I have a 9 month old giant plakat female betta with holes in her fins, and then a day later red streaks in her bottom fins and on the two little front fins. She also has a bloody spot near her eye. I think it could be fin rot that progressed to septecimia. I didnt have a heater for her until last week but the room she's in is usually 75 degrees. We had a power outage last month for 3 days during the hurricane and all my betta's water temperatures went down to 70 degrees, then a few weeks later I noticed holes in her tail and then the streaks. I started her on API tetracycline according to the directions on the box & did daily 90% water changes for the last 3 days. I have used this medicine in the past quite a few times both on bettas with fin rot and other tropical fish, and have had no problems at all. This is the first time I have used it with her, and she has been breathing very quickly. Today when I woke up she was staying at the top vertically and kept pratically jumping out for air. I did a 90% water change real quick to get the tetracycline out of the water and then ran to walmart and got an air stone and put it in her tank. She is still breathing quickly but no longer hanging around at the top gasping. If I go near her tank she begs at the top for food like usual - she's a very big eater and begs a lot and eats a lot without having any swim bladder problems but seems to be much hungrier lately. She is being social and interacting with me. I put some pellets in and she gobbled them up. I am worried though, about giving her the 4th dose which she is due for tonight (which would complete 1 full round of tetracycline). I think it would be best to stop giving it to her but my concern is that she looks like she has a lot of improvement today, red streaks are fading to pink and barely visible, her eye is better, fit rot has stopped progressing. If I take her off the tetracycline before completing all 4 doses, is it likely that she will start to get symptoms back again? I don't want to cause antibiotic resistance and have her get worse again but I don't think she can handle this medicine. Has anyone else had a betta who had breathing difficulties while on medication and what did you do? Also has anyone had an experience stopping medication too soon and did your betta get worse? Would it be ok to just put the 4th dose in since there is an air stone now?
my other thought is, is it possible that just being sick could cause her to breathe more quickly regardless of whether i had put medicine in or not?
Thanks for everyone's help!
Housing
What size is your tank?
10 gallons
What temperature is your tank?
80 degrees
Does your tank have a filter?
yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
just added one today due to trouble breathing
Is your tank heated?
yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?
none
Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
pellets, flakes, freeze dried bloodworms
How often do you feed your betta fish?
once or twice a day (she's a giant betta and eats a lot)
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
every week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
30-50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?
I either let the water sit for 24 hrs or I add Prime to it. 1/2 tsp aquarium salt per gallon
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia:
0
Nitrite:
0
Nitrate:
0
pH:
7
Hardness:
Alkalinity:
Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
Holes in fin, red streaks in fins and near her eye,
looks paler than usual & has a stripe (stress?)
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
she is constantly begging for food, and super active, which is odd for being sick
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
this week
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
api tetracycline for 3 days but had to stop due to bad reaction.
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
no
How old is your fish (approximately)?
9 mos