Betta struggling

[carri360]

hello everyone
I am new to this group. Hoping to get some new advice for my dear Phin. He is a male halfmoon betta that has been sick. Initially he had frayed fins that had also lost most of the black edge that he had when I first got him in Dec 2021. I used bettafix as directed at the beginning of March 2023 but no change. He was still happily swimming and eating until about March 21. then he began eating very little and looked a bit bloated. On 4/6 I began a 3 day fast. On 4/10 he still wouldn’t eat and I followed a youtube video and gave him a salt bath. At that point he was staying at the bottom of his 5 gallon tank. As of 4/23, he was staying in the back corner of the tank on his hammock or with his nose at the water level.

Recently I also noticed swelling in his lungs and seems to be gulping for air.

Since the bettafix treatment in March, I have done 2 partial water changes and removed the filter & added conditioner at the latest change.
During the whole time the water parameters have read as perfect except for an elevated hardness.

I’m desperate and started bettafix again with today being day 3.

I am concerned that he is suffering and likely dying. I don’t want him to suffer. hoping to get some good advice because I don’t want him to continue to suffer.

thank you!

 

[m.j.gomez]

hello everyone

I am new to this group. Hoping to get some new advice for my dear Phin. He is a male halfmoon betta that has been sick. Initially he had frayed fins that had also lost most of the black edge that he had when I first got him in Dec 2021. I used bettafix as directed at the beginning of March 2023 but no change. He was still happily swimming and eating until about March 21. then he began eating very little and looked a bit bloated. On 4/6 I began a 3 day fast. On 4/10 he still wouldn’t eat and I followed a youtube video and gave him a salt bath. At that point he was staying at the bottom of his 5 gallon tank. As of 4/23, he was staying in the back corner of the tank on his hammock or with his nose at the water level.



Recently I also noticed swelling in his lungs and seems to be gulping for air.



Since the bettafix treatment in March, I have done 2 partial water changes and removed the filter & added conditioner at the latest change.

During the whole time the water parameters have read as perfect except for an elevated hardness.



I’m desperate and started bettafix again with today being day 3.



I am concerned that he is suffering and likely dying. I don’t want him to suffer. hoping to get some good advice because I don’t want him to continue to suffer.



thank you!

Hello, just tossing this out there but he may be getting old. The average lifespan is 2-5yrs(reason I don't keep anymore).
You might want to stop using bettafix. Like melafix it has tea tree oil & this is bad for your Bettas labyrinth organ which allows your fish to breathe oxygen. There are people who say it's too miniscule to harm the fish but there are others that say a little does a lot of harm. Here's a link you decide. https://www.myaquariumclub.com/the-real-facts-behind-bettafix-and-melafix-11248.html
Hopefully this helps!!!!!

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Can you post pictures and a 1 minute video of the fish?
Upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally so the footage fills the entire screen.

Is the fish eating regularly?
What are you feeding the fish?
What does the fish's poop look like?

Is the fish still bloated?
Are his scales sticking out from the body?

What sort of salt did you use for the salt bath?
How long did you have him in the salt bath?

What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the aquarium water?
What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

-------------------

BASIC FIRST AID FOR FISH
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until the problem is identified. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water. However, don't have too much aeration so the fish gets blown around the tank.

Post clear pictures and video of the fish so we can check them for diseases.

 

[carri360]

Hello, just tossing this out there but he may be getting old. The average lifespan is 2-5yrs(reason I don't keep anymore).
You might want to stop using bettafix. Like melafix it has tea tree oil & this is bad for your Bettas labyrinth organ which allows your fish to breathe oxygen. There are people who say it's too miniscule to harm the fish but there are others that say a little does a lot of harm. Here's a link you decide. https://www.myaquariumclub.com/the-real-facts-behind-bettafix-and-melafix-11248.html
Hopefully this helps!!!!!

thank you for responding. Sounds like the Bettafix may be making him worse since the swelling appears to be in his lungs. Also considering not getting another Betta. I have had 2 other Bettas at different times many years ago and when they died it was not drawn out like this time. I’ve seen that you can use clove oil to help ease him into dying more quickly.

 

[carri360]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Can you post pictures and a 1 minute video of the fish?
Upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally so the footage fills the entire screen.

Is the fish eating regularly?
What are you feeding the fish?
What does the fish's poop look like?

Is the fish still bloated?
Are his scales sticking out from the body?

What sort of salt did you use for the salt bath?
How long did you have him in the salt bath?

What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the aquarium water?
What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

-------------------

BASIC FIRST AID FOR FISH
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until the problem is identified. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water. However, don't have too much aeration so the fish gets blown around the tank.

Post clear pictures and video of the fish so we can check them for diseases.

Thank you for all of this great info. There is no way to get a 1 minute video. He is not swimming around at all. he will swim if I poke his fin but only to the bottom and then stays there until he goes back to the top corner under the filter ledge. He has not been eating for awhile. I have never seen his poop. but since he was happy and healthy for over a year, he must have been popping. pretty sure and don’t even know what it looks like. I do clean the tank regularly and dechlorinate the water. water always tested 0 chlorine. my biggest worry now is that he seems to be suffering and not improving at all. I’ve seen that clove oil can help speed up the dying and I may do that. it’s likely that I won’t get another Betta.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I wouldnt recommend any fish other than a betta in a 5g tank. You could do shrimp or small snails in 5g. At a push you do 2 or 3 guppies but it would be survive rather than thrive. If you wanted to try fish other than a single betta i would get a bigger tank.

If you are considering euthanising the fish here is a thread covering a few options.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/an-overview-of-euthanasia-73775.html

 

[carri360]

good point

 

[carri360]

trying to upload 2 pictures. I have a video but so far unable to update to Youtube

 

[Colin_T]

If he has stopped eating then euthanise him.

 

[m.j.gomez]

trying to upload 2 pictures. I have a video but so far unable to update to Youtube

He looks like he has dropsy. His organs are saturated w/fluids. If caught early can be treated w/antibiotic(maracyn 2 mixed in food recommended). Viral or bacterial if prolonged is fatal. Sorry!!!!!