Columnaris and In Schock

[marcl]

Housing
What size is your tank? 10g/only filled to 5 Gallons for now. (Just moved him last night to this tank)
What temperature is your tank? 75
Does your tank have a filter? Took out carbon
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Filter is running without filter
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? No

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? NutraFin Betta Flakes
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice s day. Has not eaten for 3 days.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25% every week. Complete change every month (This was when he was in his old 1.5 gallon tank)
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Right now 1tablespoon for Aquariemt salt, NutraFin Conditioner, and LifeGuard

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

Ammonia: Don't Know - should be low new water and no food in it. No rocks right now.
GH: 120
KH:120
Nitrite:
pH:7.0
Nitrate (NO3):10
Nitrite (NO2): 0
Alkalinity: Don't Know

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Current Condition: He is still nice and red. Fins are clamped. He is breathing hard. He has been lying at the bottom of the tank for over 12 hours. He once in a while tries to move and can just barely move.

History: Since Thanksgiving he has been fighitng an unknown sickness; though I recently was able to get it down to Columnaris. At that time, he was in a 1/2 gallon tank. For Christmas, I bought him a 1.5 gallon tank. He transitioned well into the tank. His sickness got a little worse. I treated him with LifeGuard. He got well, but I had to go out of town last weekend. I placed in what supposed to be time release gel and it made his tank dirty and progressed badly throughout the week. As of Friday, he had sores. I made a hositpal jar and he got enough energy to get his itchness back and was freaking out in it. So, I put him into a new 10/gallon aquirium I bought too early. I was scared he was going to stress to death in jar. So I put him into the new aquirium and immediately he went into shock. That was now over 13 hours ago. He is slowly getting a little more energy to where he is starting to barely and I mean barely flop. Its like he is in fish comma and he does respond to my voice.


How old is your fish (approximately)? Fish The Duck is 1.25 years old from when I bought him.

He is in 5 gallons of water with 1 tablespoon of aquirium salt, 74.5 degree water, and I put in one tabelt of LifeGuard 6 hours ago.

How long can he stay at the bottom?
Should I use my hand bring to the surface?
My strategy right now has been to just leave him alone and keep it dark. I don't want to stress him out and I want to ensure he gets his oxygen. I have spent over $200 this week on him to get him to par. He's been my little pal. Please help!

marc

[marcl]

If you see this post, I am checking for anwser every 5 minutes or so. I can answer any other questions. I am just at Fish The Duck's bedside and talking to him, and checking him.

[rubinthebetta]

I'm really sorry I can't help, but if you could manage to get some pictures without stressing him out to much, I might have some advice. I'm not sure, but I may.

[marcl]

I made a video.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3Vb...VpUUZpM0k/edit

[aemaki09]

Aquarium salt will do nothing for columnaris. You need to get non-fragranced Epsom salts and dose 1tsp/gallon of that. Then run to the petstore and try to find maracyn plus or furan 2 and use that. Jungle Lifeguard is for parasites and you need something for Bacteria. Furan-2 is what I used on my sorority tank along with epsom salts when I had columnaris running through and it helped, but maracyn plus is supposed to be better.

Also, I dont know how long you have been dosing salt, but you should never dose more than 10 days for both AQ and Epsom

You should also turn the heater up. He should be in 78-82* water, that might help spark his energy up to help fight it off


Edit:: Make sure you get Maracyn Plus (if you dont go with Furan-2) now maracyn 1 or 2, or maroxy plus.
Both of these medications are readily available at Pet Supplies Plus, and I've seen them at Petco as well, but havent been able to find either at Petsmart. (you might get lucky though)

[marcl]

Bought it and going back hime.
I used Lifeguard about 9 hours ago.
Is this safe tobuse with it?

[marcl]

Started new meds.

Should I use my hand and bring him to the surface?
How long can he stay down there before he dies?
Does talking to him help reduce stress?

thanks,
marc

[aemaki09]

Yes you can use it all at once.
If I were you, I would just lower water level to like an inch or two, low enough for him to only have to lift his head instead of being fully submerged, instead of bringing him to the surface.
I'm not sure how often they need to breath.
Talking could help, if I were you I'd also keep the tank dark with a towel or something.

[marcl]

My friend and pal, Fish the Duck passed.

Thanks for your help. The shock was just too much.

marc

[LittleBlueFishlets]

I'm sorry for your loss.