sick and hurt betta! i need help please!

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okamotorhome

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 15, 2004
Messages
3
Location
Seattle, WA
My betta, Sami, has been sick for the past week, and I have diagnosed it with having a bacterial infection, although this is my first betta and I don't know much about them. To treat it, I bought Tetracycline. While I was changing his water, he fell out onto the counter. When I put him back in the water he was belly up (and I thought he died) but then started to swim. His color had faded a lot previous to the water change, but is vibrant and red again. Now he has sunken to the bottom of the bowl and is on his side. He seems to be having a lot of gill movement. Is this due to falling? Or could this be a gill disease? It developed incredibly fast. Please help me! I love him and I don't want him to die! THANKS!
 
[center:4ad442b562] :smilecolros: Welcome to AA, okamotorhome! :n00b: [/center:4ad442b562]
What exactly was wrong with Sami, before he fell?
Try looking through these sites to see what your betta may have:
http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/hobbyist/hobbyist3.htm
http://www.aqualink.com/disease/sdisease.html#ich
http://fish.mongabay.com/diseases.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/fishdisho.htm
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/health.htm
What are the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate)?
How long have you had Sami?
What size tank is Sami living in?
Is there a filter and heater?

The answers to these Qs will help and I PMed the most helpful betta keeper on the forum, An t-iasg. Hopefully she will be along soon.
 
Before Sami fell he was showing symptoms of having early stages of a bacterial infection, or maybe fish tuberculosis? There were not phyical sores, or bloating, but he wasn't eating, laying at the top, stopped making bubble nests, and more recently, his water would get cloudy fast. I've had Sami for 6 months, although I don't know how long the pet store had him before I got him. Sami is just living in a little bowl, which holds 1/2 gallon. Before I would regularly change his water about every four days, but now that he appears to be sick, I'm doing it more regularly. There is no filter or heater and I don't know what water parameters are... sorry! I'm new! Thanks so much for your help.
 
Did you look through the links I gave you to see if any of the diseases jumped out? I hate to treat when I don't know what I'm treating, plus, bettas are very touchy when it comes to meds.
Your betta is probably not that old, so let's try to figure out what's wrong with him.
You should really have him in a tank--many people recommend at least 5 gals. A heater is also necessary, due to where they evolved. I know they are sold as "room temperature fish", but a well cared for betta can live for 2 years.
Plus, a heated tank will help the fish heal faster.
 
I looked through all of the links you gave me, and none of the diseases jumped out at me (mainly because I can't see anything wrong on his body; i.e. white spots, open sores, black speckles, rotting of fins, swollen belly, bulging eyes, etc.). Could he be acting this way because he fell out of his bowl and he is sick? Or just one of them? I looked through all of the diseases, and the only one that fits are the bacterial infections. Is that not a disease? Or it it not enough information to help cure him?
 
If he didn't show any outward signs some things that might be wrong with him are intestinal infection/problem/parasite or a swim bladder problem (probably infection if I know right, which I probably don't). But those aren't the only things of course. Intestinal problems don't always show as bloating, although that is a good indicator. And if he is having trouble swimming, or swimming oddly, it could be a problem with the swim bladder. But unfortunely for this case, the starting symptoms that you gave could be almost anything. The lose of color is a real indication that something is wrong, though it could be anything, including stress and bad water. Since you said that his color has come back, that might mean that he is not doing terrible for now (but not a great one). All that might be wrong is that the water condition changed on you, or there was a swing in temp that shocked him. I would be careful doing a lot of water changes for the stress that causes, but it not all bad (just be sure that the water is being treated properly, which is hard to do without tests but possible). It would also be great if you could maintain a constant temperature, but that will be hard in a small bowl, so just monitor it and try to make sure that it doesn't swing to wildly.

The advice I would give for now (with his color back) is to wait a little while. If he isn't eating, don't try to force food on him. And just pay close attention for any signs of what might be causing the problem, then act on that quickly. Maybe a light antibacterial treatment could help (or at least help against other things jumping in), as could a little bit of salt in the water. It would be good if you know you are providing a constant enviroment for him, so really try to make sure the water and temp stay the same.

Best of luck to Sami.

