Betta help ASAP!!!

[_dan_]

my girlfriends betta is in really bad condition... we figure that he got his gill (left one) stuck on a silk plant... he wont dive down more than 1" and eveytime he takes a breath his left gill sticks out like he is flareing, and when he does try to flare for real he swims really fast in a tight circle like a dog trying to catch its tail. is there anything we can do fo him??
Will it heal??? or is this all hopeless and he should be..........

 

[An t-iasg]

Is he eating? If he's eating and swimming, I would give him a chance -- it could heal. Is the gill red or inflamed looking? If so, I would treat with an antibiotic, like Maracyn 2 or Kanacyn. Maybe if the swelling (if any) comes down, the gill will function normally again. If the gill doesn't look red or swollen, I wouldn't medicate. Just keep the water clean -- doing some extra water changes can't hurt, and keep an eye on him to make sure secondary infections don't set in.

 

[_dan_]

he is swiming a little, he seems to be eating(stuggleing) the gills arnt red or swollen but when he does flare you can see red almost like something is "falling out"

 

[An t-iasg]

Is he hanging around at the bottom of the tank a lot? Does he seem to have trouble getting to the surface? If so, lower the water level (watch out for a heater if you have one) -- if it's easier for him to get to the surface, he may perk up. Bettas must use their labyrinth organ to breathe air also; the gills and the labyrinth work together. Give him a chance to perk up and see what happens.

 

[_dan_]

we moved him into a 15 gal tank, he is alone... he doesnt go to the bottem, he sticks near the suface and only goes down maybe 5" now that he is in the bigger tank

 

[An t-iasg]

Well, it's good that he's near the surface, even though he may not be swimming around as usual.

Did he have tankmates in his other tank? Maybe a scuffle with another fish hurt his gill. Some bettas are ok in community tanks, and some prefer to be alone.

Now that he's in the 15 gallon tank, keep the temperature at 80 degrees, continue to feed, do water changes every other day, and maybe turn off the tank light if there is one, and just use the room light. Bright light can stress bettas out sometimes.

My previous betta, one time, just hung around the top of the tank for 6 days, then all of a sudden he started swimming and building a bubble nest again. I medicated him with Jungle Fungus Eliminator. It says on the label that it helps bacterial and fungal infections. I wouldn't medicate yours yet; see how he does alone in the bigger tank. But if he isn't better by later on tonight or early tomorrow, you may need to. Keep a watch on the gill area, and watch for white fuzz on or around him that may signify a bacterial infection. Good luck!

 

[_dan_]

he has no tank mates. about 3 weeks ago he was livin with some tetras but that didnt work. Weve had this gill problem for about 3 days. We didn't realize it was ripped till he started swimmin funny. There is no swellin and hes swimmin more now it seems than ever before. I think its the size difference. There is no heater but the temp stays at 80 and we dont use a light cause of the good lighting in the room. He never was a real swimmer or eater, and sence hes been injured hes eating more and sence the new tank he swims more. We removed the fake plant and now there is just gravel some seashells and a decoration. His colors seemed to have smoothed out alot more tho, he nolonger looks all dark and blue/blackish as before, i dont think it is related tho because I beleave the change began b4 the gill thing did

When doing the water changes should I use distilled water or the betta plus conditioner???
Thanks very much.

 

[An t-iasg]

Yes, tetras can be very nippy and not good tankmates for bettas. I would not put him back in with the tetras, and if you can, keep him in this 15 gallon tank. He could have a few tankmates like ghost shrimp or cory cats. (cory cats like to be kept in groups of 3 or more)

But let's get him well first -- the stable temp. at 80 is good, and room light only is fine. He's probably eating and swimming more in this new tank because the tetras aren't ganging up on him, so he is not stressed anymore. If his colors are getting better, that's another sign that he is no longer stressed.

Dont' use only distilled water for changes -- it doesn't have any minerals in it that fish need. If your water is very hard with a high pH, though, you could mix the tap water with the distilled water. My water out of the tap is pH 8 or 8.2. In an empty, bottled water gallon jug, I mix half tap water and half RO water. My pH (with the mixed water) is 7.2 or 7.4. This seems to suit the bettas just fine.

I'm not familiar with betta plus conditioner. I use Novaqua and Amquel. Just use a conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramines. Some chloramine removing products like Amquel remove ammonia too. As long as you don't use more than 8 or so drops per gallon you'll be ok. You don't want to remove too much ammonia because that will interfere with the nitrogen cycle. This new 15 gallon tank, if it wasn't cycled before the betta was added, will go thru the nitrogen cycle. Read about it here if you're not familiar with it. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21

I just googled the Betta Plus conditioner. There was no real description other than it said it was a betta bowl conditioner. So you may use alot of that little bottle for 15 gallons. It would probably be ok, though. I prefer Novaqua and Amquel because I know that they don't interfere with a cycling tank, when used as the directions say.

 

[_dan_]

hmmmmmmmm i must pic up some of that... we didnt really have a prrob with the tetras, just one of em. he was the onl fin nipper. the othe was fine. I plan to get a new 10 gal tank and put the malein that with a few others that get along and put the tetras and the female betta back in the 15... but thats at a future date. he hasnt been with any other fish in about 3 weeks but hes been in a 1.77-2 gal tank. so... he just sat in the corner then.

Do u think he will get through this??? is there anything else i can do to help???

 

[An t-iasg]

Well, it's kind of hard to say since I can't see him and compare his behavior to my bettas' behavior. But, since he's away from the fin- nipping tetra, and his color is returning and he's eating and swimming more, I would say that everything is looking good!

My previous bettas had their share of illnesses, and they bounced back a lot of times when I thought they wouldn't. They need good care, but they are tougher than we think!

I think it's a good plan to keep him away from the tetras that nip. He will be much happier. It doesn't surprise me that he just sat in the 2 gallon tank and was inactive. Even though the pet stores say you can put a betta in those small tanks, that is not a very good home for them.

And I was just thinking -- if you have another, cycled tank, use some filter media or gravel from it to help the nitrogen cycle in this 15 gallon tank, or any new tank that you have. Using the gravel or filter media from another tank will introduce some good bacteria into the tank, and prevent a big ammonia spike. You should still watch your parameters and do water changes as necessary until the new tank is cycled fully. But it will be less stressful on the fish, especially the betta who was already a little stressed before.

I think you're on the right track -- just keep watching him and keep us posted!

 

[_dan_]

will do!!! thx for all the help!!!! I hope he gets better!!!

 

[swanandmokashi]

LET us know how it goes..what decoration do you have? I removed my ceramic decoration as I thought it was causing my betta's fins to be torn.

 

[_dan_]

there is just a small ceramic house now and a few seashells. But he doesn't swim low enough in the tank to go near them or play with them, but maybe I'll tank them out just incase.