Help! I think I burned (?) my wife's fish

[Bunnies Revenge]

Originally Posted by Alcemistnv

oh! It could be ammonia burns. Have you tested your ammonia levels?

I'm trying to figure out all the things that this could be. If anything, contacting Sakura or OFL could also be beneficial.

I also sent a message to Sakura8, so I am waiting on her reply as well.

[Laki]

Wow, I thought he was a cool marble pattern.. But he was all blue up until Tuesday? .... 0-0

I would remove the tea bag (I don't think green tea should be used at all).. YOu can get blackwater tannin in the fish section of pet stores or you can use oak leaves or indian almond leaves (cattapapa [available off ebay])

I hope the best for you and the fish, I never seen anything like this before. (you can PM members by going to the search tab above and typing in OldFishLady or Sakura8.. You can click on their username and it will give you the option of "Private Messaging" them.. Good luck!)

[Oldfishlady]

Usually with short term chemical burns from chlorine, chloramines, undissolved salt crystals and other toxic substance you will see gill damage. Since the fish has great natural protection from their slime coat-usually you will not see damage to the body itself when exposed short term, however, you might see some damage to the fin tips along with gill damage. With long term contact you can see damage to the body and gill damage-once it has eroded the slime coat.
IMO-the discoloration on his body is most likely genetic related and/or stress and even age related.

[Bunnies Revenge]

Originally Posted by Oldfishlady

Usually with short term chemical burns from chlorine, chloramines, undissolved salt crystals and other toxic substance you will see gill damage. Since the fish has great natural protection from their slime coat-usually you will not see damage to the body itself when exposed short term, however, you might see some damage to the fin tips along with gill damage. With long term contact you can see damage to the body and gill damage-once it has eroded the slime coat.
IMO-the discoloration on his body is most likely genetic related and/or stress and even age related.

He didn't have strong fins due to fin rot, his tail fin has onoy started to look better these last two days, his dorsal fin is still almost non existent.

If its just a genetic and/or stress thing, should we continue with 100 percent water changes until the fin rot goes away? If its just stress/genetic is it anything to be concerned about?

[Oldfishlady]

His fin issues might be due to the filter/water movement and using them to swim-then along with some aging.

Since you have a filter and live active growing plants-I wouldn't make any 100% water changes-even if you removed the filter-The active plant growth should take care of the water-key being healthy active plant growth.

What I would recommend at this point-remove the filter and start fresh/dechlorinated water treatment and good nutrition. Provided that he is overall acting okay and eating. His only problem at this point is the fins issue and color changes...correct.....

Fresh/dechlorinated water treatment....50% water change for 2 days-then 50% every other day for 4 days-Then 50% weekly thereafter-provided that he hasn't had any change in symptoms or behavior.

Nutrition-good quality varied diet fed in small frequent meals and if you have access to live mosquito larva-offer several rinsed a couple of times a day to boost protein intake to support healing and immune response.

Adding a tannin source won't hurt either if you have one. Either IAL or if you have any Oak trees near by-Collect some naturally dried and fallen from the tree Oak leaves-add a couple crushed or whole to the 5gal unfiltered tank and replace with your water changes. Since they are a natural product you can't overdose them-Tan the water a dark or as light as you like.
The longer they steep-the more tannins released-the darker the water-the more the Betta likes it....

Keep us posted....

[Bunnies Revenge]

Originally Posted by Oldfishlady

His fin issues might be due to the filter/water movement and using them to swim-then along with some aging.

Since you have a filter and live active growing plants-I wouldn't make any 100% water changes-even if you removed the filter-The active plant growth should take care of the water-key being healthy active plant growth.

What I would recommend at this point-remove the filter and start fresh/dechlorinated water treatment and good nutrition. Provided that he is overall acting okay and eating. His only problem at this point is the fins issue and color changes...correct.....

Fresh/dechlorinated water treatment....50% water change for 2 days-then 50% every other day for 4 days-Then 50% weekly thereafter-provided that he hasn't had any change in symptoms or behavior.

Nutrition-good quality varied diet fed in small frequent meals and if you have access to live mosquito larva-offer several rinsed a couple of times a day to boost protein intake to support healing and immune response.

Adding a tannin source won't hurt either if you have one. Either IAL or if you have any Oak trees near by-Collect some naturally dried and fallen from the tree Oak leaves-add a couple crushed or whole to the 5gal unfiltered tank and replace with your water changes. Since they are a natural product you can't overdose them-Tan the water a dark or as light as you like.
The longer they steep-the more tannins released-the darker the water-the more the Betta likes it....

Keep us posted....

Where I live at the leaves are all yellow now. They're white oak trees, so could I still use their leaves? If not, a quick run to the store before class might be necessary.

He has no other symptoms other than the coloration and fins. Went ahead and took the filter out right before typing this. No access to mosquito larva, but I have been feeding him brine shrimp.

[Bunnies Revenge]

Got some tannis and just did a 50 percent water change, and added some.

This is a picture before the water change. Some of the red markings have turned to an ash gray color, most notable the face. I believe this is a sign of him healing