EDIT: Menagerie is also giving good advice, it really helps to know exactly what is wrong. And also be ware that acting too quickly, as well as acting to slowly, could be bad. It's a double edge sword. Just be as cautious as you can, and remember that you can pick which edge to take on (really cliche, I know, but good to remember).
 
I agree with the advice given. I think his illness is due to stress, from being in a small bowl. Loss of color is a symptom of stress. Consider putting him in a 5 gallon tank with a heater and a sponge filter. This can be set up easily and cheaply.

For now, I would treat in the bowl. If you can find a container that's bigger than one gallon, that would make medicine dosing easier. It doesn't have to be a fishtank. It can be a Rubbermaid container. (but I wouldn't put a heater in a plastic container!)

Keep the temperature stable. If there is no heater, the temp rises and falls when the lights are turned on or off. That may only be a few degrees, but it's a lot for a little fish. If you have to keep him under a light day and night to keep the temp stable, go ahead. Put a washrag over the top somewhat to give him some "shade".

Test kits are a must but for now the lfs can do the testing for you, if you take a water sample in. If the ammonia and nitrite are not high (above .25) try doing smaller water changes. Large water changes can be stressful. In a small bowl especially, the water motion can cause stress during a change. Do maybe a few cups a day, instead of 50% or more changes every few days.

Bettas also must be able to get to the surface to breathe with the labyrinth organ. They do use their gills like other fish, but they must exchange air at the surface also. Since he's in the bowl, he shouldn't have a hard time getting to the surface. I lowered my tank water level to help my betta get to the surface once, and he perked up. Hopefully by keeping the temp stable and not stressing him out during a water change, he will perk up and come to the surface instead of lying on the bottom.

I wouldn't worry too much about dropping him. When I got my previous betta, the clerk dropped him from about 5 feet (he was in a high tank). He was fine and didn't show any problems from it. Another betta went sliding into the sink headfirst! I really don't think it's the cause of your betta's problems now.

I would also recommend an antibiotic, since his gills seem inflammed -- the rapid, heavy breathing could be a sign of this. I have had good luck with Kanacyn and Jungle Fungus Eliminator. Kanacyn is a capsule (one capsule per 10 gallons) and you'll have to open the capsule and measure out enough powder for the number of gallons your betta is in. It's kind of tedious, but that's a good medicine. The Jungle product is also good. It is a yellow, loose powder that is easy to measure. If you can find one of these meds, I would use it instead of the tetracycline. Use it for 5 to 7 days, following the label directions on the frequency of doses, and changing a few cups of water before you medicate.

Good luck!
 
(but I wouldn't put a heater in a plastic container!)
I would and have--just use the proper amount of wattage--25 to 50 and keep it off the plastic. Make sure the plastic is not flimsy and off you go!

BTW--I am going to move this to the Unhealthy fish forum :D
 
I would be care full with leaving a light on your betta all of the time. In my experience, any drastic change for the established day/night cycle is a huge stress on bettas (and I believe many other fish too). Bettas are largely diurnal (active during the day) and the circadian rythme of your fish could be crushed if they are not given a proper night cycle. I have lost a betta (my first and still favorite) because I left a light on all night (only a single night). After that night he acted with all the signs of being sick, but no actual symptoms of a specific problem (much like the betta discused here), he became inactive and refused to eat. He also lost he's color. Over the next three days he wasted away, and I found him dead that Thursday morning (Thanksgiving day). It's always been my belief that the light on all night stressed him, since there was no indication of a problem before.

That being said, I don't really know which would be worse for your betta now, stress from light or stress from temp changes (An t-iasg may well be right in that you should do that). But I wanted to give that warning against leaving lights on when you can avoid it.

(I hate to contradict someone else who know what they are talking about, but as we know, all fish react differently.)
 
Lannen, I'm sorry to hear about your beloved betta, but one night of light wouldn't do that. Remember, as they fish evolved in the wild, their were nights with a full moon. I know sometimes a cloudless night with a full moon is quite bright!
Right now, I am more concerned with keeping the betta warm. A dark blanket can be used to shield the light at night, and then it's a "full moon" night!
 
