Sick Betta

[MicroFish]

Hi guys,

We have two bettas, each in a 2gal aquarium w/ air stones and UGF (hate them but can't find the small filter set I need for these tanks). I do weekly partial water changes and gravel vaccuuming w/ both Bettas and they are both in the same room so water temp is normally only a couple of degrees different from each other. They are both fed the same thing and all maintanence chores are done at the same time, etc. Nothing different about the two, including tank decorations... except that they came from different stores.

Problem is - one Betta is perfectly healthy and robust while the other has, in the last few days, lost most of his color and lies at the bottom of his tank most of the time. He was lying upside down yesterday and I thought he was dead but when I turned his light on, he turned over and came up to eat his food. Today he was back to lying on the bottom, very still but at least upright.

Any idea what's going on?? No signs of ick, no worms or anything that I can see in the tank... his gills look sort of red but he's a red betta so I think they've always been red.......... We have had this Betta since June but every fish we ever got from the LPS where he came from has died. If there was something wrong w/ him when we bought him, would it take this long to show?? Help!

Sheila

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi...I also have two bettas. One was constantly getting fin and tail rot, and the other one was fine. They both had the same water conditions, food, etc. I recently put them in a 5 1/2 gallon divided tank, because the water temp. was not staying stable in the bowls, although the one didn't seem affected. You may have bought your betta already sick, or he could have been stressed somehow, and just got sick now. If the rest of the fish at this shop were sick, he probably had some bug in him. It sounds like you took very good care of him, so maybe he was able to fight off the infection for a little while.

Anyway, I used Jungle Fungus Eliminator when the other betta lost his color and didn't move for 6 days. He didn't lie on the bottom, but stayed very close to the surface. He also didn't eat during this time. He recovered with Jungle Fungus Eliminator. He didn't have any visible parasites on him, either, but it helped him. The bottle says that it's an anti-protozoan and anti-bacterial remedy. It treats red spots and streaks, and color loss. Red streaks usually mean an internal infection of some kind, caused by bacteria, which the Jungle product will help. I used 1/4 teaspoon per gallon. I put some bowl water in a paper cup and mixed the medicine into that water, then poured it into the bowl. Give him one dose, then 4 days later, do a 25% water change and give him another dose. Use fresh carbon to remove the second dose 4 days later, or do a massive water change.

If he had red, swollen gills (maybe hard to see on a red betta?) then the fungus eliminator will help too, since it also works on bacterial infections. I hope this helps your betta like it helped mine! If it doesn't, try an antibiotic like Kanacyn. It says it works on hemorrhage, red body patches, bacterial, fungal, and internal infections, but you'll have to open the capsule and try to divide the powder for 2 1/2 gallons. Or you could put the whole capsule in a gallon of water, and give him about one-fifth of that gallon. I don't know if the rest of the medicine in that gallon would retain its potency, though.

I would try the Jungle product first, because it made my betta better, and I thought for sure he wasn't going to make it. He's happy and healthy now!

I don't like UGFs either. What type of filter are you looking for? I've seen small filters with carbon and floss that you attach to the side of the tank with a suction cup. Lee, Small World, and Whisper are the brands I've seen. I have a small sponge filter in my tank--a Jungle Jr. Dirt Magnet.

I hope your betta gets better! I sure am attached to my two guys and don't want anything to happen to them!

 

[MicroFish]

Unfortunately, he didn't make it. I'm so bummed... the other betta is perfectly fine. I inspected the red one when I removed his little body from the tank but I didn't see anything immediately wrong w/ him. His gills looked exactly like the other's and his body wasn't bloated or anything. The only strange thing was that his fins were a bit ragged (but not excessively so). Could he have had fin rot?? How do they get it and can it be passed to my other fish via nets, etc? I am pretty good about not "sharing" utensils but I do use the same gravel vaccuum on both tanks. I'm thinking I should get a few more, since they are cheap enough, and label them.

>>I've seen small filters with carbon and floss that you attach to the side of the tank with a suction cup.

That's exactly what I want... I can't seem to find them though! I've looked at WalMart, PetsMart, PetCo... and I've looked on Ebay but can't find it there either. Maybe I'm not looking for the right thing?? I really want to be rid of these blasted UG filters sooner rather than later...

Thanks so much for the info you've provided here. I'm saving it to a file so I'll have it for future reference.

Sheila

 

[An t-iasg]

I'm so sorry My bettas are forbidden to die. It would kill me!

I know how frustrating that is. As I said, one of my bettas is perfectly fine, and the other one was sick a lot. Your betta probably did have fin rot. One of my bettas (the one with almost constant fin rot) could lose 3/4 of his tail, and he would act fine. I would still medicate, of course. And the other one was only sick once. That's the one that didn't move for 6 days. His top fin was a little ragged, but nothing like the other one got -- he didn't actually lose any fins. But it still was frustrating that I did the same things to both, and the one had fin rot all the time. I was very careful not to overfeed, I changed their water twice a week (when they were in their bowls), and I also used a gravel vac. It was a bit tight, but it fit into the bowls. As I was doing more research, water that was too cool was mentioned as a cause of fin and tail rot. I soon determined that the water temp. would drop about 6 or 7 degrees at night. That's a lot for a little fish! So that's when I set up the 5 1/2 gallon tank, with a 25-watt heater set for 82 degrees, and the sponge filter. The sponge filter doesn't really remove debris from the water (I still use my gravel vac), but it's just a place for the good bacteria to grow. It's hooked to a Tetratec 12 air pump. I aso use a gang valve between the air pump and the filter, so I can regulate the airflow so that no current is produced. I do have a fairly fast stream of bubbles, but no current that would disturb the bettas. The only thing is, they haven't built bubble nests in the tank yet. They used to build huge nests in their bowls!

You live in Florida, right? Maybe you don't have any problems with keeping your temps stable. In that case, I would say that he was sick when you got him. I suppose some fish can better fight off infections than other fish. You know, like some people get colds a lot, and some don't.

I found a small filter on Petco.com. Here's the link, and you can see what it looks like:

http://www.petco.com/product_info.a...1062&c3=&ct1=Filters&ct2=Sponge+&+Corner&ct3=

I would also get another gravel vac, so each bowl has its own. Like you said, they are cheap enough! I use the same net now, since mine are in the same tank, but when they were in the bowls, they had their own net. I haven't had to net them since they've been in the tank. I think they primarily get fin rot through poor water conditions or stress. I think I found and fixed my problem -- cool water. It may be passed through nets, vacs, etc. too, so since they're cheap, get each fish their own. The one betta that gets fin rot often got it again, about a month ago, when I put him in the tank. I guess the new environment was stressful for him. But he recovered quickly, and now his tail is the longest it's been for about 6 months! I hope he won't get any more outbreaks!