Betta Sick?

[Nik74]

Hi, my Betta, Cyril, hasn't been himself and I'm quite worried about him. I got him 8 months ago and had him in a 5 gallon tank with a few neon tetras. I then moved him a couple months ago to a community tank and he was fine. His fins and colour looked amazing. But last week he looked like he'd been in a fight. His tail was broken and he had clamped fins, so I moved him back to the 5 Gallon (cycled and good water perameters) with live plants. He has spent most of the last 4 days on the floor, but is coming up for air and is also eating (although not as much as usual).

I've been doing regular water changes. I was struggling to keep the temperature above 74, but thats fixed now and have gradually got it up to 78 and is stable now.

Yesterday he wouldn't eat his pellets, so I tried bloodworms. At first he wasn't interested, but then he had one and it was as if he came alive again. So gave him a couple more.

Since feeding the bloodworms he's now swimming around alot more, but occasionally still going to the bottom. His fins are still clamped.

I've also noticed that his chin seems grey and he's alot skinnier.

Today he's darting around and bashing into things.

Do you think he's sick? or just got stressed in the community tank or just old? Or maybe he was just hungry? I'm just not sure what to do that's best for him. I love him heaps so want to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Details below for both tanks. Appreciate any help.

Housing (one he's now in)
What size is your tank? 5 Gallon
What temperature is your tank? 79 degrees
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? Nutrafin Max pellets (once a week frozen bloodworms)
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1 a day, 6 days a week

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? once a week unless perameters change (test every other day)
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Either Prime or Stress Coat

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

Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:<5
pH:7
Hardness: Don't know
Alkalinity: Don't know

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? As original message
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He's now darting and bashing into things
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 2 weeks ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Moved into his own 5 gallon tank and water changes
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? I've had him 8 Months

Community Tank he was previously in

Housing
What size is your tank? 55 Gallon
What temperature is your tank? 78 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? yes, airstone
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? x2 Mollies, x1 Platy, x1 bristlenose, x4 clown loaches (babies), x15 cardinals/neons, x6 glowlight tetras

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

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? 20%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime

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

Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:<5
pH:7.0
Hardness: Don't know
Alkalinity: Don't know


Cyril before:



Cyril Now:




Thank you
Nikki

[Maura]

Feeding only 1 pellet per day really isn't enough nutrition for him, especially if he's trying to recover from whatever tore his fins up...

[Nik74]

Sorry meant once a day not one a day.

[Oldfishlady]

Are any of the fish new.....or added lately without first being QT'd...

Good that you moved him to a smaller tank, however, I would recommend that you move him to a smaller container with lower water level so he doesn't have to struggle to swim/reach the surface and to get him out of the tank with the other fish in his compromised state-plus the filter/water movement can be stressful on him at this time.....

Is he flashing a lot or all the time...can you tell what part of the body is hitting the objects first...head/gills or body....
Can you see anything on him....

Any health issues/reatments in the 8 months you have had him

[Nik74]

He's on his own in the 5G and been there for about two weeks now, so could I just lower the water level of that tank? He's flashing intermittently, so not all the time. Generally just at night time and this only just started yesterday. For the week prior to that it was just complete lethargy. He does look like he's lost weight though so thought it could be an internal parasite? He hits the objects with his head. the best way to describe it, is it seems as if he's blind. Have looked really closely and other than the grey colour under his chin, there is nothing else visable on him.

He's had no health issues since I've had him, but when I moved him to the 5G because his fins looked ravaged, the petshop recommended Melafix and Pimafix, so put that in the water, but another forum told me that was a bad thing to do and to do a 75% water change immediately so I did. The medication was probably in there for about 6 hours. I've also been doing daily or every other day 25% water changes.

One thing though, when he was in the community tank, I got rid of one of the neon tetras (about 3 or 4 weeks ago). (it seemed to go grey and the other neons started ramming it). I've been watching the other fish closely in that tank since then and they've all been fine.

The fish added to the community tank were'n't quarantined first, so its possible something was brought in with them.

Just watched him this morning and he's swimming around and came up for food, but wont eat the pellets. I may try and give him some bloodworms to get him to eat. He looks really skinny. Haven't seen him flashing yet this morning. But now's he just lying on the bottom. (20 mins later than this and he's darting around again but haven't seen him bump into anything. His fins look like they are unclamping though).

I really want to help him, but don't know what he's got and don't want to make it worse so am litterally only managing with water changes right now.

Thank you for your time and help.
Nikki

[3l1zabeth]

He is definintly sick. Get aquarium salt and some sort of medicine. He either has swim bladder disorder because he is laying on the bottom and fin rot because his fins are torn

[Nik74]

What type of medicine though?

[Oldfishlady]

Right now what I would recommend since he is no longer flashing. Use a small container-no filter or water movement, no tank mates, low water level if he is struggling to swim to the surface, temp in the 76-78F range, dim lit quiet location and give him some time....Water changes of no more than 50% every 3 days and if you have a tannin source of either IAL or dried Oak leaf-add some to his tank for the tannins to release and darken the water to assist with stress. Offer rinsed mosquito larva....