What is wrong with my Betta?

[lauraMohiuddin]

Hi,

I have a 3 feet aquarium. I used to have three bettas for about a month, but for the last couple of days, I don’t see one of the small ones (they told me at the fish store that it was a female). I assume its dead. Today I see that one of the bettas has shredded tail or you can say no tail at all (I can actually see its bare back). Apparently this is a female betta. I transferred it to a fish bowl, although my husband thought I was worrying over nothing and thought it should be left in the aquarium. I have taken some pictures of the fish, and you can see them at:

http://pets.webshots.com/album/560042890sLUEaW

I think I saw the two fish mating few days back, the other betta had its tail wrapped around this one, and when this one tried to break loose, both the bettas got part of their tails torn. I have the following questions:

1. Is this a female betta? Could it be that both the bettas are males?
2. Does my betta have tail rot disease? In that case what should I do? The only medicines I got are AquaCleaner, Aquarium salt and some anti bacterial medicine for goldfish (which among other things prevents goldfish fin rot). In the pet stores here, there are no meds for bettas.
3. Is there any way I can determine the nitrite level in my aquarium other than the kits available in pet stores (in my case, not available in the pet stores here)?

Somehow my bettas don’t seem very aggressive and seems to get along fine with the other fish. I have also placed the bowl before a mirror to see if it gets aggressive. It is also not eating anything, probably because of the new environment. Please help.

 

[QTOFFER]

Welcome to AA, Laura!!!

It's hard to tell from the pics whether your sick betta is male or female. The pic called Missing betta looks like a male.
Your betta probably has a fin injury resulting from aggression. You have to be very careful with meds where bettas are involved - they're very sensitive to them. There is a product called bettafix that will help prevent bacterial infections in bettas. However, I've found that daily water changes work just as well.

I would suggest keeping the injured betta separated and maintaining the cleanest water possible (daily water changes) until the fin heals. If you can, get some bettafix online from Drs Foster and Smith or from Big Al's.

I noticed in your pic that you have an angelfish in the tank with your bettas. Angels can be aggressive and may be attacking your bettas. Bettas are generally peaceful with other fish, although they will go after fish with long fins - like guppies. In your tank, I would be more concerned with the bettas being the target of aggression.

Bettas are generally vicious toward their own kind. The only exception is females, which can be housed together in a large aquarium.
Male bettas absolutely cannot be housed together regardless of aquarium size. They will ultimately fight to the death.
Male bettas cannot be housed with females long term either. Introducing a female betta with a male for the purpose of breeding must be done carefully. The male is always ready to mate, but sometimes the female is not. The male will harass a reluctant female mercilessly - possibly stressing her to death. After mating, the male will attempt to drive the female from the area. Again, this can lead to the female's death.

You should separate your bettas until you can positively ID the sex. You could use guppy breeding boxes that hang inside the aquarium.

Regarding the nitrite test, try online. It's often cheaper than the lfs, even with shipping. Most people here prefer the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals liquid tests.

Don't worry if the injured betta doesn't eat for a few days. They usually sulk when they are moved to a new environment. Offer food every day, but remember to remove what he/she hasn't eaten - you need to keep that water in pristine condition.

 

[lauraMohiuddin]

43 minutes ago
The one in the bowl is now dead. I have just noticed that the one in the aquarium is half dead. I have been so bz with the betta in the bowl that i never checked on the one in the tank. I have now uploaded pictures of the one in the tank too, and how the bettas looked a month ago.

I have lost 2 bettas in less than a week. But I have had the three of them for the past one month, and I have seen two of the grown bettas swim past one another without flaring. I recently added tiger barbs and guppies to my tank. Are the tiger barbs responsible in any way? Are the fish dying of fin rot or fight? My husband says both the bettas looked fine this morning. Can fin rot spread and cause death so quickly? I cannot add too much med or salt to the tank because of the plants. What should I do now with the betta that looks almost dead?

 

[QTOFFER]

Sorry about your losses.

IME, bettas are quite hardy, but once they become sick, they can crash with alarming speed. Fish can literally die from stress, and yes, they can go rather quickly. Stress can be brought on by chronic poor water quality, poor diet, aggression, disease, or a combination of these.

Whenever new fish are added to a tank, there is a chance of also introducing disease. The new tiger barbs may have brought a disease that pushed the bettas over the edge. They are also well known fin nippers - perhaps the tiger barbs nipped away your bettas' fins.

I would separate the remaining sick betta to the bowl and treat with bettafix if you can get it.

Check your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH) and your filter just to rule out those things as a cause.

 

[lauraMohiuddin]

My other fish are dying too, guppies, platies, so it must have been some fungus or bacteria that spread into the tank. And I am guessing the betta in the bowl WAS a female, otherwise they would have killed each other long time ago. I have even seen it swim past the other betta without flaring

 

[Zagz]

Sorry about your lossess. I am now going to move this to unhealthy fish as it is now clearer that this is about sick fish and not breeers.

The first thing to do is to post your water parameters? Do you have a test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Also how often do you do water changes and how much each time? Do you add dechlorinator every time? What temp is your tank? Feeding schedule? Any physical signs on your fish?

 

[lauraMohiuddin]

I cannot tell you about the ammonia or nitirite levels because test kits are not available in our country. I asked for them at the fish store, and I went to a drug store today, but nothing is available to test this parameters. I have done a 100% water change about a month back after one of my mollies died. Things seemed to be going fine after that. Last week we did a one third water change after a newly purchased sucker fish died. we have also added new decor and plants to the aquarium right before that. During that time, we also returned 6 of our gold fish to the store and added a good number of small fish to the tank. I added otto aqua cleaner to the water, but do not add any anti bacterial med or salt because of the plants. The water temperature is 33 degree celcius and I have an automatic heater. I have sand covered with rocks in my aquarium. I have been seeing little particles in the tank, even today after I did an almost 95% water change.