and aquarium salt. The fact that your boy went from healthy, to a pale, lethargic, fuzz-covered mess with massive fin rot practically overnight suggests something fast and ugly, probably a lethal gram negative bacterial infection like flexibacter (which does sometimes manifest itself internally, killing in a short period of time with no obvious columnaris symptoms). So sorry for your loss.

Random, I think you just nailed it right on the head... I googled flexibacter and the description is almost exactly to a T what happened... Ugh.

So, now I wonder if I somehow caused it, I was very slow to acclimate the fish to my tank over a couple of hours. I know there were no ammonia/nitrite/nitrate in my tank. The flow from the filter may have been a contributing stress factor, but I still think the fish must have been infected when I bought it. Despite the pet shop's claims.

Now I need to make sure I have properly decontaminated the tank before I start again. Thanks Random.

It's good information, at least now I can see what I did right and what I did wrong. If it happens again I will know what to do.

 

[Kittles_yang]

Awww....that really stinks....you can't find another betta that you've lost...im really sorry about what happened...

 

[RandomWiktor]

Was there any significant temperature fluctuation - especially towards higher temps - recently? One of the main catalysts of flexibacter infections is a sudden temperature spike. From there, it reproduces and kills very rapidly; it is normally only treatable if spotted immediately, and even then survival is uncertain.
Should you encounter it again, here is a link to an article I wrote about treatment. It is noteworthy that, according to the National Fish Pharmacy, Sulfa drugs can also be used in treatment. There is also some disagreement among the fishkeeping community about temperature, but my experience and that of NUMEROUS other fishkeepers - particularly betta keepers - has been as listed in the article.

 

[Glod]

Was there any significant temperature fluctuation - especially towards higher temps - recently? One of the main catalysts of flexibacter infections is a sudden temperature spike. From there, it reproduces and kills very rapidly; it is normally only treatable if spotted immediately, and even then survival is uncertain.
Should you encounter it again, here is a link to an article I wrote about treatment. It is noteworthy that, according to the National Fish Pharmacy, Sulfa drugs can also be used in treatment. There is also some disagreement among the fishkeeping community about temperature, but my experience and that of NUMEROUS other fishkeepers - particularly betta keepers - has been as listed in the article.

I actually found that article while googling. Indeed I am now armed with knowledge I did not have before. As for temperature fluctuations, the tank was steady at 25c, the LFS advised me to increase the temperature by a couple of degrees when I asked them for advice, so that probably hastened the poor boy's departure.

As for the conditions in the pet shop (I only bought him on Friday evening) I am not sure how close they were to the conditions in my tank. It's something I will ask next time I go in, just so I know in future.

It's possible that no matter what I did it would not have helped, but as I now have an idea of early signs I will definitely keep an eye on my next Betta.

I have boiled the gravel for about an hour in my mum's pressure cooker, don't tell her ! And cleaned the tank and accessories with strong salt solution then boiling water and rinsed very well. The plants were binned just for safety's sake. The driftwood is currently sitting in a bucket of water out the kettle, I'll leave it there overnight.

I hope that's enough I can honestly say the tank is sparkling now ! (not that it was dirty before, afterall the fish never even had a chance to create an ammonia spike )

I shall look into finding a source for some of the medication you mentioned, don't think the pet shop in town carries much in that line, but there is a larger one about 10 miles away.

Thanks again for your help.