Took him out of QT bowl...

[Catalina]

As a few of you know, I'm dealing with fin rot in my betta. He tore his fins on the filter right before I went on vacation, leaving my mom to care for the tank. I think she majorly overfed, and the water quality declined, and I think he was susceptible to fin rot because of his injury.

But anyway. Tonight, I dissolved a Tetracycline tablet made for a 10 gal. tank in a 1 gal. container (with dechlorinator) then put 1.5 cups of that water into a gallon QT bowl, which I then filled up with fresh water. I moved my betta into it and he seemed fine. I let him be for a few hours, and when I came back he was at the bottom. He usually sleeps there, but he always wakes up when I turn on the lights or come into the room, and he wasn't even moving when I moved the bowl around to get a better look. Finally, he did one slow, lazy swim around the bowl. His gills weren't moving especially fast, but they were moving much more distinctly, for lack of a better term. Or maybe I was just being paranoid, but I moved him out of there and back into the 10 gal. tank, where he promptly swam to the bottom and stole one of the cory cats' sinking pellets which he is now swimming around with as usual.

Is it normal for a fish to act that lethargic while being treated with antibiotics, or was I right in suspecting there was something wrong? I'm really uncomfortable treating him with strong meds in such a small bowl. I've decided that tomorrow I'm going to the Petco across the street and fishing out the mere $10 to get another 10 gal. tank. Only problem is, I don't have a stand, so will have to get one of those too, which makes it a trip that needs to involve my BF because I can't carry all that stuff back here by myself. I just want his fins to be full and beautiful again. Does anyone know if all these delays in his treatment will make him harder to cure? He's still acting perfectly healthy, that is when he's not in the QT bowl.

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi Catalina,
My (previous) bettas did act lethargic in a QT bowl. When I use BettaMax, I don't think they like the green water either. I don't think they are stressed, but it sounds like yours was, so it was good you moved him back out.

It's good that you're getting a 10 gallon QT. That's what your betta is used to. He probably will be stressed in a bowl, after being in the 10 gallon. Also, my bettas don't have tankmates. Your betta probably missed the cories and that added to his stress.

When my bettas are in the QT bowl, I change the water every day. With no filter, and the med in there, the oxygen is probably reduced. It's a pain to change the water and try to keep the med dose the same. I think a 10 gallon QT sounds good! My bettas are in 5.5 gallons, and I just got a 5.5 gallon to have as a QT. (That is, if I don't put a 3rd betta in there!)

I wouldn't worry about the treatment delay. Just set it up when you can, and start the meds in the 10 gallon tank again. If he's acting ok, that's a good sign too. Just keep an eye on him and set up the QT soon. Good luck

 

[Catalina]

Thanks for all the advice you have been giving me throughout this, An t-iasg. You've been giving me advice ever since I brought Ziggy (my betta) home, and I really appreciate it. However, I have quite a problem right now.

I set up a 10 gal. QT tank over the weekend. I also bought a heater and a stand, but decided that I wouldn't buy a filter as I'm very short on cash right now, and figured that was the least important thing. Maybe I was wrong, but I don't know anymore.

I let the Tetracycline tablet dissolve in the tank for about 2-3 hours, at which point there were still some visible, yellow pieces floating around, but it was mostly dissolved. The temperature was at 80 degrees, which is only 1 or 2 more than in my betta's regular tank. When I was ready to move him, I floated him in a tupperware in the new tank for 20 min. - 1/2 hour. Then I netted him, and let him out.

He quickly began slowing down, and 2 hours later was on the bottom of the tank, looking close to death. I decided to do an emergency water change because all these tank changes must be stressful for him. I syphoned out 3 gallons of water, while simultaneously adding fresh water. No change in his behavior. I added the fliter from his old tank, but he still did not perk up. I finally freaked out, and put him back in his old tank, where he went to the bottom and was still not looking good. He looked like he would be dead by morning. Very depressed, I figured I should let him die in the tank where he had happy memories, and went to bed. I put a new cartridge in the filter, and put it back on the regular tank.

The next morning, he was fine again, swimming around and begging like usual. What is going on? I really don't know what I'm doing wrong, as I'm following all the instructions that I receive perfectly. It just seems that whenever he is exposed to Tetracycline, he almost dies. Would it have been different if I let the QT tank run for a while with a filter before putting him in? I noticed when I put him in the QT tank, he did mouth a few of the Tetracycline pieces that were floating around, but quickly spit them out. Does this have something to do with him acting sick? However, the Tetracyline package simply says to drop 1 tablet in a 10 gal. tank each day, so it surely can't dissolve quickly enough for there not to be pieces floating around.

I really don't know what to. Should I try another medication? Run the medicated tank with a filter for a day before adding Ziggy? I'm almost tempted not to treat him, as he acts perfectly fine in his normal tank. But then his fin rot will just get worse, and he'll die anyway. What should I do? Is there anything? If anyone has ideas I would be very grateful. Thank you.

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi Catalina,
Well, I think we can assume that your betta is somehow sensitive to tetreacycline! My betta "ate" the little pieces too, and spit them out, so I don't think that hurt your betta. I guess it just isn't the right med for him.

A regular filter with a carbon insert will remove the med, if the carbon is fresh enough. The meds will kill some of the good bacteria in the filter too. With one betta in your QT tank, ammonia shouldn't become a problem while he's in there. I would change some water every other day in the QT tank too. You could put a HOB filter on the QT tank, with no media added, just for some water movement, to get oxygen into the water. Some medicines deplete the oxygen some. This may not be quite as big of an issue for bettas since they can breathe atmospheric air, but since yours was stressed, it may be a good idea to try to keep the water moving at the same rate it is in his regular tank. Don't worry about running a filter first, because you really can't cycle a QT tank due to the meds killing some good bacteria.

Have you ever tried BettaMax? It's a capsule that you open and put into the tank. It's a green powder. I gave that to my one betta a lot. He's the one that had fin rot almost his whole life. BettaMax always helped him, except at the end. It regrew his fins and got those little fuzzies off. I don't think he liked the darker water at first, but he got used to it and he wasn't stressed. The box says to put one capsule (open it first) for each 5 gallons, and repeat every other day for 5 days (that's three treatments). Full treatment can be repeated in three weeks.

I have also had good luck with Jungle Fungus Eliminator. It says it treats bacterial and fungus problems.

Good luck!