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Is Mr. Limpet Sick? Any ideas on diagnosis if so? Please Help.

2K views 26 replies 5 participants last post by  mrlimpet 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello everyone,

sorry my first post has to do with what I have so far perceived as a sick fish and not a post showing off our nee healthy betta.

Long story short, Mr Limpet was bought as a gift but was rejected and now he's in my hands. I've researched him enough to find out he might be sick so it's actually best he didn't become gifted and possibly ignored. Now i've grown a liking for the fella and can't just return him. Hopefully the cure to what I perceive as possible problems is just water conditioning and space but I'm so new to this I don't know what would be best. Allowing him time to adjust to the new water and setting or beginning treatment right away (if any is needed).

He has two pin sized holes on his anal fin.

His color isn't as vibrant ad it should be I think. His head is dark grey (could be natural, idk).

His body has a horizontal grey line (signs of stress)

For the most part, his fins are clenched.

He also has really small black/grey spots all over fins(possible bacteria?)

Any help or diagnosis is appreciated.
 

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#3 ·
I am sorry if I haven't followed forum rules, I'm making am emergency post and work a lot.

Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gal with 2.5 Gal of water
What temperature is your tank? Trying to stabilize at 78 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? "wardley betta food blue intensifier" Pellets, blood worm snacks
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Please recommend
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? please recommend
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? "Splendid Betta" (Petco)

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? Sorry, No

If so, what are the following parameters?

please recommend tester

Ammonia: na
Nitrite:na
Nitrate:na
pH:na
Hardness:na
Alkalinity: na

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Just got him
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Just got him
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Right away
Have you started treating your fish? No If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? Unknown
 
#7 · (Edited)
What size is your tank? 5 gal with 2.5 Gal of water
What temperature is your tank? Trying to stabilize at 78 degrees
All of this is fine. How did you acclimate (introduce) him to his new home? Did you float his cup, etc? Or just put him directly into the tank?

What type of food do you feed your betta fish? "wardley betta food blue intensifier" Pellets, blood worm snacks
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day
What are the first three ingredients of the Wardley food? They should be fish ingredients, not 'wheat' or 'meal.' On this site, the two most recommended brands of food are New Life Spectrum (NLS) and Omega One Betta Buffet.

Also, when you say you fee them twice a day, how many pellets do you give him each time?

How often do you perform a water change? Please recommend
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? please recommend
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? "Splendid Betta" (Petco)
Right now, you only have 2.5 gal of water, so you'll be doing more frequent water changes. Take a look at the first post in OFL's water change recommendations thread: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=115758

I'm not familiar with your water conditioner, but I looked it up, and it definitely met all the requirements. So that's fine. How much of it did you add to the 2.5 gal of water?

Have you tested your water? Sorry, No
please recommend tester
If you don't plan on using a filter, and just doing frequent water changes, you may not need to do much water testing. (Personally, I do not have a filter so I do frequent water changes, and don't do a lot of testing.)

That said, the API Master Freshwater kit is highly recommended by people here. It goes on sale at Amazon every now and then. Probably, the most important test you'll do will be for ammonia.
 
#4 · (Edited)
im new at this but i have A BOOK!! this one may be what your fish has: slime disease its symtoms are shaky swimming pattern and a gray coating on the body. the treatment is frequent water changes and malchite green (a product you can buy at your pet store). but since u did say that there are holes in the fin then maybe it may have some fin rot too and that is treated with gentian violet (it says to spot treat so assuming that means apply to damaged area...) add 1 tsp of salt for every 5 gallons so in your case 1/2 tsp. and change water frequently.

most would recommend water changes every 2 or 3 days for smaller tanks like yours, laziness would stretch it out to maybe every 5 to 7 days. the recommended percentage of water change is 20% of the water. honestly i think u should fill up the tank more. i have a 10g tank and its filled up the the black line of the plastic frame but i know these fish can be very particular so try it and see if your fish likes it

btw i love the movie the incredible mr. limpet, my little nephews just saw it recently and they didnt say the name of the movie but described it to me and i knew exactly what movie it was!! but good luck to mr. limpet
 
#10 · (Edited)
add 1 tsp of salt for every 5 gallons so in your case 1/2 tsp. and change water frequently.
Itsuki,

Is the salt good for the slime disease or only fish rot or both?

Will adding salt hurt if it isn't infact slime disease?

How soon should I see results?

The grey "slime disease" is very dark, almost black. I can only tell it's grey when I shine a flash light on him. Could it be a natural spotting?

I will try to get better pictures.

Thank you
 
#5 ·
Thank you for your recommendations. We are doing our best to help mrlimpet, I hope we can save him. He does not seem well today and the water is very murky only after one day. He does seem very stressed and wants to hide mostly.

