Betta with hole in stomach.

[anibis]

So I got a Betta from Meijer, a Walmart kinda store. The fish looked great, fins were out on display, active. All of his brothers looked terrible, seemed to be columnaris or some sort of fungs. He never ate for me, and few days after I got him he started to bloat and had stringy white poo. I first tried epson salt for a couple days, then I treated with furan-2. 2 days into the furan-2 treatment he started to pinecone, got real pale, lethargic, clamped fins, then the bloating caused his side to burst and white stuff started coming out the hole. I figured he was a goner, and debated breaking out the clove oil. The last time I used clove oil to put down a fish he totally freaked, so I was a bit weary and decided to let nature run its course.

Fast forward to today. The bloating is gone, but there is a hole in his side. There is no more white stuff coming out of the hole, he's got his color back, he's very active, displaying his fins, and will eat. The problem is, when he eats, it just comes out of the hole in his side awhile later. His stomach is clearly ripped by the infection that caused the bloating. It's kinda of disturbing, food will come out his side, then he'll turn around and eat what just came out. I ended up vacuuming up everything so he would stop eating the same food over and over.

Temp is 80f, Azoo Palm HOB, tank is cycled using media from my main tank. I change about 50% of the water every other day. I did put 2tsp of aquarium salt in his 3 gal tank a couple days ago when he started doing better.

Is there any chance this will heal?

 

[jwh0818]

Wow that's just horrible. I would say put him down because I don't think a hole like that is gonna heal. I know its a bit gruesome but is there a pic?

 

[anibis]

It was pretty gross, but since the bloating has gone down it's not that bad.

Can you see the attachments? I can't.

 

[jwh0818]

It was pretty gross, but since the bloating has gone down it's not that bad.

Can you see the attachments? I can't.

Does it appear to be retracting back inside him? Yes I see the pics

 

[anibis]

It just looks like a wound. Where the scales stop, it goes in, nothing inside the wound is raised up. Not sure if that answers your question?

 

[jwh0818]

It just looks like a wound. Where the scales stop, it goes in, nothing inside the wound is raised up. Not sure if that answers your question?

If you don't wanna put him down and think he can heal then I would attempt a salt treatment. I would start with half a tbsp per 5 gallons of water

Edit. It must be aquarium salt. Don't use iodized salt

 

[anibis]

I added aquarium salt a few days ago when he seemed to be doing better, and have kept it at 2 flat teaspoons in his 3 gallon tank. So I have about twice the amount you recommend, should I take some of it out?

Honestly I kinda doubt he'll heal. However, if you would've asked me that question a week ago I would've said no way. So he's made progress. I figure I'll give him more time to see if the wound improves. If he starts to go downhill I'll probably put him down.

He's been out swimming around all day today. If he didn't have a gaping wound in his side you wouldn't think anything was wrong with him.

 

[jwh0818]

I added salt a few days ago and have kept it at 2 flat teaspoons in his 3 gallon tank. So I have about twice the amount you recommend, should I take some of it out?

Honestly I kinda doubt he'll heal. However, if you would've asked me that question a week ago I would've said no way. So he's made progress. I figure I'll give him more time to see if the wound improves. If he starts to go downhill I'll probably put him down.

He's been out swimming around all day today. If he didn't have a gaping wound in his side you wouldn't think anything was wrong with him.

No your dose is good. Keep it at that if he is tolerating it. I would give him 2 weeks. The hole just throws me off. How much do you feed? Please change 50% of the water every day or other day so he has pristine conditions and re add what salt you take out.

 

[anibis]

I tried to feed him once a day for the first few days I had him, but he wouldn't eat. At first I thought he was just getting used to his new home. Then he started to bloat, and I stopped feeding all together.

The past couple days I've seen him hunting the bottom for food. I tried to give him a pellet of aqueon's betta food but he would just look at it. Then today he actually ate it (1 pellet), then it proceeded to come out his side 30 min later.

He's been searching the bottom for food most of the day, that's why he's been so active.

He was sick when I got him, just not showing any physical signs yet.

 

[jwh0818]

I tried to feed him once a day for the first few days I had him, but he wouldn't eat. At first I thought he was just getting used to his new home. Then he started to bloat, and I stopped feeding all together.

The past couple days I've seen him hunting the bottom for food. I tried to give him a pellet of aqueon's betta food but he would just look at it. Then today he actually ate it (1 pellet), then it proceeded to come out his side 30 min later.

He was sick when I got him, just not showing any physical signs yet.

Honestly it may be too late to save him. Food coming out his side isn't too great. I don't know it that will even heal. I mean you can give it time and see what happens but odds seem to be against it. The salt does work wonders though and you have it a bit higher than normal so that may help more.

 

[anibis]

Yeah I'm more concerned about his internals than anything. I couldn't find any info on fish with a hole in their stomach, I figure most fish die before the infection gets bad enough to cause a rupture like he had.

I was just perplexed when he started acting better. He seems to be somewhat happy at the moment, so I'll see how it goes.

 

[jwh0818]

Yeah I'm more concerned about his internals than anything. I couldn't find any info on fish with a hole in their stomach, I figure most fish die before the infection gets bad enough to cause a rupture like he had.

I was just perplexed when he started acting better. He seems to be somewhat happy at the moment, so I'll see how it goes.

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