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Please help Plato !

561 views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  ChicagoPete 
#1 ·
Housing
What size is your tank? 3.5gal
What temperature is your tank? 78*
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
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? Flakes..
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2x daily a few flakes

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 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? conditioner (just ran out, have to go buy more....didnt keep container, but it was for bettas...)

Water Parameters: Haven't Done Tests
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? He was purchased without knowledge that what he clearly had was fin rot. We've had him now roughly ~1month
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He was making little bubble nests when we got him, but soon stopped, he's generally been pretty lethargic, although i don't think he is quite as active as he once was - he was in a much smaller, colder, unfiltered .5gal until we saw the great setups on here. He spends most of his time in the bottom corners of the tank but will occasionally swim around and play with the filter bubbles.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? We realized it was probably an issue roughly ~1 week ago when we found the site
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Not yet
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Probably since we bought him by the looks of things :/
How old is your fish (approximately)? Not sure, he was making bubble nests when we first had him - from what i've read this would mean he was already mature.

To elaborate...He is a dark red betta, and when my gf purchased him he had black around the edges of his fins. She thought this was his coloring, until we started doing some research into the little guy. It has increased since, even since we've filtered / heated / given him a much much nicer home. We would consider ourselves pretty good fish owners, as we try to stay completely on top of care / maintenance for him.

Help ! :cry:






sorry about pic quality they were taken with my iphone
 
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#3 ·
Id say, judging by the dark edges, its finrot. Your betta is dark, though, so it might be a natural coloration thing(?) If its finrot, its caused by the water he'd been in. Id say a 100% change every three days in that 3.5gal isnt half bad, though..Hmm. Maybe do some smaller changes every other day leading up to that, too.
Try using aquarium salt to treat it, 1tsp/gal. Dissolve it in water first, then pour it in. Do Frequent 50% to Huge to full changes each day. Id think at least 100% every other day. Dont use the salt for more than a week, Ive heard it can be damaging after that.
Keep that tank nice and warm for him, and perhaps stop using flakes(?) they tend to make the tank messy and are hard to control portion-wise at times.. Try pellets, they seem to work well.
Nice, clean, treated warm water with some aq.salt will do him wonders, Id say :B
 
#4 ·
Aww! Poor little guy.

Definitely fin rot...

Seems like you're keeping up really well with water changes. Maybe increase to every 2 days. Aquarium salt (1 tsp/gallon - can pre-mix in a 1 gallon jug) might help, but don't treat with aquarium salt for longer than ten days.

When you get more water conditioner, you might want to just buy Prime! You don't have to use special conditioner for bettas, and Prime helps by neutralizing some of the ammonia. Also, it's very cheap because you only use a few drops a gallon.

EDIT: I've been beaten! But, it's nice for you to have confirmation of two people saying similar things. :)
 
#6 ·
Ahh, I really don't know what to say!!
My last betta, who i only had for about 4 and a half days, passed this way.
I too bought him thinking the tips of his fins were black by nature, because at the time I didn't know any better, and he had fin rot and soon died. He also spent his last days laying on the bottom of the tank, not swimming around much.

Do whatever treatments these people have told you, and also, i would recommend NOT feeding flakes. They have generally no nutritional value for bettas... try Hikari betta pellets or something. Flakes are veggie based and Betta's are carnivores.
 
#7 ·
No, it is not normal for him to stay at the bottom all day.
It is, however, not (bad) if he does it sometimes. They rest just like we do, and some rest on the bottom, others on plants, others, the top.
Change all of his water, like now. Condition it, again, like now. Add the salt, then bob him in his cup (or a bag) to get him used to the new temp and add a little bit of the new tank's water every little while for at least 15minutes+
If he really only stays at the bottom bottom, lower the water level and put a nice plant in there he might want to rest on. His laying on the bottom might be aiding in the fin rot too :c

Best of luck with your handsome fellow <3
 
#8 ·
Try to ad Tannens to the treated water jug. Tannens can come from Indian Almond Leaves, Freshly Fallen Oak Tree Leaves, Black Water Extract, or Decafinated Green Tea. For the leaves crush them finely and add to the jug of premixed Declorinated water with 3 tea spoons per gallon of Aquarium Salt. Allow the Tannens to steep for an hour.

In the main tank you need to setup a quarintine system so you can change the water in a more prescise manner. If you have a plastic cup or the one he came in when you brought him home in you can use it as the container. Set the container up by taping it to the side of the tank after each treatment so it doesnt float around or sink. Add a lid or make one out of plastic rap to keep the surface of the water moist in the container and keep him from escaping the cup.

Each day for 10 days add the jug of premixed water and tannens to a new cup and set it up the same way with the one the Bettas in, but without him in it. Allow the temp of the new cup to equalize to the temp of the one hes in and then switch him into the new cup.

This seems to be the best method without eny harsh chemicals or treatments that only seem to make things worse and if I left enything out someone please chime in.
 
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