Last month, bought my new second betta from petsmart. He may have had internal and/or external parasite, inner bacteria problem, or there was probably something wrong with the water in his cup. Anyway, the new guy died last Sunday despite treating him.
I didn't quarantine him and I used the same net with my one other fish (pictured above) before I noticed symptoms in the new fish. Anyway, my first current fish caught something from the new fish.
When he swims he twitches/shakes his head from side to side sometimes. He twitches only when he swims. It looks similar to a neurological issue or a spasm type of twitch. I haven't seen him twitch the past few hours. His color, especially his tails and fins have partially faded. The other fish that died had completely clamped tail and fins.
Anyway, current fish Fantasia had a horizontal stress line for several hours. It's not there right now.
I fed him pellets soaked in pure garlic juice. He ate them, but now he doesn't anymore. He'll only eat food plain now. This morning, he ate a pellet and threw it up whole later. Fed him again and he ate it. So, his appetite is not exactly the same.
He's not moving at all. His little mouth is above the water and he just floats there.
One time as he was floating, he was laying partially on his side. It was really scary. He's not leaning right now......
The color underneath his mouth is also faded!!
It sounds like parasites, like in his brain, and i don't know what to tell you other than to use epsom salt or AQ salt, epsom salt is 2 teaspoons a gallon and its for internal things like swim bladder and popeye... i would try some epsom salt.
MistersMom, I'm sorry I didn't respond.
Tried treating Fantasia with epsom salt and API General Cure until he continued to get worse. I talked with Sakura8 and she advised switching to aquarium salt. So I used the aqsalt and medicine with daily 100% water changes. He began improving a little bit each day, so the 4th day of treatment I stopped using the medicine. His color is right now partially back and he swims around. He's still sick though. :( So, I'm treating him with water changes and aqsalt for five more days right now. It will total 14 days of aqsalt being in his water.
Understand if its a problem that is internal, water changes and aqsalt won't help that, but it will for external......
He has a 5.5 gal tank and an adjustable heater. Temp normally 78. Because of the cold weather his temp was 73 degrees, so I turn on the house heater for one hour and it went up to 74. Think I'll put warm water in a zip lock bag and put that in his tank.
=O
Why is the temp that low if you have an adjustable heater? It should stay at what you set it for.
temp is now 76 with the house heater on. i once tried two other heaters (they are non-adjustable, smaller heaters) and same temp so thinking the heater isn't strong enough in the winter maybe......
uncertain if this happens with all fish tank heaters.
My heaters aren't always reliable, either, but they are not adjustable. I have a thermometer in each tank so I always keep an eye on it. Warm water in a floating ziplock bag is a genius idea! I'll have to try that!
Hoping the little guy gets well. It sounds like he is getting better!! :)
My heaters aren't always reliable, either, but they are not adjustable. I have a thermometer in each tank so I always keep an eye on it. Warm water in a floating ziplock bag is a genius idea! I'll have to try that!
Hoping the little guy gets well. It sounds like he is getting better!! :)
u may have tried the slightly warm floating bag idea urself. i didn't mention if it works or not. :o i put the bag in 5 mins and temp stayed the same for me. the body of water in the tank is bigger size than whats in the bag. hmm... i heard it's not a good idea to put hot water in the bag, but slightly warm. i'm not experenced, so it'd be good to find out.
i wrapped a towel around the tank. silly, don't know if it works, lol. th only thing that did is when roommate and/or i turned on heater so room temp is warmer, making tank water warmer
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