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Mr.fish

1K views 25 replies 8 participants last post by  Sakura8 
#1 ·
I have a beta fish, I have had him for about two months. He used to swim around and be happy. Now he sits at the bottom of the tank and doesn't swim or eat much He lives in a 1 gallon tank. It is filtered and heated to 79° I change his water once a week. I used tap water which is well water and I condition is water With splendid batta complete water conditioner. I feed him once to twice a day Two to four pellets in a day. He has one live plant. His gills look white, And his eyes look swollen, He also has puss or discharge or fuzzy icky stuff coming from his belly, Or Bum hole. He is very lethargic.
 

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#4 · (Edited)
I will move it for you so you can get faster help...I will send a pm with the link so you can find it. I am sorry Mr. Fish is sick


Welcome to the site, hang in there for some help from the members . In the mean time if you could fill out this form it would be most helpful so we can help Mr Fish better ...Thanks.


What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?
 
#5 ·
What size is your tank? 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 79 dagrees
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? I'm not sure
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1-2 daily 2-4 pr,lets total in a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50% and filter wash then 100% no filter wash.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Splendid beta complete water conditioner.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? I haven't no don't know how've

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Yes
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?yes
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 2 weeks ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I moved his tank into the sun and clean his water 1 ever 3 days
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? 3 months ish
 
#6 ·
I would do espom salt treatments as soon as possible. I can't tell from the picture, but from the symptoms you describe it sounds like you may have caught dropsy early. It also sounds like it could possibly be columanartis.
Is he bloated at all? Is he eating? Is he pooping?
 
#9 ·
White poo could be internal parasites too. Epsom salts can help with that, and there are meds most pet stores sell as well. The epsom salts can be bought from your local drugstore (CVS, Walgreen, RiteAid, etc). Buy the plain kind, no scents or additives! Predissolve (1 tsp/gallon iirc) in the water you use for your water changes.

Good luck, and I hope that Mr. Fish makes a full recovery!
 
#11 ·
With a sick fish? Maybe 50% every day? I take my salt and dissolve it in a small amount of boiling water, then add that into the rest of the water change water. Once the temperature is in the right range, I do the water change as normal. I think a salt treatment is generally 10 days and once it's done I phase it out through regular water changes.

I've only done AQ salts, which are for external issues, but I believe its mostly the same for an Epsom salt course.
 
#12 ·
As shadyr said it is likely parasites, it could also be could also be a bacterial infection.
The long stringy poo is a sign of internal parasites.

How large of water changes do you do on your tank?
What do you feed him?
Is your tank planted?
Do you have a QT tank?
Is there a local fish store or a petco/petsmart near you?

Keep in mind the epsom salts must have NO additives. You can normally find a big bag at a drug store (like riteaid) for cheap.

If you dont have a QT tank, I would pick up a 1-5g critter keeper to do the epsom salt baths in. If they dont help I would move on to an anti parasite. Most people here know alot of good ones.


http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=73333
Internal Parasites
•Symptoms: Betta is losing weight but eating normally and acting lethargic.
He/she might dart or rub against decor.
•Treatment: These can be hard to fight and can get confused with the fatal disease Tuberculosis. Perform daily 100% water changes (if possible, for larger aquariums change 3/4). Make sure you carefully clean the gravel to remove eggs/larva. Aq.Salt does not seem to be affective against internal parasites. I find combining ES with an anti-parasite med is best. Treat with 1-2tsp/gal Epsom Salt combined with either Jungle’s Anti-Parasite Pellets, Jungle’s Parasite Clear Fizz tabs or API General Cure. PP is also effective against internal parasites.
 
#13 ·
Hi Friskies and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry Mr. Fish is sick. From the symptoms you're describing, he may have internal parasites with a possible secondary bacterial infection. To start treatment, I recommend 1 tsp of epsom salts per gallon; this can be increased later if need be.

Disgusting question I know but have you noticed what his poo looks like or if he's pooing at all?
 
#14 ·
@ Naladari How large of water changes do you do on your tank? 50 percent when I change the filter and 100 when I keep the filter
What do you feed him? Pellets 1-2 times a day no more then 4 pellets
Is your tank planted? I have a live plant in my tank yes.
Do you have a QT tank? What is QT TANK
Is there a local fish store or a petco/petsmart near you? yes

@sakura8 I think his poop has been yellows white puss looking and I don't see it often I have a filter so most gets sucked up.

