Sick betta! Swollen lip, white lump under gill. PLEASE HELP!

[sunlight]

You can use small container. Do you have container that you brought betta in from the store? Or any other plastic container. You can let if float in his 10 gall tank so you can keep the temperature stable. I guess just stick the container to the tank walls so it don't move and lower the water in the tank so he don't jump out.
When you do water changes you can't just add a little bit of the medications. You need to add full dose of it. And you will do it with every water changes. For example if day 2 you need to use double dose then just change the water and put double dose of the medications.

You need pre dissolve 2 tsp/gall of the Epsom salt.
How many pellets you usually feed him?Also white floating stuff might be his slime coat. Not sure. But check his poop it will give us idea if he has internal parasites. With internal parasites poo will be white,clear color.

Sorry Ayala..posted didn't see your answer

[callistra]

Don't use AQ with bloat. You need epsom salts for this. Get them when you can I guess.. as soon as you can. They need to be pure 100% with no additives - check the ingredients list.

Definitely fast him at least a couple of days. Watch his poop and check what the color and shape is. If it's ballish he's constipated. If it's anything but brown like the pellets you feed him he has an infection.

I would check the ammonia levels in this tank with all he has going on I wonder if your tank is not cycled for some reason. His overall appearance really suggests there may be a water quality problem.

[BeatrixKiddo]

I'm sorry that your fish is sick. I know this is very stressful for you and your betta, but you shouldn't stop treatment midway with antibiotics if you can help it. This method will produce antibiotic resistent bacteria that will make treating him more difficult. As for partially changing his water now, it would be difficult to correctly dose any volume of water you put back in.

After the water change on the second day of erythromycin, is there anyway you could put him in a quarantine tank or at least a smaller container like 1 gallon? Not only will it be easier for him to reach the surface for air, but it will make dosing his medication easier and more cost effective.

As per your question about an aquarium salt substitute, kosher salt or sea salt can be used. You really just can't put iodized salt or salt with other additives.

I hope one of the more experienced members will be able to advise you on the illness. I really hope Sparky gets better!

[sunlight]

his lip i also don't know but i was thinking if it can be his slime coat? Not sure. I don't know anything about cycling but if you can change water and try to see if white on his lips will go away. If it go away it can be just his slime coat. Also i agree about bloating. If he used to eat less before and just got bloated after you feed him then he might be bloated because you overfeed him. Then just fast him and see if it will help. Then if it helps you don't even need to treat him with Epsom. But i would still have it on hands though.


Sorry guys of course didn't see any of the responses. I need to refresh before i posted.

[BettaLinz]

I just did a 25% water change in his 10 gallon tank. I was too afraid to put him in a bowl without a heater in my 68 degree house. He does seem much happier with the clean water! He swam around for a minute or two, which I have not seen him do all day. He returned to his corner after a few minutes but seems to have perked up a bit and has been wiggling around a little more. My tank is not cycled... I really don't know much about cycling. I will be sure to get some Epsom Salt asap tomorrow. As for the water quality, I have to admit, he did have the same filter cartridge in his tank for quite a while. I rinsed it out regularly and cleaned it just to save myself the cost. While I was at the store today getting his medicine I actually got a new package of filters and put one in, only to take it out an hour later realizing that it could be absording the medication. Since around 4pm his tank has been running without a filter.

I plan on doing a 100% water change and tank cleaning tomorrow and giving him another dose of his medication, along with epsom salt. Does this sound like a good route to go?

Also, I may sound silly, but what is AQ? lol.

[AyalaCookiejar]

You are supposed to keep the filter cartridges and rinse them in old tank water.

AQ is aquarium salt.

[BettaLinz]

Also, does this look like a classic case of bloat? Because I have a younger sister that likes to feed poor Sparky when I am not home and I come home and feed him again, not knowing that he has already been fed. Bloat definitely seems like a possiblity.. I am just praying that that is what it is.

And thank you Ayala! :)

[AyalaCookiejar]

Yes, he definitely looks bloated. Fasting him will help! :)

[BettaLinz]

Thank you so much! I will be able to sleep a bit easier tonight :) And I will definitely have him fast.

[callistra]

Since you have a 10 gallon and a filter it would be easier to keep him healthy if you cycle the tank. There's a sticky in the forum about fish in cycling, if you wan to take a look. If you don't want to cycle, he needs 100% weekly water change. Make sure to keep the water the same temp and acclimate him anyway each time so he doesn't get shocked.