Saving a Friend's Betta

[Syriiven]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

Salt baths are good. When will the water level be raised?

I hope soon. When we got him here, he couldnt reach the surface in only 3 inches of water. And when you watch him swim, it's because of his fins. He'd have to take a try and he'd end up rolling or turning too soon, then he'd have to rest again. he's still having a little trouble swimming straight at all.

My plan is to keep a close eye on the ammonia level and do as many water changes as it takes to keep the water clean while he gains some strength.

[ChoclateBetta]

How big is that thing?

[Syriiven]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

How big is that thing?

The tank is 3 gallons. He has half a gallon of water for right now.

[ChoclateBetta]

Is it heated?

[Syriiven]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

Is it heated?

It will be. I bought a new heater just for it today too. new everything. But since the water's so low, I don't know if it's worth putting the heater in yet. Especially since my water changes are going to be, what? Several daily?

[DoctorWhoLuver]

He looks like a she to me, unless he's a king betta. How long is he?
Also, what exactly are his symptoms? From what I got, it was lethargy and trouble swimming? Did you check for velvet or the color of his poo yet? Is he flashing? You mentioned that he was " turning" when swimming, that sounds like SBD. It's hard to see his caudal fin, but from what I can see, there doesn't seem to be fin rot, only a slight clamping. Do you have anymore pictures of his caudal fin? His dorsal fin looks like it was bitten.
You will need a heater anyway, bettas are tropical fish. It will help reduce stress and SBD if he does have it.
Water changes are very stressful, no more than one a day.

[Laki]

Like someone mentioned, warm clean water. For now .5g is good until he begins swimming better, then you can gradually raise it and add a tonne of plants for resting.
He doesn't seem to have ick at all. So don't worry about that. Ick is a bacterial or fungal infection so it doesn't "appear" where scales are missing. It can affect perfectly healthy fish. He looks a bit chubby, fast him for a day- feed him for a day- fast again. Do this until he's swimming better.

I fear he might have a swim bladdar issue. Pre mix 2tsp epsom salts (the totally plain kind, 100% magnesium sulfate) to 1g of water (16 US cups). Mix it really well and put him in that. He can stay on epsom salts until he feels better and is swimming.
Most importantly, warm the water and measure it with a thermometer so it stays around 79-80F.

[Syriiven]

Wow, that's super helpful. I did notice he seemed bloated. She's been feeding him pinches of flakes (I told her not to >.<) So I had planned to fast him for a day. Right now he's in Aq Salt for his fins, I can get my boyfriend to grab Epsom salt at the store tomorrow. And his next water change will be warmer, didn't know he should be warmer while healing.

Unfortunately this means I have to do water changes every hour. After one hour the ammonia was at .5 But I expected this. One of my concernes is, what happens when I'm asleep? What if he's not able to have more water before I go back to work on monday?

Also, he's been like this for months. Will he stop resting on the bottom so much if he feels better? I don't want him to have learned behavior, thus I have the different levels of substrate in the tank right now.

And since he does wiggle along and drag himself across the gravel, maybe I should change that to the glass stones?

[Syriiven]

Originally Posted by DoctorWhoLuver

He looks like a she to me, unless he's a king betta. How long is he?
Also, what exactly are his symptoms? From what I got, it was lethargy and trouble swimming? Did you check for velvet or the color of his poo yet? Is he flashing? You mentioned that he was " turning" when swimming, that sounds like SBD. It's hard to see his caudal fin, but from what I can see, there doesn't seem to be fin rot, only a slight clamping. Do you have anymore pictures of his caudal fin? His dorsal fin looks like it was bitten.
You will need a heater anyway, bettas are tropical fish. It will help reduce stress and SBD if he does have it.
Water changes are very stressful, no more than one a day.

The ammonia will get too high too soon if he only has one a day, there's only .5g of water in there right now so he can reach the surface.

And he wouldn't stay still for the pictures, but what you see in the first photo, that's the whole fin. That's it. If he/she was in a tank with other fish before his cup, I don't know. But she got him in a cup at the pet store, and when I asked about his fin, she said it always looked like that.

He doesnt have velvet symptoms I don't think.... and his poo seems normal, the small bit that was in the bowl before I moved him to his new setup.

I know he's tropical, but he's within the range set for bettas.

Length, he's/she's...between 1.5-2 inches.

Exact symptoms were lethargy, but he has bursts of energy (not darting, but actual swimming around) between rests now that he's in clean water. At least I think that would be why. His fin looks damaged, and has black along the top edge.

As for flashing..not sure what you mean? As in colors or stripes? Cuz he's striped a bit still, but he did arrive dark, and now has more red in his fins.

[DoctorWhoLuver]

How long has he been on aquarium salt? It does not seem like he has fin rot except on his dorsal. Never mix aquarium salt and Epsom salt treatments. Hourly water changes will be very stressful for him and may worsen his condition. Just do one 50-100% water change a day.
Flashing is a sudden dart for no apparent reason.