Thanks for all the help so far everyone
 
#15 ·
Friskies, that sounds like the poo of a fish with internal parasites.

We can try the epsom salt treatment for a few days or we can go straight to an antiparasite med. If you want to medicate, the medication you want is API General Cure, available at Petsmart.

Because you have live plants, you will want to medicate in a QT tank. A QT tank is a quarantine tank, or a small tank that you use only for sick fish use. It doesn't need a filter and it doesn't need to be very big (1 gallon is fine) but it does need a heater to keep him around 78 F.
 
#16 ·
@sakura, I think we should go right to medication. I had a weird feeling about putting salt in my fish tank, I didn't want him to shrivel up or anything lol. So the qt tank doesn't need anything except the heater I use. No rocks or anything? And do I still feed him in his qt tank and how often should I do water changes and and do I simply fallow the instructions in the medication bottle? How long should he be in his qt? Also what would have given a parasite? Should I change everything in his tank new rocks plants filter that reminds me I did a water change and changed his rocks... The take was getting very icky very quick that's why I did a 100 water change and changed his rocks... Once he is no loger sick how do I keep him from being sick.... Also if anyone know what can I put in the tank ( when mr fish is better) to pick up the pellets he doesn't eat that falls to the rocks... It's very hard to clean unles I do a water change.

Ty again
 
#18 ·
unfortunately you can't put any other tankmates with him in a 1 gallon tank, or they will both get sick quickly with each of them giving off waste. in order to put a snail or something in with him you'd need a 5 gallon tank, if that's what you're asking. if you got a larger tank the water would also go bad less quickly and you wouldn't have to do as many water changes. for what you have now, you might try getting a cheap turkey baster at the grocery store and using it to suck up pellets that he doesn't eat without having to clean out his whole tank or use a siphon, but even then you shouldn't change the water any less often than you are now, because the invisible waste your fish gives off in the water- ammonia, basically fish pee- will still build up and cause him to get sick if he's left in it.

a qt tank doesn't need anything in it at all, that way you can observe the bottom of the tank to see how he poops. :p if it looks like he's struggling to reach the surface to breathe, you can lower the water level. watch the temperature very very carefully if that happens, less water heats faster.
 
#19 ·
Friskies.

A QT tank doesn't need anything except a few plastic plants. Since you'll need to change the water often, it's best if it doesn't have gravel.

Haha, I know it seems weird to "salt" the fish but actually, the aquarium salt helps them produce slime coat, which is a fish's number one defense against bacteria and other pathogens. Weird, huh?

Once he goes into his QT tank, you will feed him just like you always do. The only thing that will change is the water change schedule.

Once you get the API General Cure (don't let the pet store talk you into anything else), you'll need to adjust it for dosing in a small tank. Get a container that holds 5 cups of dechlorinated water. Add the first dosage and mix well. The ratio is 1/2 cup of medicated water to 1 gallon of tank water. So if his QT tank is say, 2 gallons, you would add 1 cup of medicated water to his tank.

Depending on the size of his tank, you may need to do water changes and redose the medication more frequently than it says in the instructions, which are written for 10gal tanks.

When he gets better, you could add a nerite snail to his 5gal home to scavenge. Nerite snails are good because they can't reproduce in freshwater and they are much smaller than mystery or apple snails.
 
#21 ·
@sakura8 so I put him in his qt tank ( he's already swimming around!) with his heater. I put in Gallon of water and his water cleanser seeing how I use tap water I'm going to pick up the medicine after work and so I add what the bottle says to five cups of water mix the add to the rest of the tank? Do I need to still put in his water conditioner?
 
#22 ·
Friskies, the medicine is in packets so you just add one packet. You still need to add water conditioner though.

Since his QT tank is 1 gallon, you just need to add 1/2 cup of the medicated water. If the container is sealable, you can save the rest for a day. Because his tank is small, you'll need to do 100% water changes every day and redose the medication and epsom salts. Continue this treatment for 5 days and then update us. Depending on things, he may need a longer course of treatment.

I'm glad he's swimming around. :)
 
#23 ·
Mr fish!

Mr fish is so happy I did a water change tonight and I actually put him into his real tank just with everything taken out and washed. He has blown his fins and feels better, not to see the white slots go and his poo dark again! Thank you sooo much!!! I though he was a goner :(
 

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