Betta help

[brittany_b415]

Hello all,

I bought a fish that was near death from a pet store that was selling out sometime last January. He's in a 5 gallon heated, filtered tank. I feed him a pellet formula for bettas and frozen bloodworms. About 6 months ago he started looking like he was bulging near his tail region, I didn't think much of it at the time. A month after that it got worse so I treated him with API General cure with no avail. A month after that I treated him with tetra fungus guard (secondary treats swim bladder).. with no luck. My friend gave me another broad spectrum antibiotic and that didn't work either. September I moved away for school and my step brother has been feeding him and doing water changes. He eats his pellets and bloodworms no problem. My problem is on both sides he seems swollen. He can't sink, he floats to the top and can't get around. He just lays on his side. I don't know how to get the swollen down. I honestly thought he would be dead by now. I'm home for 17 days on Christmas break and wondering what I can do? Anyone have any luck with epsom salt dips ? Or any other alternatives? Also wondering how I can get him to eat the peas I offer ? Any help would be great! Thanks.

 

[Autumnsky]

Hi,
Sorry to hear the guy has some issues. You can add Epsom Salts to his water, and leave it. You can add it gradually over 24-36 hours. The after initial treatment pwc you can just add back in the amount you need per gallon. I had one Betta never get much better but lived a year "sickly".

Usual treatment would be 14-21 days. Then as you do pwc you just do not put it back in and end up with regular water in.

I would start with a concentrate which would equal 1 tablespoon per gallon since he's bad off.

Do your pwc.

5T of ES for a 5G - mix in a cup of hot water til dissolved. Add a cup of cold water, add Prime/water conditioner. Add liquid to tank ~1/4 cup at a time every 8-12 hours

Then you can do the mix in the future with 1/2 C water per each T of ES. (Plus water conditioner). This would fit in a 20 oz water bottle (for easy water changes). This way you replace a gallon and add 1/2 cup ES concentrate to it to put back the ES being removed by the pwc.

As for the peas, you fast him for a day and try the peas, then if he doesn't eat it try one more day. I wouldn't fast him for much more than 2-3 days.

Try feeding him 2x a day instead of 1x per day just divide the quantity of food in 2. Not feed 2x as much.

Also I would get him some antibiotic food.