I have a natural treatment that was started yesterday called BettaFix. I will be trying
 
#6 · (Edited)
No... No Bettafix. Avoid anything that ends with 'fix.' They usually contains oils, which can make it difficult for your Betta to breathe.

Personally, I'd do a 100% water change asap to get him out of the bettafix....

He has two pin sized holes on his anal fin.
His color isn't as vibrant ad it should be I think. His head is dark grey (could be natural, idk).
His body has a horizontal grey line (signs of stress)
For the most part, his fins are clenched.
He also has really small black/grey spots all over fins(possible bacteria?)
The pinholes could be the result of having high ammonia levels in his previous tank, or fin rot. Are they the same color as his body? Or are they outlined in black or red?

The best thing for healing small fin tears and holes is to keep him in warm, clean water.

The stress lines and clamped fins could be from lots of things. How long ago did you put him into his new home? How did you acclimate him to it?

The tiny dark spots all over his fins are probably just his fins. My guys have them too. :)

Will read your other posts, and comment on them in a second.... (Wanted to submit this one quickly, so you can get him out of the bettafix...)
 
#8 ·
Thank you for the help and thorough responses LittleBlueFishlets. I will answer all questions ASAP.

Personally, I'd do a 100% water change asap to get him out of the bettafix....

Will do asap

The pinholes could be the result of having high ammonia levels in his previous tank, or fin rot. Are they the same color as his body? Or are they outlined in black or red? Will look more closely and get back to you asap


The best thing for healing small fin tears and holes is to keep him in warm, clean water.

The stress lines and clamped fins could be from lots of things. How long ago did you put him into his new home? 2 days ago

How did you acclimate him to it? No special treatment except keeping some of the old water

The tiny dark spots all over his fins are probably just his fins. My guys have them too. :) A relief
 
#9 · (Edited)
The pinholes could be the result of having high ammonia levels in his previous tank, or fin rot. Are they the same color as his body? Or are they outlined in black or red?

I tried to take a closer look to find out how they are lined and could not find the same holes on his fin. It must have healed, if so I am relieved that we are in the right track. Either the water changes we've done so far and maybe even the additive or the combination, healed his fin. I will keep an eye on them and get back to you if I find them. Hopefully, they are gone. :)


All of this is fine. How did you acclimate (introduce) him to his new home? Did you float his cup, etc? Or just put him directly into the tank? Directly Into tank. He had one other (besides transport cup) since his venture into his 5 gallon tank. Before this tank he had a night in 1 liter tank.

What are the first three ingredients of the Wardley food? Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Dehulled Soy Bean Meal. :/ Not good.

Also, when you say you fee them twice a day, how many pellets do you give him each time?

A few pellets, 3-5. He doesn't eat them to be quite honest, actually eats maybe 1. Spits them back out. He ate a few of the crums tonight after I had crushed the pellets but either spit most of them out or let them fall to the ground. Thank you for the recommendations.

I'm not familiar with your water conditioner, but I looked it up, and it definitely met all the requirements. So that's fine. How much of it did you add to the 2.5 gal of water? Half a teaspoon per gallon.

Thanks for the info on the testers.
 
#12 ·
Selected quotes:
Acclimation process: Directly Into tank. He had one other (besides transport cup) since his venture into his 5 gallon tank. Before this tank he had a night in 1 liter tank.
This was probably the cause of his pale color and horizontal stress lines. Whenever you do a water change, or put him into new water, you need to introduce him to the new water slowly. To acclimate:

Take the temp of his current water. Then scoop him into a plastic cup with this same water in it.

Do your water change. Refill the tank with tap water that is the SAME temp as what's he is currently swimming in. Be sure to add the correct amount of the water conditioner!

Float his cup in the new water for about 15 minutes, so that you know the temp inside matches the temp in the bowl.

Add a SMALL amount of water from bowl into his cup. (Several tablespoons, or about an ounce.) Let him sit for 15 min.

Remove a small amount of water from his cup and discard it. Add another SMALL amount of water from the bowl. Let him sit for 15 min....

Repeat these steps for an hour or so.

Then gently release him into the new tank.

Do not rush this process!

What are the first three ingredients of the Wardley food? Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Dehulled Soy Bean Meal. :/ Not good.
Twice a day, he gets: A few pellets, 3-5. He doesn't eat them to be quite honest, actually eats maybe 1. Spits them back out. He ate a few of the crums tonight after I had crushed the pellets but either spit most of them out or let them fall to the ground.
The two most recommended brands of food on this forum are New Life Spectrum (NLS) and Omega One Betta Buffet.

Also, you're overfeeding him. A betta's stomach is about the size of its eye. I'd suggest giving him just 2-3 pellets each time, for a total of about 4-5 per day. (My smallest guy gets 4 per day. My largest gets 6.)

