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He's sick, really sick

2K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  JKfish 
#1 ·
D: Puffy isn't being himself. He's lethargic, laying on his side, having trouble moving, laying on the bottom, rarely coming up for air, and not responsive.

He was in a hospital tank for finrot treatment. No additives, just lots of clean water. It was heated at 80 degrees, and he was fine the first two days. I just went to feed him today, and found him looking dead on the bottom of the tank. I've taken him out, and put him in clean water in a shallow tubberware. Right now, he's in three inches of water, but he still is having trouble coming up for air. Looking above him from above, sometimes his body will bend to the right, then straighten, the after a while bend back to the right. His fins are clamped. He hasn't taken any food. I don't have anything to treat him with, no aquarium salt, no stress coat, no nothing. Unless I can find something in my house, I won't be able to treat him, seeing as I doubt my parent's are going to drive me to the petstore.

What's wrong with him? Is there any way I can treat him?
 
#4 ·
That sounds a lot like Senor Fish. Is he pineconed at all? It's so hard when you can't 'see' any obvious illness. Just keep him comfortable and hope for the best. With what Senor and my guppies had, it was 48 hours between them showing symptoms and death. I swear there's something moving through our water systems. These waves of illness/death are eerie.
 
#6 ·
I've had him seven months, so he's probably somewhere between a year to almost two years.

No, he hasn't pineconed yet.

He's now breathing harder, and he's breaking my heart. He looks like he's trying really hard to swim. His tail is halfway moving, and he's trying to move his fins, but he can't. He was struggling just to move to get his head up for air. I had to lower his water even more, but I still can't help but wonder if it's still too deep for him to reach air.

The worst part is that he's technically not my fish. He's my little 5 year old brother's fish. I've already told my little bro that Puffy is sick, but my little brother jus says "You have to make him better. Think really really hard and fix him. You can do it!" :'( If Puffy dies, my little brother will be crushed.
 
#10 ·
If you're at your wit's end and don't know what else to do...

I've heard of a product called Betta Revive by Hikari that has excellent reviews... A lot of people use it when they really don't know what else to do. It looks like it might be the same thing as Methylene Blue but I'm uncertain. If you're out of options, maybe you could check it out. It's only like 2-3 bucks.

http://www.petco.com/product/102424/Hikari-Betta-Revive-Health-Aid.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch
 
#11 ·
:( I wish I could go get some, but the closest petco around my place is half an hour away, and I doubt petsmart has it. Even if it did, my mom wouldn't take me. In her eyes, while she's supporting my hobby, a fish is just a fish, and I've already spent enough money on them. Thank you though for posting that. If Puffy can hang in there for a few more days, I might be able to grab some.
 
#13 ·
How's he doing? Is his poo white and stringy at all? That would be a better indicator of parasites. Internal bacterial infections can cause bloat as well.

If you do think it's parasites the only thing I can think of that may be in your house is garlic. If your Mom has garlic bulbs you can ask her to crush them up for you to get juice out of them and then soak your pellets in the juice for a bit. This is more of a long term treatment but it's the only thing I can think of that you don't have to leave the house for. Of course, if won't eat it then that doesn't help much. :(
 
#14 ·
:D He's better!

He was looking horrible this morning when I went to school, and guess what I came back to? A normal Puffy and a teeny tiny little bubble nest! He's accepting food again. I'm going to keep him in the tubberware maybe one more day to keep an eye on him before he goes back into the main tank. I've added more water, and he seems to be doing fine.

When he was sick and not eating, he wasn't pooing at all. Before he was sick, his poo was perfectly normal, and now that he seems better and he's eaten, he is pooing again, and it's perfectly normal.

I think I'm going to start soaking his food in garlic juice, just to be on the safe side.
 
#17 ·
... that's really weird and sudden. :l

I'd keep an eye on him for a while. I guess he just... needed to poop something out? xD
 
#20 ·
That's so weird JK, I'm glad he's feeling better! Keep an eye on him. c:
 
#21 ·
Yeah. I'm wondering if he came down with a fishy version of a bad cold or flu. He seems completely better, so he's back in his portioned off section of the main tank.

Simba is now in the tubberware because he's been biting his tail and how has a bad case of finrot. I'll probably put him in the 2 gallon hospital tank once I've cleaned it completely.

Sigh, if it's not one boy, it's the other.
 
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