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Gill Flukes?

2K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  Blue Fish 
#1 ·
Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5
What temperature is your tank? 77
Does your tank have a filter? no
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? NLS
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 in the morning and 3 at night

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 50% and 100% weekly
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? conditioner

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

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
One of his gills seems to be not closing all the way and the little flappy thing(ug im not sure what its called but its the thing that move while it breathes) on the side with the open gill seems to be moving more rapidly then the one on the side with his normal gill. I know this is not normal and i think it might gill flukes or it could be just the way he is? but i dont remember seeing this when i first got him almost 2 weeks ago

It looks like the pictures in this thread ,but it is only on one side and not as extreme
I'm not sure when this started happening. He also is trying to get into small spaces such in between the thermometer and under/ behind the heater.

Please help, i only have an hour before i have to leave for the weekend
 
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#2 ·
If I were you, I would take him to the nearest pet store immediately. If they say nothing is wrong anand you are still concerned, then get a second opinion from another employee or go to another store. I hope he is ok.
 
#3 · (Edited)
That would be a great idea, but sadly all of the pet stores close to me don't try treat their bettas well and they dont sell any other fish, so I don't think that they'll be able to help...

My lil guy is still having the gill problem :\ He seems to rapidly breathing from the gill that doesn't close all the way. The fill also extends more when he is breathing. I no longer think its gill flukes >.< Is it possible it is a gill infection? How would i treat this?
 
#5 ·
I saw the video and I see what you mean. I also do agree with the pet store thing. I really should stop recommending pet store staff people:oops: well he seems fine. I mean when I saw the vid. He wasent like, freaking out or anything. So maybe it's a birth defect? But I'm guessing this just started right? Before this happened, did you do anything different?? He might've also just hit his gill on something. So do you have any hard, bumpy, or Rocky items in his tank? Also does he like to squish between things?this might be the case here....
 
#6 ·
Does he have any other symptoms, I couldn't tell from your video.
-The trying to get into small spaces, is that new?
-Have any of his living arrangements changed? (IE, different tank, different location, new light, loss of light, new plant, new ornament, ornament taken out, new filter...anything moved...ANY changes at all?)
-Is he eating normally?
-Are his fins clamped?
-Is he at his usual activity level?
-Does he "flick" his head or his body when he swims? (rather like a "hair toss" on a human, they flick from side to side, also called flashing.)

If all of his other behavior is the same as usual, and the only difference with him is the enlarged gills and heavy breathing, he probably has gill inflammation or scarring from high ammonia. I've got a guy who looks just like this. He eats, he swims, he's active and happy, but because of his poor pet-store care before I purchased him, he has permanent scarring on his gills, one side hangs lower than the other (the more scarred side) and he breathes heavily. He will always have it, and it's unsightly, but not life-threatening.

One thing that will make his life better, is getting a slightly bigger tank, and cycling it. (Most people will say that it's only possible to cycle with 5g and up.)
With an uncycled tank, even with regular proper water changes, there is still some ammonia almost all the time (the only time you'll be at 0 is *right* after you change the water 100%, and you can be as high as 0.25 or .5% ammonia before the water changes), and this constant ammonia (even in low amounts) will just exacerbate his gills. By getting him into a cycled tank, your ammonia will be at 0 all the time, and this will make his life better and his breathing a little easier. :)

You can try to cycle your 2.5 g, there are people who have done it, (I've never tried, so I can't comment from personal experience) but apparently it's very hard to do, and the cycle is *very* hard to get stable.

If you are on a budget or tight for space, you can usually find small, plain, empty 5g tanks at petco, petsmart, or walmart for under 12$. They're not hardly any bigger than your 2.5, but they can be cycled. Another option is to get a jar or Rubbermaid container that can hold 5 g's, and use that. :) There are lots of options, and they all work. :)
As for the filter, I've used the Aqua Tech power filters and never had a problem. They are 10$ for the 5-15 gallon size at walmart. Just get some carwash sponges (they're big, you can cut them with scissors, and you cannot use kitchen sponges because most have antibacterial/antimicrobial treatments on them that totally defeat the purpose of the filter), and sponge the intake and outflow (message me on here if you need information about sponging them) to make the flow really soft and to make sure your betta doesn't get sucked up into the filter.

