Is this OK?

[Jupiter]

Last week I rescued a betta...generally I don't do rescues, but for some reason this guy just "clicked" with me.

When I bought him, he was thin, clamped (although he doesn't have much finnage to begin with), and he was pretty much transparent.

I put him in a 1 gallon with a heater and I was doing water changes every other day, but he hasn't perked up at all. :(

He lies in one spot, and it looks like it's a little hard for him to breathe. He also shows zero interest in food, and I've tried three different types of pellets and brine shrimp.
In addition to this, he has red streaks on his fins.

I went out and bought Maracyn Two since I thought his symptoms matched septicemia...but I don't know much about fish diseases, so I thought I'd double check here.
It's his second day on it and he isn't showing any signs of improvement. In addition to the Maracyn Two, I've been adding aquarium salt and I'm now doing daily 100% water changes.

Is there anything else I can do for the little guy? I feel bad for him. :(

[prodrumernate]

i would halt on the medication.it could be causing more problems.until we know for sure what he has.medicating wouldnt be good rite now..AQ salt is good for relieving stress which im sure thats what he is and y he is the way he is now..

continue the water changes as last mentioned..put him in a dark place with minimum disturbance..bettas can go a long time without eating so dont worry about him starving.when i say a long time.ive heard stories that they went for months without eating.its also good to skip 1 day a week of feeding to allow their digestive system to catch up..

do you know what the temperature is set at?and possibly any pictures of him?there is also a form i would like u to fill out that will help us better..ill grab it and come back here.

[prodrumernate]

heres the form.fill out as much as u can please...


Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

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

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
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?

Water Parameters:
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?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[sunlight]

I would try aquarium salt. How much of it do you use. You need to make sure you using right dosage otherwise it not going to help.

Pre mix 2 tsp/gall in one gall jug for the right dosage. If you don't have one gall any container just to make sure it dissolved. Do daily 100% water changes. You can increase dose up to 3 tsp/gall. So start with 2tsp.

Don't share anything between your other fish.
Maracyn two is good medications but i though you need to use Maracyn and Maracyn two in combination. Because one is for gram negative and another for gram positive.
Aquarium salt has antibacterial/fungal affect.
Also do not make temp too warm though. Some disease get worse with very warm temperature. For example fungus will get worse .


EDIT: take time to acclimate your betta.

[Jupiter]

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank? Around 77 F
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? Living solo

Food
He hasn't been eating at all, like I already said.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Daily
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? Maracyn 2 & AQ salt

Water Parameters:
I haven't been able to test it yet, but considering I do 100% daily changes i don't think it'll be too crazy. PH here is about 7.5

Symptoms and Treatment
His symptoms have already been listed, as I bought him, and there have been no changes in his appearance or behaviour since then.

Originally Posted by sunlight

I would try aquarium salt. How much of it do you use. You need to make sure you using right dosage otherwise it not going to help.

Pre mix 2 tsp/gall in one gall jug for the right dosage. If you don't have one gall any container just to make sure it dissolved. Do daily 100% water changes. You can increase dose up to 3 tsp/gall. So start with 2tsp.

Don't share anything between your other fish.
Maracyn two is good medications but i though you need to use Maracyn and Maracyn two in combination. Because one is for gram negative and another for gram positive.
Aquarium salt has antibacterial/fungal affect.
Also do not make temp too warm though. Some disease get worse with very warm temperature. For example fungus will get worse .


EDIT: take time to acclimate your betta.

Is that so? I was just going with the 1/2 tsp dose that was listed on the side. I'll increase it to 2 tsp then.

[prodrumernate]

i would go with what sunlight said..epsom salt would be good to use but if none then id use aquarium salt

[sunlight]

instructins on the box its just preventative care.
I was thinking ...not sure what the instructions on the medication box but i would use full course of it with daily water changes though. I know instructions don't tell you to do daily water changes. But what i would do i would do daily water changes (betta acclimation) and adding required dose of medications each time. Like for example if day 2nd you need to double dose - just change the water with that double dose of the medications.
But really take time to acclimate him to new chemistry/temp.

Since you already started him on medications continue, but hold on salt.
You can use salt after you done with medications. This way you can prolong treatment. Because you can use salt only for 10 maximum 13 days only. I don't know did i confused you guys? Did you get my idea?

[prodrumernate]

i understand what u meant.and like u said yes only use salt for 10 days,13 at maximum..im now giving my male betta a epsom salt bath,he is very sick.showing signs of dropsy but havent been able to figure out what.he is getting a little better,still pine coning and isnt pooping..but will eat a small piece of food and come to me....i say that bcuz it was Sakura and ANHEL123 who mentioned about salt bath.but with it being ICH/ICK AQ salt is good for outside....continuing the medication is what i too would do first.

[aokashi]

Hey Jupiter. Its better to NOT mix salt and meds. technically salt is kind of a med ....:/

Can you get any pics of the guy? Septicimia is a pretty terrible disease. I commend you for your courage in picking up one with such ailments off the shelf.

Wasn't maracyn a 7 day treatment? The bottle says to not do water changes...(or rather to do one 50% at the end) which I think will bring you to a dilemma since you only have a 1 gallon unfiltered tank. If you can move the guy to a larger tank. You can proabbly get away with doing a WC at the end of the treatment.

If he's not bloated or pineconing etc, hold off the epsom salt. But it's always a good idea to have some on hand.. just in case.

[Jupiter]

Originally Posted by prodrumernate

i would go with what sunlight said..epsom salt would be good to use but if none then id use aquarium salt

I only have aquarium salt with me. I've heard of epsom salt but I'm not sure where I can buy it?

Originally Posted by sunlight

instructins on the box its just preventative care.
I was thinking ...not sure what the instructions on the medication box but i would use full course of it with daily water changes though. I know instructions don't tell you to do daily water changes. But what i would do i would do daily water changes (betta acclimation) and adding required dose of medications each time. Like for example if day 2nd you need to double dose - just change the water with that double dose of the medications.
But really take time to acclimate him to new chemistry/temp.

Since you already started him on medications continue, but hold on salt.
You can use salt after you done with medications. This way you can prolong treatment. Because you can use salt only for 10 maximum 13 days only. I don't know did i confused you guys? Did you get my idea?

Gotcha. I totally missed that part on the box where it said not to do water changes. That might explain why he's not perking up...

Originally Posted by aokashi

Hey Jupiter. Its better to NOT mix salt and meds. technically salt is kind of a med ....:/

Can you get any pics of the guy? Septicimia is a pretty terrible disease. I commend you for your courage in picking up one with such ailments off the shelf.

Wasn't maracyn a 7 day treatment? The bottle says to not do water changes...(or rather to do one 50% at the end) which I think will bring you to a dilemma since you only have a 1 gallon unfiltered tank. If you can move the guy to a larger tank. You can proabbly get away with doing a WC at the end of the treatment.

If he's not bloated or pineconing etc, hold off the epsom salt. But it's always a good idea to have some on hand.. just in case.

I did take a picture of him when I first got him in a cup, but it's not very good...I'll try to upload it this weekend.

I don't have any available larger tanks with filters atm. I'm not sure if I could go a week without changing the 1 gallon tank. :s


So I will:

• Stop the salt
• Add an extra dose when I change the water (eg. I put in half a packet yesterday, today when i change the water I'll add another half + today's dose).

Does this seem okay? Btw, thanks for your advice so far everyone.