Betta Fish Ill

[Mellys16]

What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).

Halfmoon Betta Fish, fins started to look a little tattered.

2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrates -
Temp-78F
Ph- 6.7

3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?

5.5 gallon fluval edge, the tank has been set up for over 5 months now.

4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.

Sorry I have no idea on this one.

5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?

There is a betta, 2 otos, and a panda catfish, all are at their tiniest points.

6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?

About a week ago I vaccumed the gravel and 2 days ago did a 25% water change. I do a water change every week sometimes only 10% though, and vaccum the gravel every 2 weeks.

7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?

The betta has been in the tank for about 2 months now along with the panda, however the otos have been in there for just about a month now.

8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?

No, nothing has changed from the tank, however I am contemplating putting in fluval gravel instead of what I currently have.

9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?

No change in diet, the betta gets fed twice a day, and I only go a couple pellets until I've seen hes eaten it, the panda cory takes whatever is left over and the otos are on algae pellets given once ever 2-3 days.

My question is, he seems to be picking on the otos a lot, so is it maybe them attacking his fins, or is this a sign of fin rot? I've experience fin rot before when I purchased my other betta Fireball from a LFS thinking he was a crowntail but actually turned out to be a very bad halfmoon with fin rot. Any advice will be great! I want to get whatever is going on under control.
Thanks

 

[trennamw]

Sounds like water quality issues leading to fin rot. I went through this a lot myself with bettas in small tanks.

You're off to a good start doing some testing and water changes ... 50% weekly water changes, complete testing (knowing your nitrate level), and getting the tank fully cycled are important.

The fact that you're showing ammonia suggests your tank isn't cycled, or the filter can't keep up (quite possible, that's a lot of fish for that tank).

You might want to look up fish-in cycling if you're not aware of the process already.

Then do a 50% water change every day until your water is really clean, and get a full test kit so you know nitrates and nitrites.

In my personal experience, API stress coat helps heal betta fins when you use it as your dechlorinator.

Hope things turn around!


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[icydeath]

You can also double dose the StressCoat to help with that. Like said, you are off to a good start and I'm sure your betta will turn around.

 

[Mellys16]

I ended up QT him today, it was easier that way to treat him without affecting the other fish, I actually noticed today however the otos like to go after him and really seem to get aggressive to both Ice (betta) and p-boy (panda cory) I'm actually starting to think its them ruining his fins then fin rot. It is also only occurring in one select area and has not affected any other fins. Lets hope the quarantine helps and then I can re-introduce him back in the big tank. Time to decide though if i'm keeping the otos or not. Any advice on that one?

 

[icydeath]

Depends.. Do you like them more than your panda and betta?

Also, you could leave them all in and monitor their behavior to see if it corrects. Do you have enough algae?

 

[Coursair]

Are you sure they are Otos and not CAE ? Some stores sell the wrong fish. Otos would only ever chase something if they were starving ?

Otos http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/genus.php?genus_id=49

CAE are bullies http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrinocheilus

The Cory should be fed sinking food or frozen.

Try adding hardy plants like Java Ferns so the Otos have hiding places. What are you feeding Otos ?

That's a lot of fish for a 5.5g

I hope you get things under control.


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[Fishfur]

Otos have no teeth to bite with.. they're sucker mouthed fish and extremely peaceful and easily bullied. The Betta is probably chasing them and hoping to eat them but they can't hurt him.

Fin rot is usually related to water conditions or stress, or both. There'a really good article on fin rot, I'll find the link.

Edit.. here it is. http://bettasplendid.weebly.com/fin-rot-101.html

Bettas often do not get along with other fish, so you may have to choose between a Betta or other fish, or get another tank. In fact, mostly, they don't get along with other fish, though there are always exceptions.

 

[Angela1108]

I was about to ask the same about him really being an oto. Sometimes they all get confusing- flying fox, Siamese algae eater, false Siamese ae and they all get sold as each other. The temperaments of all will be very different. Otos in my experience are usually super docile. That said they do like bigger groups as they are schooling so it could be because of that if they are truly Otos.


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[Fishfur]

Otos indeed do best in larger groups. I keep about ten together and they're all over the place. Shrimp are never bothered by them, not ever and they're small fish. The sucker mouth is easy to see on the glass, though of course, there are other sucker mouthed fishes.

Try checking Oto species on Planetcatfish, you should be able to ID yours well enough to be reasonably sure they are Otos, or not Otos.

 

[Mellys16]

I'm new to fish keeping, I've have another betta fireball, and hes was in a 5 gallon tank but I later transferred him into a 3.5 gallon tank and he seems to be doing better there than the 5 gallon (please don't go on to me how its not enough space for a betta because hes happy in there) I thought that was a lot of fish for the tank but my LFS ensured me that its plenty of space. I checked my water perimeters today after a 50% water change and gravel vac im sitting at 0 ammonia. Ice the betta in question I noticed today was actually nipping at his own fins, which I found to be quite strange. The panda cory is wonderful him and the betta became best buddies right away, I think now that I isolated the betta they're actually missing each other. The otos are fed 1 algae tablet until they finish it and then immediately get another.

 

[Mellys16]

Got a picture of ice in today while he's in isolation. I'm thinking fin rot but not sure.


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[trennamw]

I've seen a lot of fin rot and that looks more like tearing.


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[Mellys16]

I've seen a lot of fin rot and that looks more like tearing.


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What causes that then and how do I fix it?

 

[trennamw]

The ones I've heard of are getting caught on plants or pulled by the filter intake. I've read that you should check all your decor by seeing of they snag pantyhose.

Mine got tail issues from the filter intake. It helped to put nylon sock over the intake.

I understand it grows back in time.

I wonder if his tail got damaged and that's why he was biting it.

A 3 can be ok for a betta with lots of large water changes. You don't have other fish in there do you? That would be a bad situation.

My betta 3 gallon has nobody else, a good filter, and lots of live plants including some that float. It needs a 50% change weekly to keep nitrates down.


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[aquarium_Guru]

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[Fishfur]

Bettas are also know to bite their own fins at times. I had one that ripped off its entire tail. Why they do this, I'm sure I don't know. But they do. They are not gregarious fish in nature, so they don't naturally need pals in their tanks. So long as they don't harm another fish in with them, it's fine, but if they do, separation is necessary.

Torn fins should heal with time and good clean water conditions, but once injured, they are more prone to getting fin rot, so keep an eye on the fins.