Sick betta questions....

[new2betas]

I am going to post my original thread that I had started in the Getting Started forum, but it changed real quick and I was advised to post in the unhealthy fish forum. Hopefully, I will get some advice. Here is the original post from me:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/confused-with-cycling-in-5g-hex-105645.html
I have moved him over to the hospital tank with the bacterial/fungal medicine in it....he is still not looking good. I really am not sure he will pull through this time

Any ideas or suggestions are welcome......

 

[blazeyreef]

this lil guy looks terrible. The only thing I could come up with is that maybe while he had fin rot some internal parasites got hold of him, the would make sense to me

 

[new2betas]

this lil guy looks terrible. The only thing I could come up with is that maybe while he had fin rot some internal parasites got hold of him, the would make sense to me

He is and has been in a tank all by himself except for one ramshorn snail. I do not feed him live food...how could he have gotten internal parasites?

 

[Atl300zx]

i am not sure what to tell you. Part of me says treat me again, but the other part of me says leave him alone. Sometimes i feel like i overmedicate fish. Of course this is coming from the guy with an angel fish with 1 fin b/c he was afraid he was overmedicating some fin rot.

I would probably give him one mroe day in the normal tank and if he doestn turn around, QT and dose.

 

[new2betas]

Jimmy,
It is too late, I already moved him over to the hospital tank earlier this morning. Will keep post updated.

 

[new2betas]

Don't really see any improvement in the hospital tank. He seems to be "breathing heavier" if that makes any difference. He isn't eating at all. Any ideas or suggestions would be welcomed!

 

[Alaris]

So your betta is now in the QT, and not the 5 gal hex you were cycling, correct? Have you tested his water today? His symptoms really seem to say that his water quality is poor.

 

[new2betas]

He is already in the QT tank....I took him out of the 5g this morning.

 

[Zagz]

Do you have an airstone in the QT? Is the QT tank cycled? I would continue with water changes and treat. I am thinking it may be a bacterial infection but unfortunately can't be sure. Have you seen his poo lately? Is it white and stringy? Does his stomach seem to be getting thinner or bloated at all?

 

[new2betas]

I now have an air supply in the tank. It is not a stone as I didn't have an extra one on hand, but I did have a pump with a flow regulator attached to it in the water which is bubbling....I guess I should stop interchanging the words QT and hospital tank. This is just a hospital tank that I pull out when someone is not feeling well (the only fish so far that has been in there has been him)...it is a plastic 1.5g "critter keeper" type of cage that has a lid with holes and slats in it. So, it is a hospital tank and not a QT tank and has not been cycled.
What I don't quite understand is do I do daily water changes and if so, doesn't that take out the medicine when I do? It says on the box to retreat with the meds in four days and to do a 25% water change before adding new round of meds.....
His poo is not white and stringy and he didn't eat yesterday, so I am not sure if he will have pooped yet this morning. His stomach does not seem bloated at all or thinner, but as I said he didn't eat at all yesterday for the first time ever, so he might start getting thin.
He is still alive this morning in the hospital tank, which surprised me greatly. I just wish I knew what to do...this is so frustrating
I moved my two female bettas over to my 29g tank yesterday so one of their tanks is an option that I could move him to if I need to remove him from the hospital tank. It is 2.5g and nice and cycled with a sponge filter/plants/and hidey spot.
I just wish I had some of you more experienced aquarists here that could just look over my shoulder at him and tell me what you thought was wrong and what to do to help him.

 

[new2betas]

Well, just peachy....I just noticed this morning that he has some brown fuzzy type stuff on the very tips of his tail fins. It is very small, hard to see unless you really look hard, but it is there, nonetheless. So, I guess it is best that he is in the hospital tank with the antifungal/antibacterial meds, huh?

 

[CaptainAhab]

The PWC recommendation is based on the assumption you are using a cycled tank. Keeping this fish in a medicated non cycled small tank can add to the stress among other things.

 

[new2betas]

The PWC recommendation is based on the assumption you are using a cycled tank. Keeping this fish in a medicated non cycled small tank can add to the stress among other things.

So, should I put him in a cycled tank? I am so confused. I thought the medicine would just kill of beneficial bacteria anyway and that is why a hospital tank was best in these kinds of situations.
What should I do now? Leave him in the hospital tank or move him to a cycled empty tank and put medicine in there. Geez....I feel like this over this whole situation.

 

[Alaris]

Dottie, I would rely on your instincts. Since you are getting a mix of suggestions and no one really knows what's wrong with your betta, just do what you think is right.

I would think that your goal here is that he either heals, or he dies as happy as he can. Pick a place you want to help him at and keep him there. Decide if you want to run meds on him or just try to keep him in the best water conditions possible.

This is life after all and sometimes no matter what you do it is out of your control. Follow your instincts.

 

[new2betas]

Thanks Alaris. I followed some advice that was going with my instincts and moved him to the 2.5g cycled tank that my female betta was in yesterday (she is now in my 29g tank) so it is completely cycled. He has meds in there, but his tail is not looking good....I will say since I just put him in the 2.5g he is moving around more in there and actually checking things out in the tank...so maybe that is good. I would be happier if he would eat something.

 

[new2betas]

Well, currently, the "fungus" looking stuff on his fins has grown rapidly since this morning when I first saw it. It is now about 1/2 cm long. I will include pictures, but it is hard to see. He is still alive and I hope the medicine is helping, but I don't know how that stuff could be growing on him if the medicine was working

 

[Atl300zx]

any updates?

 

[Alaris]

How's the betta doing, Dottie?

 

[fishnutcheryl]

I just lost a Betta from the same thing. I went and talked to one of the experts here where I live. He tested my water and came up with the same results that I did. Everything was in balance where it belonged. He recommended that I put Chem-Pure in my filter; try that for a week and see what happens. He has had this problem before himself and discovered that the metal content in the water was causing the trouble.