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

[mrlimpet]

Originally Posted by mrlimpet

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.

As an edit to my previous post on the "transport cup".

He was kept in a plastic container about the size of two cups in PetCo, I don't know how long he had been kept this way.

[LittleBlueFishlets]

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.

[mrlimpet]

Originally Posted by LittleBlueFishlets

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?

1/2 teaspoon per gallon.

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.

We certainly rushed this process :( I hope he's not too stressed about it. Thank you for the recommendations.

lime 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.

I thought he had a problem because of his dark black color on his head. I thought he had to be ALL blue but now I see other blue Veiltail's have this same two tone black / blue hue.

Can you point out the rip in his tail fin for me? I don't know what is normal and what is ripped to be honest, I only noticed the holes.

I also noticed that there is something protruding from inside his gills. I hope this is normal but it looks like fins protruding outward very slightly from both gills, just enough to notice it looks awkward.

[Hadoken Kitty]

Follow this link:

http://www.bettafish.com/album.php?a...ictureid=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.

[mrlimpet]

Originally Posted by Hadoken Kitty

Follow this link:

http://www.bettafish.com/album.php?a...ictureid=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.

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.

[Hadoken Kitty]

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.

Originally Posted by Myates

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. :)

[mrlimpet]

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?

[mrlimpet]

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

or*

[Hadoken Kitty]

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.

[itsuki]

Originally Posted by mrlimpet

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.