Birthday Fish "Finnius" is sick--Heavy breathing

[Frodo Bagfins]

Finnius my birthday fish of 6 mo's ago is sick :( He is having trouble breathing so I turned on his UG filter 3 days ago and have been doing water changes every day the last couple days. See below. Is there anything I can do? I don't want to go to drastic (not a lot of funding here)--but I do love Finnius. See below for details.

Housing
What size is your tank? 1.5 gal
What temperature is your tank? 78-81 deg right now, but can dip to 74 at night (sml 1-3 gal heater)
Does your tank have a filter? Y--the under gravel aquarium kit one
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Y see above
Is your tank heated? Y see above

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Dried Blood-worms (not freeze dried) I didn't realize it was bad before but apparently he must have other things bc on the jar it said 1 or 2 x's a wk oops.
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2-3 sml segments 2x a day at 8am and at 5p I tried the canned pea and he wouldn't touch it--it fell way too fast to the bottom--If i were him i wouldn't try to go after it if i couldn't move too well.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? the past wk: every other to the last 3 days, every day.--and before that every 2-3 days.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? none

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: n/a
Nitrite: n/a
Nitrate: n/a
pH: ? have kit--last i tested it was normal range for my city's water
Hardness: n/a
Alkalinity: n/a

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He's had some slight little holes in his fins which went away w/ BettaFix day b4 yest. and came back 2day after i changed his water yest. His tummy area looks faded/weird. There's a nick on his head. NO fungus/patches or anything like that.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? heavy/labored breathing, for the past wk. no eating for the last 2+ wks. Tried peas also and pellets and blood worms (dried not fd) Seems to be harder to keep upright-body curls more, but he's not going sideways or having a huge amt of trouble swimming horizontally such as is seen in Swim blad--But his tail end seems to drag more than usual. B4 i put the epsom salts in yest. he was having a really hard time getting air and flailing wildly in a circle at the top to get a breath. Today it's easier for him to get it, but still heavy breathing.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 3 wks ago I also remember putting him in for 5 seconds before i realized i didn't put de-chlorine drops in so then i put them in. It also was colder temps at that time-I didn't realize it had to be so high--people said 74-81 is acceptable, but apparently 74 is too low? It was that some mornings or 73-72 even bc of the night coldness.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Y See above on water changes, Also yesterday put 1 tsp of Epsom salt in as suggested on a web site.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not that I know of, but his right lung always seemed to stick out more than the L.
How old is your fish (approximately)? got him 6 mo's ago.--Adult.

[Frodo Bagfins]

Oh and it's not velvet either. I couldn't see any.

He seems to want to live--he's not flailing at the top as much as yesterday whenever he needs a breath after the 1 tsp epsom salt. and 100% water change yesterday. Is 1 tsp per 1 gal a good amount? Some web page said that was good, and to do that for 2 days and then increase to 2 tsps. and that was also for a fish that wasn't eating.

Oh and I forgot--one of his front chest fins has the end point bent upwards, like folding the corner of a paper Usually they're both straight.

[Arashi Takamine]

Damn this is a tough one...You need to bump his temp up. Pics would help a lot. Does it look like there's grayish/blackish almost decay in the holes?

[Frodo Bagfins]

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=71552

I think Old Fish Lady's advice on this thread for another person might help since the Epsom salt seemed to help from yesterday to 2day. I wonder if he would be mad at me if I put him in a little QT cup as she suggested- but it sure would help me out as I don't have enough decholorinater left to keep doing 1 gal 100% changes like I have been. If I bought more i could keep doing them i guess bc the water temp has been staying steady at 76-78+ when i leave his light on as well as the heater. It may drop a bit at nigh
t.

[Arashi Takamine]

Don't worry about his anger he'll be mad either way. Also don't just feed him bloodworms. Give him pellets too. He might be just too full or stressed out. You could also float his cup in his tank so the temp stays the same.

[Frodo Bagfins]

Originally Posted by Arashi Takamine

Don't worry about his anger he'll be mad either way. Also don't just feed him bloodworms. Give him pellets too. He might be just too full or stressed out. You could also float his cup in his tank so the temp stays the same.

He's not full--He hasn't eaten in two weeks. I
said that above.

[Sakura8]

Fun question time:
* Has he pooped? Can you see any poos?
* Have you seen any white things dangling from his stomach?
* Does he look bloated or larger than usual?
* Has he recently struck something? Like another fish ramming him or swimming into a decoration?

You say heavy breathing, do you mean his gills are moving rapidly or his mouth is opening?

Put him in a QT container. He might be mad but more likely, he'll be a little relieved because a smaller, shallower space means it's easier to get to the surface to breath.

[Frodo Bagfins]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

Fun question time:
* Has he pooped? Can you see any poos? No
* Have you seen any white things dangling from his stomach? No
* Does he look bloated or larger than usual? No
* Has he recently struck something? Like another fish ramming him or swimming into a decoration? No

You say heavy breathing, do you mean his gills are moving rapidly or his mouth is opening? Yes his gills have been moving rapidly and sticking out. And yesterday he had his mouth open too. This morning in the QT cup his mouth is closed, and he's not breathing as rapidly, but it's still more than normal.

Put him in a QT container. He might be mad but more likely, he'll be a little relieved because a smaller, shallower space means it's easier to get to the surface to breath.

Yes I was glad i put him in it--His tank read 72 this morning even w/ the heater on so it was cold here last night.

[Sakura8]

Okay, just because you didn't see any poos doesn't necessarily mean he hasn't gone. It's hard to see betta poo unless it's a barebottom tank and you've got a flashlight. Since he's not bloated, it doesn't sound like constipation or an internal parasite. And it doesn't seem like he received any internal injuries from a fish fight etc. It's possible he's having a reaction to the Bettafix. Keep him in the QT container and change the water as often as you can.

What kind of dechlorinator are you using? I would suggest using API Stress Coat or Seachem Prime because both detoxify chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals. If your dechlorinator doesn't detoxify heavy metals then there is a possibility he has heavy metal poisoning. Also, both Stress Coat and Prime will aid in restoring his slime coat which will keep him healthy. If money is a concern, Prime is probably a better way to go because it is more concentrated. That means a little goes a long way so it will last longer.

Petco has Stress Coat for $5.49 for 4 oz/$8.49 for 8 oz/$10.99 for 16 oz. Prime goes for $6.99 for 3.4 oz/$8.99 for 8.45 oz. At least, those are the nonsale prices on their website.

[Oldfishlady]

I would find a really small container that is clear and barebottom that can be floated in your heated tank to maintain water temp in the 76F range and continue the Epsom salt treatment.....

Get a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water add Epsom salt 2tsp/gal and tannins if you have any-IAL or dried oak leaf work well....use this pre-mixed treatment water for the daily water changes....100% daily is best-but if you are running low on dechlorinater and don't have the money to get more yet....make 50% daily...the small containers that some Bettas are sold in work great for a QT and a gallon of water will usually last for the 10 days needed for treatment....