Scared for my fish

[Krowntailkid]

This is my first betta and I bought him a week ago. He is in a one gallon orb tank and has treated tap water. I just got back to my dorm and found him puffed up and attacking his tank I reacted by torning of the tank light to reduce reflections and did a 25% water change and upon further investigation he has red specks on his fins that are under and behind his gills. What is the red stuff and how did it get on him and what should I do

[missmayr]

Could you take a picture of it? It could just be his natural fin color, or if he's also breathing heavily and has other symptoms, he could possibly have a gill infection. There are multiple causes including a bacterial infection and ammonia poisoning (red/velvet gills). However, if it's a tannish color, could be nitrate poisoning. According to the petco guy, there really isn't much you can do if it's ammonia poisoning as if you use a strong ammonia eliminator it could shock the fish even further. I used Kent Betta Bowl Essential (the only conditioner/primer I saw at petco that also eliminated Ammonia). He's breathing easier now. If it's bacterial try a medicine that is a broad spectrum cure, bettatalk who used to have more specific cures unfortunately closed its doors but recommends using a broad spectrum antibiotic. If you can't find one (like me) I'm using Tetra Lifeguard which is supposed to be broad spectrum as well (although definitely not as effective as an antibiotic).

Again, if you could post a picture, that would be helpful as it's probably a bad idea to try curing him if he's not really sick. Good luck!

[Krowntailkid]

I cant put up any pics till tommorow cause im on my phone but this definately isnt his natural color and his gills werent puffed what I should have said is flared but It shouldnt be his water cause I changed it this morning and the test strip said all was good and he was fine before afternoon classes

[missmayr]

Well bettas get highly stressed from water changes and it is one of the most common ways they get sick.

If you're certain it's not ammonia poisoning (or maybe you could use Kent just to be safe, it's around $3), and you're certain he's sick, he could have a bacterial infection. In that case treat with a broad spectrum antiobiotic if available or Lifeguard, or whatever other alternative broad spectrum cure that you can find.

[Krowntailkid]

So should he be fine till morning because then I could take him to the guys at the water plant lab next door to my class and they should be able help out since they study the effects of plants on freshwater fish

[Krowntailkid]

All is well the red specks turned out to be his natural color coming back since hes in better hralth than when I bought him