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Extremely pale betta with Constipation

2K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  Kitteh 
#1 ·
Housing
What size is your tank? 10G
What temperature is your tank? 78 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? Yes (Penguin 100)
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Hikari Betta pellets and sometimes bloodworms.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once a day with a no eating day once a week.

Maintenance

How often do you perform a water change? Once every 2 weeks
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 60%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Water Conditioner

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

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.8
Hardness: N/A
Alkalinity: N/A

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Very pale
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Clamped Fins and bottom sitting
When did you start noticing the symptoms? A week ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? 2 Epsom salt baths
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no
How old is your fish (approximately)? 5 months

My usually hyper active betta has been bottom sitting with clamped fins for almost a week now. He has slowly become very very pale. At first I assumed it was constipation but his stomach doesn't seem that big but it isn't flat.

I gave him an epsom salt bath two days ago and he was very stressed when I put him back in his tank. I did another epsom salt bath an hour ago and he seems a lot better then he did after his first one.

I say it's been a week but he is so tiny compared to my goldfish it could have been longer because since it's hard to notice until he gets really sick.

I'm really concerned because I lost my last betta to constipation.

Another odd thing to add is he has this really dark patch on his body. I think it's been there for a month or so but it's gotten more noticeable since he became pale. I can't find anything anywhere about something like that?

Thanks in advance.
 
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#3 ·
To be honest I have never ever seen any of my bettas poop over the past 5 years. I'm going to assume since it's not there it isn't stringy and I haven't seen any hanging off any of the plants.

I'm kinda of iffy on the QT tank though because the only tank I really have available is a 5G and I don't have the time to do 100% change everyday. I do his salt baths in an old tiny 1.5G tank filled for 1G.

Would it have any effect to keep him in the 5G with a salt treatment just for one day?
 
#4 ·
His old tank would do just fine for qt. you could do the partial water changes and just have 1 tsp/gal epsom salt premixed in a gallon jug or something. I'd keep the smaller tank bare bottom so you could see what he's pooping out.

With qt it's a lot easier if something more serious than constipation is wrong because water changes are quicker and you use less medications. If you feel you can't qt him in the smaller tank, then you could try 1 tsp/gal in the 5 gal and watch him closely for what his poop looks like.
 
#5 ·
I'll set up the QT tank tonight and let the water acclimatize and see how he's doing tomorrow evening when I get home from school.
I'm just a little worried since I have cats and I don't have a super safe place for the tank. But I'm home a lot on Thursday so I'll be able to watch him a little better.
Thanks for all your help! I will keep the thread up to date.
 
#6 ·
So when I got home my betta was swimming around alright and was no longer hanging out on the bottom. His fins are now ragged though and he is still pale.

I know for sure that it isn't fin rot as the parameters are perfect and this is just coming up.

Could he just be weak from not eating? I'm so confused because I'm not so sure this is constipation anymore.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Since you said he wasn't bloated.. then it wasn't constipation. You should be doing more water changes, it sounds like it is a water chemistry issue.. a build up of ammonia/nitrate/ites, a number of other things.
Did you do the cycle prior to getting your fish? Cycled tanks can make a difference on how many changes to do. I would do 40-50% per week with a vacuum, if your tank isn't properly cycled you should be doing 100% water change every two weeks or so.
But a partial change every couple of weeks isn't enough, imo..
Also, you should be feeding more then once a day.. one large meal can lead to constipation and bloating. 4-6 pellets a day in 2-3 feedings is highly recommended.

If you could post a pic, it will definitely help in diagnosing what is going on.

Wondering.. have you baffled your filter? Or have it on the lowest setting? He could be stressed out (pale, clamped fins, staying on bottom) because the current is too strong.. could also be why his fins got ragged so quickly... Because a Penguin 100 is for a 20 gal.. and you have a 10.. and bettas don't do good with filters that aren't baffled properly as it is, and that filter is for a tank twice it's size so it's really strong..
 
#10 · (Edited)
Hey thanks for the response.
He is back to bottom sitting and looks terrible. I don't think he is going to make it.

I have pictures. Sorry in advance for the terrible quality he has been very reclusive.



That tank has been running and cycled for 6 years now as a QT tank for my goldfish.
I thought that with the filter with the tank cycled I wouldn't need to do more then once every two weeks since the waste output of bettas is so much lower then goldfish. When I do clean the tank it is always with a gravel cleaner.

As for the feeding holy cow! I only feed by betta 1-2 pellets a day. He gets stuffed with anything more.

Now for the filter there is no baffle. The filter is very specifically strong because the tank sometimes houses my goldfish. With my prior bettas I never ran the filter because they would hide and hated it. For this one I put a plastic plant underneath as a buffer but all he wanted to do was play in the current. For the past 5 months the current from the filter has been a place of play for him. (I'm talking about the water flowing out from the filter) He doesn't go near the intake valve. I've also added many places in the tank where he can sleep so I never saw this as a problem.
 
#11 ·
His fins look shredded =(
Also, you haven't done a 100% change on that since it housed goldfish? I think even with a cycled tank there should be a 100% put in on some routine, but I could be mistaken.. I don't like using filters myself, so I'm not too keen on the cleaning routine of larger filtered tanks. I just ask because a filter won't take out ammonia, only water changes done weekly will.
 
#13 ·
My nitrate was down to 0 because I had just cleaned it. It climbs over the week which is when I do the cleanings.

After every QT fish I do a 100% cleaning of the gravel but the filter and biofilter remain uncleaned although they don't run when doing treatments.

Thanks everyone for the help. Unfortunately Hades (my fish) died while I was at work. I still have no idea what it was but I was obviously too late.
 
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