Sick Betta (Slime Coat Problem?)

[RKehrer94]

My betta fish has been looking pretty unhealthy lately. She’s normally the dominant fish swimming around the front of the tank, but she had been hiding in the back lately. It started with her scales looking like she was almost shedding skin like a snake, which I assume was her shedding a slime coat. I gave her a couple salt baths and she seemed to be doing better, and hanging out at the front of the tank more. Now, her fins are looking really ragged, and just like a generally sick fish. It seems like she might be lying in ways that are bending her body strangely, but that could just be her hiding spot. My water is perfectly clean and all parameters are as they should be, and I’ve still been doing weekly water changes. Pictured is her in a salt bath- she had a proper tank!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Please take a read through the "unhealthy fish" sticky and give as full answers as you can. "Water parameters are all as they should be" isn't helpful as we have no idea what you might consider "should be".

Before posting about unhealthy fish, read this!

Answer these Qs to ensure we have as much information as possible about your ailing fish and its environment: 1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.). 2~What are your tank...

www.aquariumadvice.com

In addition how old is the betta?

 

[RKehrer94]

1~ I have had my betta fish for 7 months, and she was probably 1 or 2 months old when I got her. Concerns described above.
2~Water parameters are: Ammonia nitrogen-0, hardness-100, free chlorine-0, nitrate-0, nitrite-0, carbonate root-160, pH-7.8
3~ The tank is 35 L and has been set up for 7 months.
4~I use an Aquael ASAP filter (either 500 or 700).
5~She is one of 3 betta fish, all about 3cm long. One of the others is quite a bit wider, but I’m attributing this to (hopefully) eating more than my 3rd, who’s a bit skinner.
6~I do a water change every week (today most recently). I take off the very top of the gravel every time I do this. I try to do a 30% change each week.
7~I have had them for 7 months.
8~Not recently, meaning many months.
9~I’ve given them freeze dried bloodworms a couple times in the last month, but they don’t seem to be big fans.
10~ I’ll also mention their 4th tank mate (also a betta) died of a Tumor/dropsy a couple weeks ago. She had been doing poorly for about a month and was hiding in the same spot my currently unhealthy fish is hiding now.

 

[Andy Sager]

Because you have multiple Bettas in the tank, it's more possible that this started as attacks by one of the larger females and has developed a bacterial infection as a result of the wounds. That said, having a 4th Betta that recently died from Dropsy/Tumor, Tumors have become more common in Bettas due to all the breeding methods in creating " designer" fish and rarely do fish die from these tumors unless they inhibit the fish's eating abilities. That leaves Dropsy which in itself is not a disease as much as it's a sign of internal issues which caused organ failures and the fish can no longer regulate the amount of fluid in their bodies. Causes of Dropsy are but not limited to poor diet, poor water conditions, internal bacterial infections, internal parasites and constipation.
You mention feeding the freeze dried bloodworms a couple of times over a month's time but what else have you been feeding the fish? How often and how much have you been feeding them?
Lastly, waiting to treat the fish for close to month is going to make recovery very difficult or take a long time. Since I believe you do not have access to antibiotics in Scotland, the salt baths are the best you can do for now and you should keep this fish in a separate tank by herself to eliminate any stress from the other fish in the tank. If you have access to Indian Almond leaves or other botanicals for aquariums , the tannins in those can also help reduce bacterial infections.

Hope this helps

 

[RKehrer94]

I feed them about 5 pellets, twice a day.

Just to clarify, are you thinking my currently unhealthy, red fish might have a bacterial infection? I haven’t seen any cuts or anything, but she’s definitely not doing great.

I’ll keep giving her salt baths! She gets really stressed out and is really good at avoiding the net, and will also freak out a little in the bath. Is that still the right thing to be doing?

 

[Andy Sager]

I feed them about 5 pellets, twice a day.

Just to clarify, are you thinking my currently unhealthy, red fish might have a bacterial infection? I haven’t seen any cuts or anything, but she’s definitely not doing great.

I’ll keep giving her salt baths! She gets really stressed out and is really good at avoiding the net, and will also freak out a little in the bath. Is that still the right thing to be doing?

Depending on the size of the pellets, you may be overfeeding. A Betta's stomach is about the size of their eyeball ( for comparison) so if you are really filling it up, that can lead to constipation if there is not enough roughage in the diet as well to help with eliminations. This can be the initial cause of internal bacterial diseases. That may explain the other fish that died.

As for this current fish, unless you see the other fish attacking her, she most likely has a bacterial disease. That is what causes the fins to rot away. As for the fish not liking the salt baths, consider what happens when you pour an antiseptic on a cut on your finger. It stings a bit when it's first applied. The same is happening to the fish. Are you using the proper dose of salt per water volume?

 

[RKehrer94]

Thanks so much for your help! I’ve been using 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt in a 7 L container- only I’ve just realised I must have read the 7L wrong, because it looks like it can only be 4 cups max. Will be adjusting those ratios for the future!

One last question- is it possible that my tank is too clean? The water is always perfectly clear and the water parameters haven’t changed in about a month, but there was pretty severe algae 3 months ago that I bought an anti-algae formula for.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks so much for your help! I’ve been using 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt in a 7 L container- only I’ve just realised I must have read the 7L wrong, because it looks like it can only be 4 cups max. Will be adjusting those ratios for the future!

One last question- is it possible that my tank is too clean? The water is always perfectly clear and the water parameters haven’t changed in about a month, but there was pretty severe algae 3 months ago that I bought an anti-algae formula for.

There is a fine line between sterile and clean. Fish need clean water but if you've ever seen where these fish come from, you wouldn't call them " clean". There is always going to be bacteria and other pathogens in a tank so you don't want things to be sterile clean.

Yes, you are using almost 1/2 dosage of salt for dips. It should be 1 Tablespoon to approx 3.75 Liters for a dip.

Whenever possible, it's best not to use chemicals to control algae. Algae is actually a sign of excess nutrients and/ or light. So if you have algae, once you address the reason you have algae, it becomes very controllable naturally.