Misdiagnosis? My Betta is not doing well! :(

[AyalaCookiejar]

I really hope he will still be here by morning.

I thought he had external parasites as he seemed to be flashing against tank decorations last night so I started AQ salt treatments. I had school and work today, and when I got off he was laying on his side at the top of his hospital tank, he is bloated and his belly is very white! It looks like the poo at the bottom of the tank might indicate internal parasites?

He is trying to swim very aggressively and I'm afraid he will hurt himself. He cannot swim right and keeps floating to the top of his tank on his sides.

I removed him from his tank and tried to get out some of the AQ salt. He had very apparent stress stripes when I did this. I've never dealt with a sick Betta so I am very scared I will do something wrong and lose him. His condition has deteriorated rapidly since yesterday.

I am on my phone and will add pictures in a few minutes.


Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gal but he is in a one gallon hospital tank floating inside his 5 gallon
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? No
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? Omega one pellets and freeze dried bloodworms on Mondays
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 pellets a day spread out throughout the day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week normally but have done 100%s in his hospital tank last two days
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Seachem prime

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: .25 in tap water but its treated with prime
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 in tap water
pH: 7.4
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? White bloated belly and stress stripes
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He cannot swim right and is swimming around rapidly with lethargic moments
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Yesterday morning
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Treated with AQ salt and now ES
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? I've had him for about a year and got him from Walmart.

Will the AQ salt have hurt him more if he has internal parasites or SBD?

[sunstar93]

From the way he is floating it looks like he might have SBD. I could be wrong but right now that would be my best guess....as long as you dissolved the salt beforehand, AQ salt does nothing bad to them.
If it is SBD, try the Epsom salt treatment. 1 tsp/gal (I think) of plain Epsom salt, dissolved. It's similar to AQ salt in that you do treatment for 10 days (unless they recover before then). Epsom salt acts like a laxative for them and he may have SBD due to an impaction in his gut. If that's true, the salt will help him pass it.
He may be swimming aggressively in order to swim correctly, but the SBD makes that hard for them....
LebrontheBetta knows about Epsom salt treatment better than I do so maybe try to PM them?
(she also answered my thread called "Epsom Salt Questions" and gave the details there if you can't wait for an answer).
I hope he gets better soon and I wish you good luck in healing him!!

[sunstar93]

This is the thread I was talking about. Lebronthebetta answered my ES questions I hope you find it useful if it is SBD
Also...maybe try fasting him as well??

[AyalaCookiejar]

Thank you. I'm really hoping it is just SBD... Not Dropsy or internal parasites. I have Epsom salt on hand and know that it is mild for them and I can work up to 3tsp per gallon... He was struggling so much last night that I really hope he's still here when I go check on him.. I just woke up.

Edit: he's still here and looks better than last night. He still can't swim upright or downwards but he isn't freaking out near as bad.

[LittleBlueFishlets]

How is he doing?

My guy is having difficulty controlling his buoyancy. He's under a plant, so that the leaf holds him down. (Smart little guy!) And he still hasn't pooped.

[AyalaCookiejar]

He seems to be swimming a little bit better, now. He still has a little trouble staying upright, though. He is now able to swim to the bottom of his tank, but has to struggle a bit to stay down there. I think I am now noticing what may be fin rot... I don't know what to do. I am treating him with Epsom salt for the bloating and swimming issues... I do have stress coat on-hand, but I don't know if I can mix it with Prime because there is ammonia in my tap water.

Ugh. I have so many more concerns that have popped up today that I think I will make yet another thread... I am wondering if the brown discoloration could be a long term effect of ammonia-poisoning...
Also, I wonder why his poo was floating. Maybe because of the salt? Bleh.

[LittleBlueFishlets]

Originally Posted by AyalaCookiejar

Also, I wonder why his poo was floating. Maybe because of the salt? Bleh.

OK, this is going to sound kind of bizarre but... Suction up a floating poo with a turkey baster or something, and drop it into a cup of regular water. See if it sinks. That will tell you if the floatation is caused by the salt.

[AyalaCookiejar]

Haha, wow. Why didn't I think of that? xD

[LittleBlueFishlets]

That's why I get paid the big bucks. Or not..... :P LOL

Let us know what happens.

[AyalaCookiejar]

Actually, the poo sunk after awhile. I did a 100% water change with slightly more salt this time, and he didn't get as stressed as he did last night. He doesn't look so bloated but he's still having a bit of troubles swimming. He definitely has the will to live! He's really trying to swim normally. I know he's hungry. He was literally trying to eat his poo. He's also not so clamped now, and the whiteness of his belly isn't as bad...

He's got some lighter patches on his face, but I really can't tell if its his natural color of blue, now (like the brown is fading maybe?) He is also getting some more iridescent blue to him. The brown doesn't look as bad..

The only symptom I can see now is his inability to swim right. I can tell it really bothers him... His favorite tank decoration along with one silk plant is in his hospital tank so he has something to rest on. Sometimes he will halfway stick out of the window on his squidward tiki house and rest on that. He was very active before, so I think he's mad that he can't swim the same, now!

But he really is doing much better than he was last night.. He's still slightly mad at me for taking away all his space, I think, but I didn't want to treat his whole tank due to needed 100% water changes and the fact that his tank is starting to cycle.