Or, you can make a sponge filter. Here's a link to sponge filters:
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=126530

Then you can cycle your tank. Do you know about cycling? If you don't, here are some links:
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=107771

Again, if you need more information, PM me and I'll help you out. :) I'm not an expert on cycling *at all*, but I understand the basics, so I can at least get you started. :)

For a "lid" you can use binder clips and saran or plastic veggie wrap. Just stretch it across the top of the tank, and secure with the clips. Just leave a strip about an inch wide at the back so that air can get in and out. This is the cheapest method.

If you want to spend a little more money, you can get a versa top or canopy for about 7-10 dollars (most fish stores carry them, or you can order online), or a hood (which is quite a lot more money). Or, you can get a piece of acrylic or plexiglass at your local hardware store, cut it to fit (again, leave a bit on the back open for your filter or any cords/lines coming out the back and for air) and lay the acrylic across the top of the tank. This is cheap, usually about five or six dollars, sometimes less depending on the size you need and what your store charges.

I'm sorry for such a long post, but I hope that helps!! :)
 
#7 ·
i dont have the money or space for a filtered tank at the moment :(

My tap water has very high ammonia, so i use prime water conditioner to get rid of it. The ammonia levels are at a constant .25 which i believe is from prime changing the ammonia into ammonium. Ive been changing the water before it gets any higher.

Here are some new developments on my lil guy....

hes clamped now :( and i got him to flare with his bad gill facing me and underneath his gill on that side, it is completely red :( while the other side is a nice dark blue.

Should i treat him with aq salt!?!
 
#8 ·
Ok, ive decided to use aq salt.
Im planning on adding it tomorrow right after his water change and i have a question...

i know since i has a 2.5 gallon tank i should add 1.5 teaspoons of it, but i don't have access to teaspoons =(
Is there any other way i can measure the salt?
 
#9 ·
His gills could be swollen from ammonia. You could try a tap water bottled spring water mix when changing the water to cut back on the ammonia. AQ salt won't hurt. I brought home a fish that had swollen red gills from constantly being in dirty cup for weeks (ammonia) and within a day or two the swelling went down with AQ salt. Your fish is breathing faster than I'd expect from what I can see in the video. You may get better video if you light the aquarium and try to get more angles.
 
#11 ·
Okay, going back to your previous statement, your tap has high ammonia? THIS is your problem. :) It's not good, but it can be managed. At least now you know what the problem is. :)

With this, you have three options.
You can cycle the tank.
You can heavily plant the tank with live plants (this will cycle it just because the plants use the ammonia)
You can purchase filtered or reverse osmosis water.

The Prime isn't actually fixing your high tap ammonia. Prime ONLY neutralizes the ammonia for a *day or two*, after that, the ammonia is back at full strength unless it's being used by lots of plants, or by the BB's in a cycled tank. So, even when you're doing water changes, you're just adding in more ammonia, even with the Prime. This is why your guy is having problems, all the water you're changing, thinking that you're making him healthy, is really only hurting him. Of course, NOT changing the water though is just as bad. It's a no-win situation. :(

As you said you were unable to cycle (I understand, it can be hard, please don't think I'm fussing at you :) ) and I'm assuming that lots of live plants are out? (they can be expensive) Then your other option is to buy filtered water, or if you have a filter at home you can filter it yourself. The at-home options are like a Brita water filter pitcher or a Brita filter that goes on the end of your tap in the kitchen, or even if you have filtered water in the door of your fridge. It's too cold straight from there, but you can heat it up before adding it to your tank and you'll be good. The filtered water isn't the best option, but it's better than the high ammonia your tank is going to have all the time because of the ammonia in your tap. (The filtered water isn't going to have the nutrients that your fish needs, so make sure you feed good quality NLS pellets and you may also need to get some fish vitamin supplements as well, but it's FAR better than killing your boy with the high ammonia.)

If you can't filter the water at home, at most grocery stores and walmart you can get those big 5gallon jugs of water, these are filtered reverse osmosis water, and will be safe for your fish. That's probably your best option.

I really don't think that the AQ salt is going to do anything because of your ammonia being high. It's like putting Neosporin on a burn and then just sticking your hand back into the boiling water again. The Neosporin can't work because the initial irritant is still there and causing more damage.

I'm so sorry that you're having these issues, but hopefully this will help. :) Once your boy is in ammonia-free water, he'll start to heal on his own. :)
 
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