My poor Betta if very sick, please help me!

[Pawtrekker]

I'm new here and I really need some help. I have had my Betta for about two months now and he seemed to be doing great until a few days ago. I noticed that he wasn't being his normal cheery self and was just sitting at the top of the tank in the corner being very still. (Not like him at all) I managed to get him to start moving around and noticed that his movements were very twitchy. I knew there was something wrong at this point so I set up an isolation tank and have been treating him with epsom salt. At first I thought he may have pop-eye (which doesn't make a lot of sense because I always keep his tank clean.) but now I am unsure. One eye does seem to be a little bigger that the other but I thought he'd always looked like that. (Maybe he's just deformed) Yesterday was Friday and I fast all may fish on friday so I did not feed him. I did get him to eat a pellet the day before though. Today however, when I tried to coax him to eat something he perked up a little and swallowed a pellet but the he coughed it back up and his gill started bleeding!!! I am really worried about him now. I've done a lot of research and still can't figure out what to do. Please help me I do't know what to do!

All water parameters are normal and I have been cleaning out the isolation tank every day.

Right now he is floating at the top of the isolation tank and barely even reacting to my presence if I put my finger up to the glass. He's moving slowly from corner to corner but still very twitchy.

 

[Pawtrekker]

I have some amoxicillin capsules for humans. Should I try some of that? If so how much?

 

[shellieca]

So sorry about your Betta. I wish I could give you some cure but not sure myself what to do. Hopefully somebody else will respond. What were his tank mates? Could one of them have attacked him? What size tank? Does your main tank have real or plastic plants? could he have injured himself on a decoration? What do you use test your water, strips or liquid? I'm just throwing things out there to see if it triggers anything & to cover all bases.

 

[Pawtrekker]

So sorry about your Betta. I wish I could give you some cure but not sure myself what to do. Hopefully somebody else will respond. What were his tank mates? Could one of them have attacked him? What size tank? Does your main tank have real or plastic plants? could he have injured himself on a decoration? What do you use test your water, strips or liquid? I'm just throwing things out there to see if it triggers anything & to cover all bases.

Thank you for replying. He lives alone in a 2.5 or 3 gallon tank with a small trumpet snail. I don't have any plastic decorations in the tank, only a few live plants. I use both drops and strips to test the tank. His Nitrate was a little on the high side before I took him out of his tank (I quickly took care of that) but I don't think it was high enough to where it could have caused this. But he's in clean water now that is being changed out regularly and he doesn't seem to be getting better. I just wish I knew what to do for him.

NOTE: His gill stopped bleeding a minute after I tried to feed him. I'm afraid to try to feed him again.

 

[shellieca]

Thank you for replying. He lives alone in a 2.5 or 3 gallon tank with a small trumpet snail. I don't have any plastic decorations in the tank, only a few live plants. I use both drops and strips to test the tank. His Nitrate was a little on the high side before I took him out of his tank (I quickly took care of that) but I don't think it was high enough to where it could have caused this. But he's in clean water now that is being changed out regularly and he doesn't seem to be getting better. I just wish I knew what to do for him.

NOTE: His gill stopped bleeding a minute after I tried to feed him. I'm afraid to try to feed him again.

Hmmm, don't know what to say unfortunately. Are you sure your ammonia was .25 or less? Sorry I'm kind of grasping. My thinking is because it's the gills it could be ammonia burns. High nitrates aren't good either they need to stay below 40, so you're doing the right thing with clean water. I have 6 Bettas myself so I hate that I can't help you better. :-(

 

[Pawtrekker]

I checked the ammonia levels right after I realized he was sick and they were at 0 as were the Nitrites. The Nitrates were the only thing on the high side. It seemed really weird to me because I have a good filter in the tank and I do a 30-50% water change every week.

Update: I still have my poor little guy in the isolation tank and he still isn't looking any better. I am also now noticing what looks like a small growth appearing on his side. I;m not sure if it's a few scales that have pricked up in a small spot or if he has fungus growing on him now! I'm still doing epsom salt treatments in his water and trying to keep the water aerated for him but the isolation tank is pretty small and he keeps swimming over to the filter I have running in there (it's just an older filter that I don't have cartridges for anymore) and gets stuck in the current. I am going to try to feed him part of a freeze-dried bloodworm tomorrow (since they are softer than the pellets) and see if he can eat one. I really hope he pulls through this. I just hate seeing the little guy so sick and not knowing how else to help him.

 

[Autumnsky]

Do you have an extra air pump? Not a really big one but enough to add oxygen? Do you use tap water to clean all of the decorations and or gravel?

What are the other fish he was in with? how are they? How has his poop been, are there any little worms coming out of his vent? Any worm in the growth, maybe you can use a magnifying glass to look. Maybe do some research on adding plain aquarium salt instead of Epsom salt.

Any other observations?

 

[shellieca]

I checked the ammonia levels right after I realized he was sick and they were at 0 as were the Nitrites. The Nitrates were the only thing on the high side. It seemed really weird to me because I have a good filter in the tank and I do a 30-50% water change every week.

Update: I still have my poor little guy in the isolation tank and he still isn't looking any better. I am also now noticing what looks like a small growth appearing on his side. I;m not sure if it's a few scales that have pricked up in a small spot or if he has fungus growing on him now! I'm still doing epsom salt treatments in his water and trying to keep the water aerated for him but the isolation tank is pretty small and he keeps swimming over to the filter I have running in there (it's just an older filter that I don't have cartridges for anymore) and gets stuck in the current. I am going to try to feed him part of a freeze-dried bloodworm tomorrow (since they are softer than the pellets) and see if he can eat one. I really hope he pulls through this. I just hate seeing the little guy so sick and not knowing how else to help him.

