Sick Betta

[Blackadder]

Betta has some fin rot, and now he keeps one of his pectoral fins up against his body and doesn't move it, making it difficult for him to swim. He is also losing some colour.

Help please as we are deeply attached to him.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Moved to the Uhealthy Fish Forum.

Have you treated the tank with meds?

 

[Blackadder]

Yes, some sort of antibiotic at the LFS

 

[An t-iasg]

Antibiotics will help finrot. Make sure to use it as the directions state - use it at the proper dose per your tank size and use it for the duration suggested. I know that the Maracyn packages say that you can use it for a second course of treatment if the first didn't seem to do much.

Loss of color is a sign of stress. A big stress factor for bettas is a fluctuating water temperature. What size tank/bowl is the betta in? Do you have a heater? Bowls are difficult to keep a stable temperature, so most bettas in small bowls will probably have some issues with finrot.

 

[Blackadder]

He is in a 29-gallon tank together with 2 swords, 4 zebra danios, 3 panda corys, and some shrimp and snails. There is a thermometer and the temperature stays pretty constant.

 

[An t-iasg]

That's good to know - that he's in a tank and not a bowl. I did have my first betta in bowl for a few months (didn't know any better!) and he really had a new personality when I put him in a tank.

OK, back to your question If your betta is losing color, something must be stressing him. Danios are pretty fast and zippy, and may stress a slow-moving betta. I don't think the danios would be aggressive toward the betta but they still could stress him with their fast movements. Does the betta have his own little area to get away from the filter current? Bettas don't like a lot of current. I just use a sponge filter in my betta tanks. Are there any sharp decorations in the tank that could be snagging his fins? A torn fin could (sometimes, but not always) lead to finrot.

Are any other fish showing any signs of illness?

 

[Blackadder]

He has lived with the danios for a couple of months and seemed fine. There are lots of places to hide away from the current, although lately he seems to like to lie on the bottom of the tank right where the current from the filter is. His tailfin was originally torn by an aggressive gourami (who I immediately removed from the tank and returned to the store). That was only a small hole, but it grew much bigger. All the other fish seem fine except that one danio has a red spot on his gill (which appeared at the same time as the hole in Betta's tail), although he behaves normally.

Is there any particular sort of antibiotic I should be using? Should I take him out of the tank and put him in a bowl?

 

[An t-iasg]

Try Jungle Fungus Eliminator. It has always worked very well for me when treating finrot. It has a combination of fungus med and antibiotic that seems to work well for bettas. If you do try this and it doesn't work, though, there are some other meds I can recommend. I found the Fungus Eliminator in a small jar - like baby-food size, so it was pretty cheap.

I would take him out of the main tank to treat. The smallest QT tank I'd recommend is around a 2 gallon tank. I got an acrylic 2.5 gallon tank at Walmart. You can put a 25-watt heater in this tank and the temperature will stay stable. My tank came with a small filter - I run it on the low setting with no filter media. I just basically run it for some slow water movement, to keep the warm water and meds circulating.

I used 1/2 teaspoon per 2 gallons of water. Dissolve the Fungus Eliminator in a glass of tank water first, then pour it in. Do a 50% water change every other day and add 1/4 teaspoon of the med back in. I kept this up for 4-5 days.

If you can't find a small tank, a Rubbermaid container with an airstone would work as a QT tank. When the betta gets better, treat the danio if he still looks sick. You could try treating them together but you'll have to see if any stress issues arise. If so, you'll have to treat separately.

 

[SilverDragon]

Maracyn-Two and Melafix may help for the fellow Ontarian betta.