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Lost scales, can see skin, sore patches

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  hepcatkitten 
#1 ·
Hello all, I've come to seek the help of owners who I know are more knowledgeable more than me concerning my sweet Blue Suede. I am filling out the recommended Q/A in hopes it will help.

Some background:

First off, I will be honest, I likely haven't taken the best care of him in hindsight. I know this now, especially after reading on so many sites with owners who seemed to know so much about caring for the sweet little creatures, and I am prepared for the comments to come in response to the answers I give. I really just want an opinion(s) about what might be wrong with my guy as I've read so much to the point I don't know what may be wrong (internal, external disease, fin rot, dropsy, all of the above).

With that, about four days ago I noticed Suede acting odd, thrashing himself against his rock. We immediately moved him into a 1G tank from his 2G tank and in the process of moving dropped him between the two on the table. (EEK) We got him back in the new, fresh water within seconds and it only took a minute or two to continue to thrash and swim erratically.

The next day we noticed a big chunk of scales gone, like an open sore near and along his back, or dorsal fin I believe. He does have a brownish/reddish tint to him and one eye seemed a little red.

He has stayed at the bottom of the bowl, hardly coming up to the top for air and when he does it seems like it hurts for him. He seems to be using his fins a little more today compared to yesterday when he would float along the top and every few seconds use his fins to propel him.

Three days ago I purchased some Melafix, using very little since it's a 2G tank and a drop or two of stress coat and aquarium salt. He continued to remain at the bottom of the bowl 95% of the time today and hasn't eaten in a few days.

We changed his water again this evening (100%), reducing it to a gallon to make it easier on him to swim to get to the top for air and added a 1/4th of a tablet of the Jungle Fungus Clear, hoping this might help.

The chunk of skin still looks bad and there are parts that look like he's been filleted because you can see the white skin. His gills seem to really expand, making it seem like he's breathing heavy. Could he be past the point of saving? There are so many variables going on, I just don't know if I'm helping him or making things worse on the poor fella. I know clean water may be better than anything, but feel he may be at the point of needing strong meds.

What size is your tank? 2G normally, but within the last three hours have reduced it to 1G
What temperature is your tank? No heater, but it's not cold. Try to make it what are room temperature (late 60s low 70s) but probably not as warm as it should. (I know: a no, no. :/ )
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Air stone
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?
Alone

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
BettaMin flakes and sometimes pellets(probably should feed something better/varied)
How often do you feed your betta fish?
Once a dayevery week but used to fast him for 24 hours.

Maintenance

How often do you perform a water change?
(This is where I know I can be better) Over the last 9 months, it has varied from 3-7 days+ (Being honest. :-(
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?
Aquarium salt and most recently, stress coat. In the first several months he had ick and I was good about putting that in even when he got over it, for good measure.

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

Ammonia:
NA
Nitrite:
NA
Nitrate:
NA
pH:
NA
Hardness:
NA
Alkalinity:
NA

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
Lost scales, open wound, red lining around wound, a brownish tint, but can't tell if it's velvet.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Stays at the bottom, rarely comes up for air or hardly swims the last few days. Not eating. His swim pattern is also a little funny. He seems to want to lead with his head in a downward motion.
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Less than a week ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Yes. More aquarium salt, melafix (4 days), stress coat and this evening, Jungle Fungus Clear without melafix and all in very small amounts since his aquarium is smaller.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No. A few months after we got him April 2013, he developed what I believe was ick. The medicine drops cleared him right up.
How old is your fish (approximately)?
We have had him 9 months (since April 2013)

Thank you for your time.
 

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#2 ·
Hi hepcatkitten and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry Suede isn't doing so well. That's a pretty bad sore he's got. When you saw him thrashing on his rock, did it look like he was trying to scratch an itch or trying to free himself from being stuck?

In the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th pics, it looks like he may have some white specks on him, or are those bubbles? If he has white specks then it's very possible he had ich and was itchy and that's why he was thrashing on the rock. If not, I still have a feeling that perhaps external parasites such as costia or tetrahymena may have caused all this damage. Unlike ich, those parasites are invisible to the naked eye but they tend to attack the fins and gills first, eating away the fin tissue and causing the fish to breathe very heavily.

How was his behavior before you found him thrashing on the rock? Did he eat before this happened?

So for the wound . . . the edges around it do look a bit inflamed but the inside of the wound looks to be a healthy pink. The Fungus Clear is a good choice since it has nitrafurazone, a good antibiotic for topical infections like this. I would also double the dose of the Stress Coat to help him with his slime coat.

If you can get an adjustable heater to get him to at least 76, that would be good because it would help him fight off that infection. Otherwise, try wrapping a towel around the tank to hold in heat and insulate him.

Try to encourage him to eat but don't stress too much if he doesn't.

If, after a course of Fungus Clear, he has not improved or the wound looks worse, we may consider using API Furan-2 and API General Cure together.

The water changes . . . to be honest, I usually do 75% once a week in my tanks that are from 2.5-3gal so I think you're okay there. What's more important is probably to get a good adjustable heater that isn't Tetra brand.

Let me know if this helps and good luck with the little guy! Keep us updated.
 
#3 ·
Thank you Sakura!

I believe the spots being seen (especially above the water level) are bubbles and when he thrashed himself it seemed as though it was to scratch, up until then I just noticed him swimming oddly for a few minutes and thought "hmm, maybe it's time to switch him to the other bowl," but that behavior may have been due to thrashing and I didn't witness it then.

Hiss behavior seemed fine up until I saw the erratic swimming and he was eating. It seemed to just "come on" all of sudden.

Thank you for the advice. I will take heed and keep you updated.

Signed,
One concerned momma.
 
#5 ·
RIP Suede, April 2013-Jan.19, 2014




I do apologize for the late reply. A lot has happened since my post and I had forgotten my password to log in and couldn't get the "human" code generator to allow me to put in the key to show I wasn't a robot.

Nevertheless, poor Suede passed away the day after my post, but the fact that the heat in the house went out the same night as my post surely didn't help his situation. My fiance drove him to his parents house later that night in hopes the heat there would help. He was gone the next morning though.

I wish I knew what it was that happened, but there were so many variables working against him. He sure is missed though but I know he has to be doing better than he was here.

If we ever get another one, I will be getting a heater and anything else that I didn't for Suede.

Thank you for your concern and again, sorry this is so late in coming.
 
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