Betta still won't eat, and is listing to one side!

[cataze]

Hi everyone,

I posted to my original thread this morning, but since the symptoms have changed, I decided to start a new one.

To make along story short, Yuki got finrot...he chewed his tail fin off and it got infected. He stopped eating, and was lying on the bottom of the tank. I treated with AQ salt, but when that didn't do the trick, I tried Erythromycin (the only thing my LPS had for external infections).

Today is his last day on the Erythro, and his finrot is pretty much gone. There is only one teeny tiny red spot on his tail fin now.

But he's still not eating (he's eaten one NLS pellet in the last 10 days), is still lying on the bottom breathing hard, only swimming to go get air, and now a new problem has started.

When he's lying on the bottom he appears to be listing to one side. And sometimes when he comes back down from getting air, when he lies down his tail end sometimes is floating up a bit instead of him lying flat on the bottom.

Has he started a swim bladder issue? How should I treat him? How can I get him to eat? I have no idea what my next step is. Poor little guy...I just want to make him better.

He won't even look at his pellets, even when I soak them in garlic juice and plop them right in front of his face at the bottom of his tank. Do you think he would eat frozen blood worms? I don't have any, but I could get some.

Any help would be appreciated!!!!

Cate

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

it might be SPD. So epsom salt dissolved in some fresh water should do the trick.

Only use epsom salt for about 5 days, and dont forget those frequent water changes!

[cataze]

Originally Posted by MyRainbowBettaFish

it might be SPD. So epsom salt dissolved in some fresh water should do the trick.

Only use epsom salt for about 5 days, and dont forget those frequent water changes!

Okay, thanks! I'm assuming I wait until tonight when he's finished his Erythro and I change his water...???

So should I be using 1 tsp per gallon?

[cataze]

Anyone? Is it 1 tsp Epsom salt per gallon?

[babystarz]

The only thing I'm finding about epsom salt in the treatment sticky is 1/2 tsp per gallon. OFL recently recommended 3 tsp per gallon to someone but that was a really extreme case so I'm not sure you need quite that much. 1 tsp per gallon would probably be fine.

[cataze]

Okay, I'm totally freaking out now.

Yuki still won't eat. He's done the Erythro, and his fins are completely healed/cleared up. But now he's lying on the bottom on his side!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did a 100% water change last night and got him in some Epsom salt (I found a post where OFL recommended 1tsp per gallon, so I went with that).

This morning he was lying on the bottom on his side. I wasn't sure if he was still alive so I jiggled the tank a bit and he started flopping around. It looked like he was having a hard time going up to the top for air even though I have the water level lowered. So I put him in a cup and floated it in the tank to keep him warm.

I think at this point he's just so weak from fighting the infection and not eating. I've only been able to get him to eat one pellet in the last 2 weeks!

I'm going to pick up frozen blood worms on my way home from work today. But I don't know if that will work.

How can I get him to eat???????????????? Please help!

[cataze]

Can anyone help? Should I keep him in the Epsom salt? Is there a trick to getting him to eat something?

I'm desperate! I've been trying so hard to get rid of his finrot for 2 weeks, and now that it's gone he's so sick I don't know if he will make it.

Will frozen blood worms maybe tempt him to eat? Or is there something else I can try?

[NyaNyanNaa]

I think I heard something about soaking the pellets in something to get the fish to eat it. I don't recall what it was called though..

[cataze]

Yup...I've tried soaking his pellets in garlic juice. It didn't help. :(

[NyaNyanNaa]

You should maybe try the blood worms to see if he will eat those, if he does eat those you should keep giving him those for a few days until you go back onto the pellets, soaking them in the juice as well to encourage him to eat them again.

Or possibly the reason he isn't eating is because of the age, or the brand of the pellets. Do you use different foods? You should since most get depressed/bored over eating the same thing every day. Also, what temp is your tank set at? Or do you even have a heater?