What's wrong with my Betts?

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Ephy

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 14, 2017
Messages
36
Hey, I've had my Betts for almost a year. He use to look so much healthier, I can't figure out what could be wrong with him.

It all seem to start after I noticed his tail was torn out of the blue one day. It would go through periods of healing only to be sudden ripped again.

Then there was a few weeks were it seemed like all he would do was hide or sleep on the bottom the tank.

Now he almost looks too thin to me even though he eats well. Lost his nice colors and while he is more active than he use to be..his vigor and energy is is lacking.

What could be wrong with him? Plead help. [emoji26]
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Do you have a filter where his tail can get caught in it? What's your heat at? What else is in the tank?
 
No I took the filter and mostly everything else out of the tank afraid that what was causing his tail damage. There is only an air hose couple rocks his heater (temp is usually between 72-80 on hot days) and a skull for him to sleep in
 
Tank should stay at about 78-80 for these guys to thrive. Anywhere under or over that they will get weak, sick, diseased, and they don't live as long. Beside that, what all has happened? New tank? Any kinda treatment? Things like that? He's still active?
 
It has been empty for awhile now. I even took out all the gravel I had at the bottom about a month ago because I was worried that even with once a week vacuuming the tank would have too much bad bacteria still. Every 7-9 days I change 95% of the water and vacuum out the debris. Once a month I wash everything under hot water and refill all fresh water.
 
Also just before he started hiding and sleeping at the bottom of the tank..I was really busy and didn't change his water for 2 weeks. I had a homemade plastic air hose filter I was trying to use to build up good bacteria but I guess it back fired..so I tossed everything out worried that was what made him sick
 
So he's went through alot. Give it time. Keep the water clean. Test it alot. Get a good heater. It will be alright. The water needs to stay clean for a full recovery. One miss on water changes he will be right back to where he was. I'd put the filter back in too. If you do miss one. Do a 50% water change. And make sure you double dose with conditioner even with a 20% water change. The conditioner will help stress. It gives them that slim coating that fish need.
 
Oh wow, double the dose of conditioner?? I realized about 5 months ago I wasn't calculating the conditioner properly and was giving him 20ml for his 10G. I thought that the high doses may have contributed to his poor health..but now you say to double it?? Do you think his health declined because I cut the dose??
 
You are over cleaning that tank and from the sounds of it constantly putting him through a cycle. He needs an actual filter and consistent temps above 76. Filter media should only be rinsed in old water, not changed or rinsed with hot or tap water. Give him some live or silk plants to hide and rest on, they can get stressed out in bare open tanks. Feed him some frozen foods (defrost first) to keep his energy up, depending on the tank size I'd do 50% water changes every week. Make sure you are matching the temps when you do water changes so it doesn't shock him.
 
Oh wow, double the dose of conditioner?? I realized about 5 months ago I wasn't calculating the conditioner properly and was giving him 20ml for his 10G. I thought that the high doses may have contributed to his poor health..but now you say to double it?? Do you think his health declined because I cut the dose??
Yeah. That conditioner is the slime coating for the fishes body. And it helps the water with toxic, like chlorine. It's good stuff. It's called conditioner cause fish get conditioned like we condition our hair so it's not dry.
 
As Toad said clean water and a stable tank will do wonders for his healing.
Live plants, substrate, and the filter will help reduce his stress also.
 
Hey so I've replaced 50% of his tank water.
I doubled the conditioner in the fresh replacement water.
Made sure it was warmed back up to the same temperature before putting him in the water.
I also picked up a new filter running and secured the filter inside a glass jar open at both ends so he can't get near it.
Fingers crossed this helps.
How long should I wait before doing another 50% water change?
Thx
 
I don't know how the glass jar is gonna work. But I'd test the water daily. Or just change about 20-30% everyday to every other day.the water has to stay as clean as it can.If it's a new filter system your cycle is gonna start all over again.(lots of ups and downs in your water.) If it's just a new pad in the old filter System you should be OK. Just test the water. Watch him close most of all. If he's not swimming alot or sucking air from the top (like he can't breath), there's something wrong. Watch his gills too. If his gills come in and out alot. (the ones that come out while they want to fight) forgot what they're called. Anyways, if those come out and he looks like he's having a hard time breathing test the water, or change it. You can usually tell when it's time by watching your fish. But the trick is to catch it before more harm is done.
 
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