Sick Baby Betta

[AyalaCookiejar]

The pics are kind of hard for me to see. If she's always had red on her she MIGHT just be coloring up more. Where are these grey "patches" located? Are you talking about the dots I see on her sides?

How did you raise her temp and acclimate her? How long did you take to raise the temp? Sometimes laying on the bottom is due to stress, shock, or the effects of being exposed to ammonia. Also, have you added a filter?

Those plants are plastic, right? Have you done the pantyhose test to see if they will snag her fins?

Grey patches sound a little concerning. Watch them and make sure they do not look fuzzy. Fuzzy grey patches can indicate culomnaris. Stress can also cause them to turn grey and lose color. I would imagine that a baby Betta would be more sensitive to changes than an adult. If its shock, the best thing for her would be to give her some time and space to warm up to her new surroundings and make sure she has enough cover and hiding places.

[Oopie]

The gray is all along the top of her head and down her top. I'm also noticing some gray elsewhere. It's hard to tell if the gray is on her underbelly. She is so small... The red in the fins didn't concern me, but now there is red near her eyes also, almost like someone with bloodshot eyes. Could this all be ammonia poisoning? Sepsis? Early Dropsy?
I raised the temp to 79-80 degrees VERY slowly, over the course of a day or more. Worried about ammonia levels, I did another water change yesterday and slowly acclimated her back to her water over about an hour or so, slowly adding new water to her floating bowl. She doesn't have a filter yet, so I have been doing frequent water changes. I am also adding Stress Coat.
Yes, I think that one plant is plastic. I will take it out. The other 2 plants are silk and 1 live. She has a turtle decoration that she likes to hide behind and also a cave she hides in.
Over the past few hours, she is mostly laying on the gravel except when I come to see her, then she darts up to the top for a breath and swims around for a few minutes. :(

[AyalaCookiejar]

As far as I know, early signs of dropsy is a grey belly and swollen eyes. Dropsy would be obvious and happen very quickly. One of my new girls passed away last night from Dropsy. It was caused by a power outage that made the temp in her tank drop and then rise again... She was gone three days after that which is why a stable temp is very important.

I don't know what red eyes mean. Septicemia would cause bloody red streaks. Ammonia poisoning can cause what you are describing - sitting on the bottom of the tank. This shouldn't be a big issue now as long as you are doing two weekly water changes, but it depends on how long you have had her and what your water change schedule was before you moved her...

If you have a test kit, I would test your tap water for ammonia. I use Seachem prime conditioner because my tap water contains ammonia...

Grey color is due to stress. Grey "patches" could be fungus or culomnaris, especially if they are fuzzy. I've seen some non-fuzzy gray patches turn into culomnaris, which is why you should watch them closely.

I don't think its dropsy, though, which is good. Culomnaris, depending on the type, needs to be treated quickly. Most fish would not survive either if you don't have the necessary meds on hand already...

[Oopie]

Thank you for your reply! I am so sorry about your fish that passed away from dropsy...
The gray areas do NOT look fuzzy to me, but I am watching them extremely closely. I am most worried about ammonia/nitrite at this point, although I have done 2 large water changes over the past 4 or so days. I'm worried maybe the damage was already done. We have had her for about 6 weeks, and she has done perfectly fine up until now. Of course, she is a Baby Betta, not even barely 1.5 inches from end to end, and I have been reading how fragile they are. Before she got sick, I was doing water changes once a week, sometimes twice.
I live half hour from the nearest Petco, and they will be closed before I can get there tonight. I will go tomorrow to get a water test kit. We have a Walmart here, but all they sell is a dip-stick test kit that tests for everything BUT ammonia and then another kit that is a test strip kit only for ammonia. Wasn't sure if I should bother, as I have read these are very inaccurate.
Hoping she gets better soon...

[AyalaCookiejar]

Yes, when you get to Petco, pick up an API master test kit. These are SO worth it. They include like 800 test as opposed to the like, 25 strips you get at Walmart. It will help you understand the tank parameters better and you will need it if you decide to cycle the filter.

You could also get Seachem Prime conditioner just in case your tap does have ammonia. I believe there are two different sizes... I have the big bottle that was like $8 but I had to get a small 1.5 mL syringe to dose it as it doesn't have a dropper. If there is ammonia in your tap, the only sure-fire way to fix the problem is to cycle the tank and use Seachem Prime.

Prime neutralizes ammonia for 24-48 hours only, but this is enough time for the filter to cycle it out.

If you do not have ammonia in your tap, I still think cycling is a good idea. It will it down on your water changes needed but more importantly, its safer for your fish.



Edit: also, my two other girls, Stella and Lotus, are very small as well, so I know what you mean by it being difficult to see them since they are so tiny.