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New rescue needs serious love. Help?

1K views 22 replies 9 participants last post by  Sakura8 
#1 ·
I rescued a little guy from wal mart today and it just shatters my heart. His fins are falling apart. Like literally. Hanging on by a thread. He has ich. His water was so dirty I couldn't see him very well. I have him in a 1.5 gallon to qt. he is just kind of hanging out towards the top. Any advice will help. I want to help the little guy :'(
 
#5 ·
Until sakura8 gets back to you, I'd get him into some AQ salt. between 1-3tsp/gallon with daily water changes, and keep the water warm.

Also, because of the ich you want to keep the temp at atleast 84*
 
#6 ·
Has she responded yet hun? Do you have any stresscoat to add to his tank until she does?
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#8 ·
Well, fish have slime on their body. Adding some extra slime can help him heal his wounds. It wont help the ick, but it will help that tail of his.

How warm do you have his water?
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#9 ·
Not sure about the ick but he probably had an ammonia reading that was off the charts. His fins may be falling off due to rot or ammonia burns. Maybe both. Or he could of bitten them off himself but i'm gonna guess its eother ammonia burns or rot. The best thing for that is to keep the water clean and warm. Ditto to the stress coat. It has Aloe in it which helps with fin regrowth. You want to double the dosage to helps the fins regrow. However this "may" cause a film to cover the tank if you dont have water movement. I'm not positivewhat the cause is but whenever I use 2X the amount for fins, i get a weird film on the water surface.
swish the water around and it goes away.
How is his behavior? Does he seem pretty weak and is he swimming? Rapid gill movement? If he is having issues swimming or going to the surface for air, you may want to float him in his cup and use a syringe to take out waste/water. It will be less stressful for him.
 
#10 ·
The film is protein from what I've read. Hopefully, he will be feeling a bit better in the morning :)
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#11 ·
His gills are moving twice per second, he floats at the top, sinks to the bottom, then will come back to the top for air and start the process of sinking all over again. I have seen him swimming around a couple of times. I tried putting a pellet in there to see if he would try to eat and he had no interest what so ever. I don't see any brown or white at the tips of his fins, its not like they're disintegrateing, they are more like breaking off if that makes sense?
 
#12 ·
Yes. That's amonia burns hun. It's a sad sight, I know, but if he still has the root of his fins, they will grow back with time. Just like hair if you will ;-)

His gills are probably burned too. Are they dark/brown colored? That is probably why he is gulping air. It's to be expected. Again, he can heal.

He is stressed, sick, and most likely in pain. Don't be surprised if he doesn't eat for the first day or 2. This too will improve :)
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#13 ·
hes doing the same as he was last night, mostly floating at the top then he will occasionally swim around then go back to floating at the top. He is floating a little more sideways today than he was yesterday. I just noticed on my voicemail that a walmart assistant manager finally called me back after I wrote quite the nasty email complaining about the husbandry of their bettas. I wish this guy were healthy enough to travel I would show him his shredded fins.
 
#14 ·
Awww I hope he makes a speedy recovery :( I hate knowing that something is suffering and theres nothing you can do but wait and see if they recover :(

Just keep him comfortable in nice, warm water and try to feed him a frozen bloodworm or two to see if that will get him to eat. Treat with AQ salt for no more than 10 days and keep using the stress coat when doing water changes and hopefully he'll be swimming around in no time!
 
#18 · (Edited)
He might have been too far gone hun. That's why it's best to avoid the WalMart Bettas and try to get one at a good petshop or breeder. By putting money towards good businesses and taking it away from bad ones, you can help force a change in business practice. And it's always good to call corporate. Raise some hell. Make them give you a free fish AND a walmart card for your trouble, gas, and treatments.

I did the same thing with Gus. Ended up getting Gus for free (he survived the ordeal) and a $20 WalMart card. I raised a lot of cane that week and a lot of people got in trouble over it. I told one woman "I am disabled, so I don't work and I have unlimited minutes on my phone. Either yall fix this or I will bother yall every day until you die!" Did the trick :lol:
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#19 ·
Hi SpeakNow, I'm sorry I could not reply to your message sooner but from what I've read I would not have been able to help. :(

When a fish is still and then suddenly they have a strange burst of energy and die, it means their internal organs are in the process of shutting down. When that happens, nothing at all can be done. :(

But you did a good thing. You gave him warm and clean water to be in for the last hours of his life so he will die knowing what it is like to be loved. And he gets to die in dignity, not forgotten on some shelf at Walmart.

I'm so sorry that I couldn't be of any help to you.
 
#21 ·
I know I shouldn't get them but its so hard to see them so miserable and not do something. Thanks for your time anyway :)
What caused his fins to break apart like that?
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#20 · (Edited)
dont give up yet! I had a rescue who behaved just like that! Technically my mom got a betta and one of those .5 plastic containers...she went on vaca, never cleaned the water, prob since she had him! I was watching the house, walked by her dresser and saw him looking an awful like like urs does, he was so sadl! His tank water was a nasty green, poor thing. I changed his water right away then googled info on how to help him heal. It was a rough couple of months, swim bladder, itch (flashing), bloat, he was a mess...thought I was going to lose him when he behaved like ur describing...BUT with lots of TLC, daily water changes, AQ salt and stress coat...one day he was finally okay! He never looked as good as he did when she first got him but he did live another 4 months and seemed much happier. My old guy may have just gotten lucky and was one of the few who made it, but dont give up til he's actually passed on becuase you just never know. Good luck!
 
#22 ·
If his gills are moving he's not dead.. don't take him out of the water until he's passed.. You can have as little as one movement per several minutes.

I'm sorry I think he was just too far gone, but you did your best.

Ammonia poisoning or bacterial rot caused that.
 
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