darting Betta

[dancersmama79]

I have a male veil tail betta in a 5 gal filtered tank by himself. i did a part water change today and his temp is at 80... hes darting all around his tank and bumping into the sides and the filter up and down and really jerky and then stopping either under his filter or behind his filter and just laying there breathing. Hes been in this tank almost a week, up graded from a 1gal and took a few days to adjust but has been fine the last few days. Hes eating normal.... i tried to get his attention and he didnt notice me at first and he wont follow my finger along the tank like usual... anyone know what might be up with my lil Dancer??

[Fishie]

What are your parameters?? Does he look okay fin wise and swimming wise?

[dancersmama79]

i wont have a test kit until i get the money after the 3rd so im having to do part water changes daily swimming he looks fine hes not on his side or belly up... his fins look fine... i noticed a white spot on his back yesterday that is fading today and sometimes he seems to keep his mouth open... the last few days his gills have kind of that "turned out" look if that makes sense... like they are partly opened but ive been adding aquarium salt to his water to help with that...

[dancersmama79]

looking closer at him his abdomen (area behind his tiny fins on his sides) appears to be swollen

[Chronos313]

How often do you feed? Bettas can be known for easy issues with bloat. Try fasting once or twice a week and maybe see if spiraluna flake every odd day may help deswell him/her

[dancersmama79]

i fed him 3 pellets this morning and he spit part of it out after hed eaten some of it and yesterday i gave him part of a pea to try and help also... when we went to bed last night and turned all the lights off he went to sleep but now hes darting around again and when i feed him sometimes its like he cant see the pellets or the flakes and i have to move them with my finger towards him while they are still floating to get him to notice it...

[OBEYtheFISH]

The heater won't happen to be malfunctioning?

[dancersmama79]

i noticed this morning actually that his temp had spiked overnight the temp usually doesnt get over the top of the green on the thermometer but im trying to get his temp to stay at 80.... i took these pictures just a minute ago and u can see the temp is in the yellow and i think its over 80 nowmaybe closer to 85... i think the top of the green is 80? i may have to get a different thermometer to help me read it better... also the heater is a 25 watt for up to 5.5 gal and this is a 5 gal tank

[dancersmama79]

i did a 50% water change and turned the heater down some and his temp is down to where it normally is at the top of the green which im assuming is 78-80 hes still darting all over the tank but resting more on the bottom in his silk plants... i dont know what else that i can do to help him right now

[dancersmama79]

So after doing some reading on other sites and taking dancer out of his tank and into a clear glass bowl into the kitchen with better lighting to view him better i noticed his fins have fin rot again his tail is split where it had grown completely back and was all one fin and now its split and breaking as his other fins as well... i did a complete water change and since i dont have a gravel cleaner yet i did it manually and added melafix to his tank... just waiting to see the results...

[dancersmama79]

these are pictures just taken... compared to ones ive posted recently of him his fins look so bad and i feel sorry for him....i hope they heal fast and i hope it isnt painful...

[VioletEmber]

Aw, poor dancer! Hope he heals quick! Sounds like you caught it in time, good for you being so observant!

[dancersmama79]

hes only been in his 5 gal tank for about a week and i dont have a test kit so it does make things harder but ill be getting the test kit in a week and a gravel cleaner as well so that will help with keeping his tank clean and ill be able to stay on top of things... for now im going blindly....

[dancersmama79]

when using melafix, i know u take out the carbon filter but do u turn the filter itself completely off and take it out since its not doing anything while u are treating with the melafix for the 7 days??

[ocminpin]

Originally Posted by OBEYtheFISH

The heater won't happen to be malfunctioning?

My mollies acted this way when I had a Top Fin Heater malfunction. The temp in tank didn't go up but I suspect a mercury leak... They went around quite fast and would take quick breaks and then start up again.. Lasted 12 hrs and they were dead. Hope it's not this with your Dancer..

[ocminpin]

Finished reading... Hope Dancer heals quickly! I hate fin rot!!

[LyndaB]

You don't need anything but clean water for fin rot.

Can you bring a water sample to have it tested? It's really important to know what your readings are.

[dancersmama79]

closest petsmart to me is 2 1/2 hrs away and thats a once a month trip to charleston which wont be til feb 7th should have my test kit by then

[Mumma.of.two]

Originally Posted by LyndaB

You don't need anything but clean water for fin rot.

Can you bring a water sample to have it tested? It's really important to know what your readings are.

+1
Don't go running to medication first sign of trouble. Be careful using melifix on bettas. Some don't respond well so use a 1/5 dose if you do.
You can order test kits online and get them delivered.

[dancersmama79]

if i had the money right now i would but im on social security and only get my check on the 3rd of evry month... ive used melafix with him before when he had fin rot and he has calmed down alot since ive completely cleaned his tank first then watched him for a few days then added the melafix... his fins are healing and hes not darting around anymore hes more himself... just having to heal from the fin rot.... as soon as i can order the test kit i am going to.... that will be the first thing i get along with a gravel cleaner so i wont have to do that manually.... im also only feeding him once a day instead of twice like i was....