Lannan, I'm also sorry to hear about your betta. My other betta died on Thanksgiving day also, 2003. I refused to go anywhere for dinner and tried all I could but he died about 8pm that night. :cry:

I hear you about the light, but I also don't think one night of light could have done it unless he was severely stressed anyway. I do know that every living thing has their cycle of day and night. (If you look at some of my post times, it's apparent that I'm off any semblance of a normal day-night cycle! :lol: )

When my fish was in the QT bowl, he was under the light all the time to maintain the temperature. I folded a washrag over the top of the bowl, covering the top of the bowl just about halfway. At night I unfolded the washrag and draped it over the whole bowl. Instead of the water temp falling 5 degrees, it only fell one degree. I tried to balance the stable temp with some amount of day-night stability too, and it worked for my betta. (The one that died actually died in a tank.)

I just try to balance heat and light needs the best I could! Thanks for sharing your story, because like you said, all bettas sometimes do not react the same!
 
i lost a betta too keeping him in a 1/2 gallon container. initially i bought him for my 10g community tank (still inexperienced and unaffected by mts :) )...but he began terrorizing the gourmis in there. i faced the same problems as u...it began to grow listless, started breathing hard and ultimately decimated (fins falling off)...i had no idea about treatment then and things happened really fast....i was really devastated :cry: ...and have vowed never to keep them in small containers...
so please be careful and try to follow the good advice....
best of luck...
 
If he started breathing heavily right after you put him back in the water then he was stressed from falling out. If he is STILL breathing heavily, I would suggest getting an antibiotic. I had a betta jump out of a cup (when I was changing his water) & right into the cat litter box. He recovered after a day.


I honestly don't think your betta's fins started falling off because he was kept in a 1/2 gallon. My first fish ever was a betta in a 1 gallon bowl & he lived for 3 years before he accidently fell into the sink drain :( Obviously I don't recomend keeping ANY fish in a 1 gallon & I do think a betta can get depressed having no where to swim & nothing to explore. Also a fish in a small bowl is pretty boring to look at.
 
Finrot can have different appearances. I have seen finrot look like a black spot on the edge of a fin that does actually fall off in a little chunk. I have also seen it looking like stringy fins and fins with tattered edges. The "strings" seem to dissolve. Both symptoms of finrot can look like the fin "fell off" but more likely, the edges have eroded away due to the bacterial infection. I've also seen the fin erode away almost all the way to the body.

A betta can indeed get finrot from living in a half gallon bowl. This doesn't mean that every betta will automatically get finrot from living in a bowl. But a bowl often means temperature stress and maybe ammonia stress, which can lead to illness. A majority of the sick betta questions I answer are probably related to the betta living in a bowl and finally being stressed, over a period of time, to the point of illness.

My first two bettas were in a bowl. I bought them within a month or so of each other. The first one had finrot within 3 weeks. He never quite got over it despite medication. I began to look at his environment, and got a 5 gallon, heated, filtered tank for him. He gradually recovered and lived about 2 years. The other betta was still in the bowl. I noticed that he was listless, and lost his color (which is another symptom of stress, but I didn't know it at the time) but he didn't have finrot. Because the other betta, already in the tank, was doing so well, I put the second one in a tank too. Within an hour or so he had his beautiful blue color back, and he too lived a nice long life.

On a side note, I do hear of bettas in bows living 3 or more years; that is, if a stress-related illness doesn't do them in. I think this may be due to the cooler temperature of the water depressing their metabolism. But I wouldn't advocate keeping a betta at anything other than a tropical temperature of 80 - 82 degrees.

Thanks for sharing your experience, fsh! I'm glad to hear that you don't recommend a betta in a bowl anymore. I definitely agree that they can become listless and "depressed" without enough swimming room. Did you later have one in a tank too?
 
It's funny because I have had bettas that lived longer in a bowl than in a tank. This could be because of more stress from their tank mates (I had a betta that kept attacking a poor snail) than they could of had from unstable temperatures or they have caught a disease from another fish in the tank. I have had bettas that lived in 1 gal bowls for quite some time & appeared happy ( they were building bubble nests, showing nice color etc.) but others were depressed. It could depend on the fish. It could also depend on your room temperature & how often you do water changes.
 
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