When my Violet seemed to have a flesh eating disease she was in a 1g tank, I was advised to get her into a bigger tank which I was able to do. I got her into a 10g & she improved almost instantly. It's been 5 weeks & she's completely healed, you can see an indentation on her back from where the wound was but I thought for sure I was going to lose her. She's now in a 46g community tank. The incident made me a firm believer in bigger is better. I know this doesn't help your immediate situation,sorry, I'm just saying he could get better, might get worse 1st, don't give up until he takes his last breath. As far as the current goes, can you staunch the flow somehow so there's less stress on him.

 

[Pawtrekker]

Do you have an extra air pump? Not a really big one but enough to add oxygen? Do you use tap water to clean all of the decorations and or gravel?

What are the other fish he was in with? how are they? How has his poop been, are there any little worms coming out of his vent? Any worm in the growth, maybe you can use a magnifying glass to look. Maybe do some research on adding plain aquarium salt instead of Epsom salt.

Any other observations?

I was using aquarium salt but then read about using epsom salt to cure betta illnesses so I thought I'd give it a try. As for worms I'm not sure. I'll try looking at it with a magnifying glass. If he does have worms do I just keep using aquarium salt?

He was not in with any other fish and after he got sick I vacuumed out his aquarium and did a 100% water change. I did not take out the rocks and rince then though since I have live plants. His only tank mate was a small trumpet snail. I also usually keep a little salt in his aquarium anyway.

 

[Pawtrekker]

Also, in reply to shellieca, I do have a 20g community tank but I highly doubt my betta and my dwarf gourami would get along and I currently don't have room for a larger tank. I'm working on making more room in my bedroom to fit another tank.

 

[Autumnsky]

You don't want to put him in the big tank sick. Check yard sales or Craigslist for a bigger aquarium for him. The 2.5 gal Aqueon bowfront tank or bigger 5 is on sale at Petco. Take up very little room, and comes with filter. Maybe an option. FW Snails don't do well with salt, or very much salt, many people have different experiences with this.

Yes it can be very hard to find out the problems, but a 1 gal gets dirty fast, should be almost 50% every other day. Can depend on feeding amounts too. What kind of water conditioner are you using? Prime and a couple of others can mask readings on ammonia so you could have had higher readings than you thought.

Have you had any plants dying or decaying plant matter? I have had very bad experience with that!?

Wish I could help more. I am wondering if a new or only used for fish water 5 gal bucket wouldn't help for a little bit - just to get more clean fresh water around him.

 

[maestromad]

Not sure of your location but you could try some maracyn? I know it's difficult to get hold of in the uk but it may be an option, good luck

 

[Pawtrekker]

UPDATE: Just checked on my Beta this morning and he seems to be breathing heavily. He is now sitting at the bottom of the tank almost all the time (except when coming up for air) I still don't know what that strange growth is on his side. I looked for worms but could not see any. Also I don't see any poop in the tank (either because it got sucked up by the filer or because he didn't eat anything yesterday) so I can't check that for worm either. Should I try to feed him again? If so, do you think a freeze-dried bloodworm would be easer for him to swallow? (Last time I tried to feed him a pellet he coughed up blood) Please, someone tell me what I should do?????

 

[Pawtrekker]

You don't want to put him in the big tank sick. Check yard sales or Craigslist for a bigger aquarium for him. The 2.5 gal Aqueon bowfront tank or bigger 5 is on sale at Petco. Take up very little room, and comes with filter. Maybe an option. FW Snails don't do well with salt, or very much salt, many people have different experiences with this.

Yes it can be very hard to find out the problems, but a 1 gal gets dirty fast, should be almost 50% every other day. Can depend on feeding amounts too. What kind of water conditioner are you using? Prime and a couple of others can mask readings on ammonia so you could have had higher readings than you thought.

Have you had any plants dying or decaying plant matter? I have had very bad experience with that!?

Wish I could help more. I am wondering if a new or only used for fish water 5 gal bucket wouldn't help for a little bit - just to get more clean fresh water around him.

He lives in a 2.5 gal bowfront right now (or he would be if he wasn't in isolation) he seems to have quite a bit of room in there. I didn't realize that the plants could be causing problems. I probably haven't been keeping them as trimmed up as I should be. This is why I joined this forum, so I could learn more about fish keeping from people who know more than me

Also, I'm not sure the walmart nearby has as far as fish remedies. (not a whole lot) The nearest fish store is about 40 min from here. I was there a few days ago and I should have bought something there but I didn't know what to get.
I hope my little betta can pull through this. I feel so horrible.

 

[Pawtrekker]

I must inform everyone that my poor little Betta past away today. I was told by a friend who had kept and bred Betta's for for a while that he looked like an older fish so it may have been that he was just an old betta and he picked up some sort of internal parasite which just kinda made him go downhill from there. He was such a good betta. So friendly and interactive. Thank you to all who tried to help. I really appreciate it.

 

[shellieca]

I must inform everyone that my poor little Betta past away today. I was told by a friend who had kept and bred Betta's for for a while that he looked like an older fish so it may have been that he was just an old betta and he picked up some sort of internal parasite which just kinda made him go downhill from there. He was such a good betta. So friendly and interactive. Thank you to all who tried to help. I really appreciate it.

Sorry to hear your Betta didn't make it. I know you tried your best & that's all you can do.