Is the salt good for the slime disease or only fish rot or both?
The grey "slime disease" is very dark, almost black. I can only tell it's grey when I shine a flash light on him. Could it be a natural spotting?
Slime disease? Why do you think he has this? I think he looks fine, except for the rip in his tail fin. And that will heal in his warm, clean water.
 
#14 ·
Follow this link:

http://www.bettafish.com/album.php?albumid=4944&pictureid=34232

So, I used another user's betta to show you. This is also a veilteil. See how the bottom of the tail is completely circled at the bottom? Not a perfect circle, but still connected.

He might be really really stuffed from eating so much food.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Ah yes, I do see that.

Last night I managed to do a complete water change. I noticed before I performed the water change what looked like "webbing" developing inside the tear if the rear fin. Looks like the clean water is working and he's starting to heal. :)

Any way to acclate him to his food? He's rejecting all of his omega pellets, he only eats them if I throw in a dried blood worm snack. I don't want him to think blood worms are his main meal but thats all he really gets excited about and goes for.
 
#16 ·
Yay!!! The healing process has begun! Here's an amazing explanation I saw on another thread, as far as food goes. Mine is a super picky eater as well. I'm working with him on this.

This may help give you an idea on how to make a divider for the tank.

New bettas can have bad eating habits (for lack of a better way to put it) the first few weeks after being purchased/brought home. They won't always eat regularly, or some won't eat at all for days/weeks.

Keep offering him the food, removing any uneaten after 10-15 minutes. He gets hungry enough, he will eat.

Keep an eye on him though, make sure he doesn't become clamped or lethargic - if you see him with his fins all pinched up, or isn't swimming around then you may have something to worry about. But for now, just give him time.. can change his food to New Life Spectrum or Omega One betta if he doesn't start eating in a week - see if maybe he changed his mind on whether or not he likes the food and is just being stubborn.. or you can be stubborn too and make him eat the food by offering only that. :)
 
#17 · (Edited)
Thank you!

When someone refers to his fins as clinched, does that mean they are standing up like a mohawk closed like a hand-held fan.

I have notice he has hung out at the bottom of the tank a couple times, not moving with his fins closed to the contours of his body. Do these fish "sleep" or rest?
 
#20 ·
Thank you!

When someone refers to his fins as clinched, does that mean they are standing up like a mohawk closed like a hand-held fan.

I have notice he has hung out at the bottom of the tank a couple times, not moving with his fins closed to the contours of his body. Do these fish "sleep" or rest?
sorry i wasnt paying attention to replying back to threads. hope mr limpet is feeling better.

yeah i think he's resting/sleeping. my new betta....i think i will call him Jiro, i caught him not moving on a leaf near the top of the tank but he was upright (regular swimming position) just not moving, he was so still i thought he was dead, i tapped the tank a few times and he moved and i let out a sigh of relief. i read other threads about bettas finding objects and positioning themself under them almost wedging themselves into place to sleep.
 
#19 ·
Fish do sleep. Mine like to try and sleep anywhere from 9:00-11:00, depending on when I turned his light on that morning. When people say "clenched", they're often referring to a fish having their fins very close to their bodies, and not opening them at all. Almost as if someone is closing them, or clenching them. It's very healthy for a betta to open their fins (or like a mohawk as you stated). This keeps them strong, seeing as there is extra weight with the length of their fins (in comparison with other fish species). If they open their fins like the following pictures, they are doing an act called flaring (particularly under the gills). This is a really cool trait in bettas, and you can see particular markings and colorations in some bettas that you otherwise wouldn't notice.



 
#21 · (Edited)
Thank you everyone,

Mr Limpet is doing great now. He is settling in and I am trying everything everyone suggested from links and your own advice. He's even built a nice sized bubble nest :).

I have been looking at live plant options for the tank and also would like to purchase a better water heater today. His temperatures have been a stable 76 so it's at the lower end of optimal I think. I imagine he will be happier once the water is a little warmer and more consistently so. All of the water changes have been "practice" for us so he might still be a little stressed but we are learning and he is more active. He loves his space and I am doing my best to provide more to make him most comfortable in our home.

I am acclimating him to his food currently, considering he will eat if he is hungry and giving him time. I'm stretching this mornings meal maybe for another hour or two.

He has had two water changes in two days since his move into the bigger tank.

The first time we changed the water in his 5g tank, it got every dirty quickly so I decided it was best to perform another change and did the best I could to measure precisely and increasing his water to 3 gallons. We do not have a top for the tank so I am being cautious but once I buy it I will increase the water amount by another gallon up to 4.

If you have read this far,

My only other question would be towards lighting, will he be okay with a black light? Or other kinds of "colored" lighting?

:)
 
#24 ·
Yes, but bettas don't really like direct light so I suggest not using one unless you need to. Make sure you only leave it on a few hours in the daytime if you do.
 
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