My new male betta jumped out of his tank, but I rescued him in time... help?

[rmarkham]

Hi!

So much for an uneventful morning..

I woke up and like every day turned on the betta fish tank lights and checked on them. I recently got a male king platat, who can be seen on this thread http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=116329

I was looking in his tank and couldn't find him.. my first thought was wow, he must of really found a good sleeping spot... but then I thought. wait, what if he jumped out?!

I have the aqueon 5 gallon mini bow and there is a small space open in the back..

Well, I was right. I grabbed my flashlight and checked on the floor behind the tank.. and there he was.. not moving. I know these guys can go a long time without water so frantically grabbed him and he started flopping around like a crazy fish.. he was stuck to a piece of paper that had fallen behind my dresser... but he was MOVING!

I immediately threw him in the tank and let him remove himself on his own from the paper so I wouldn't tear his fins. He swam/fell down to the bottom of the tank and stayed there for a little while.
His fins look frayed at the ends and he's breathing heavily.. I taped saran wrap over the opening on the back, and will have to find something that is more permanent..

I can try to get pictures later but I have to leave for work in 20 min. I checked on him about 5 min after I put him back and he's already moving around although his fins look terrible.

I checked my water parameters after I put him back in his tank to make sure it wasn't something I did to him.
Ammonia : 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5-10ppm
pH: 6.6
Temp: 81 F

What should I do, and will he make it? I'm rather attached to him and when I check on him before bed I kept thinking how awesome he looks, and how the fin rot he had when I got him is all but gone! He also gobbled down some frozen blood worms like a champ last night.

[birdielikestomatoes]

I would just keep an eye on him for the moment. He probably just needs some time to rejuvenate after his...adventure. We don't know how long he was out of the water, but I assume he'll be feeling better after he gets some oxygen through his gills as well as some relaxation.

He's a stunner though, and looks like a fighter, so I'm sure he'll be back to his normal self soon.

[Friendlyfishies]

How awful! Glad you found him though. I don't know what you could do, maybe make sure there's some sress coat in the tank. I worry about this all the time with my plakat too...he always spooks and flops his body out of the water like a spawning salmon in a river...It's ridiculous. He hasn't hopped out yet but I fear it all the time. I think im actually going to be moving him to one of my 5 gals this week to see if it will help any. Best of luck!

[rmarkham]

I use prime but i am going to do daily partial water changes until he heals and i have stress coat on hand as well as vitachem and garlic juice for food soakings...

[sainthogan]

Mine did this. She is fine (although her eyes are cloudy, I'm not sure if this related or not). She did it the night before I was leaving for a few days. I had someone come and check on her. She was very inactive for a few days after, but she got all her spunk back and seems happy. That was 2 weeks ago. Just keep an eye on him, the stuff on him should come off naturally, but watch in case it doesn't. Also, he will probably have torn fins anyway and may end up with a touch of fin rot, so keep an eye on this. New fin growth looks clear, but fin rot can look white with black or red edges. You will need to change the water more often to help heal this, most people here don't recommend using melafix because it can actually do more damage to your fish than good. My girl had a torn fins after her jump, and developed a touch of fin rot as a result. She is doing better now, and almost healed.

[rmarkham]

I just got home.. he looks terrible..

http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/...9901286744.mp4

:(

I'm going to do a water change a little later, I have his lights off for now.

[sareena79]

awww poor thing, that made me sad :( I really hope he gets to feeling better soon...

[rmarkham]

I just did a 50% water change, and took a few more videos of him... It's not looking good.. his fins are all frayed and black and look like they might just fall off. He can still move around and make it to the surface which is good, but he also looks like he's missing a few scales...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwmgdY21jz8
There's so much debris in the first video because it was in the middle of the water change an the filter was off

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uEP58KS66I

I'll do another 50% water change when I get home.. I should be geting my plant delivery today so I will be adding more plants to his tank as well. :(

[rmarkham]

Hi everyone,
I want to thank you all for the caring advice and support..
I was just told that Mr. Fish (what i've been referring to him as) has died.
I feel terrible because I got him to give him a long and healthy life, a better life than he had at petco in that little cup. He looked grim when I left for work this morning.. but I really thought he would pull through. I know I did all I could, but it still sucks.
I loved him as much as I did any of my animals even though I only had him for a week. I like to think that I gave him a good life,at least for a few days
:(

[birdielikestomatoes]

Oh no, I'm really sorry you lost him. I truly wish I could have been more help to you and Mr. Fish.

At least he did have a good, loving home for the week he was with you.