Hubby bought a sick Betta

[Kya427]

Hello, my husband got himself a 5 gallon hex tank, it's filtered with a heater set to 80* and he just got a Betta. His Betta seemed sick with a fungal infection when he got him, so we added 1tsp per gallon of salt to the tank, then slowly acclimated the Betta to the new water as suggested in the forums before putting him in the tank. It has been a few days since we got him, and he has only gotten worse, so this morning I put him in a 1 gallon QT tank so we can watch to see what's wrong a little easier, and hopefully treat him. I have my own Betta in a almost cycled 10 gallon tank, who seems to like his water best at 80* and he is thriving as usual, so we chose 80 for the 5 gallon tank since my Betta seems to do best at that temp, but the heater is adjustable.

Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gallon marines and hexagonal tank, just switched to a 1 gallon QT tank.
What temperature is your tank? 80*
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Filter also aerated the water when it flows into the tank
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? Have tried blood worms, pellets, flakes, any the same flakes he was fed at Petsmart.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Have tried to a few times daily starting the next day after we got him, but he refuses to eat. He did try to eat pellets but spat them back out

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Weekly
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? Tetras dechlorinator, same that has been used on my Betta for quite some time

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? Will do that soon and post, we are doing a fish-in cycle...

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Eyes have become cloudy overnight, and his head is starting to lose color
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? We haven't been able to establish his normal behavior, but he just lays under the heater on the bottom, coming up to get air occasionally.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? The night after hubby came home with him. He seemed happy to be in a big tank and first, but then became lethargic like he was in his cup.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Put him in a heated 1 gallon QT tank with his tank water and added salt(mixed in well before adding the fish.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Unknown history
How old is your fish (approximately)? Probably a year or so since he is fresh from the store.

[callistra]

In a fully cycled 5gallon tank a 50% weekly change with siphon is ok. However, new tanks will take up to 2 months to establish, and doing this time you should be testing daily for ammonia and nitrite with a reliable drops kit and doing an extra 50% change any time you see either.

However, for this sick fish he cannot be used to cycle and you will need twice weekly water changes of 50% and 100% in this 5g.

Are you saying he has fuzz on him? This is probably actually columnaris. I would look for Kanaplex, Triple Sulfa or Furan 2, preference in that order. Treat a minimum of one full week. I suggest 2.

[Kya427]

He doesn't have fuzz on him, his head area was losing its color, but I think that was stress since he has brought his color back. He seems to like the small 1 gallon without decor better than the 5 gallon. His eyes are still cloudy, and seem to be cloudier, but he is now swimming around and not so lethargic. He still won't eat pellets, bloodworms, or flakes. I finally got a good look at him tonight, and noticed his eyes are a little puffy as well, so I'm wondering if its popeye, or beginning of dropsy. They aren't too swollen, I think we caught him early, and he was mostly stressed. His fins, tail, and scales look well, and his color is much better. I will keep him in the 1 gallon tank until the 5 gallon is finally cycled, and then try the 5 gallon again, and hopefully by then it wouldn't stress him out.

[callistra]

Cloudy eye is a gram positive infection. I would actually still treat the same way as above.

In the 1g I would do 100% water change every other day along with redosing of Kanaplex meds or for Triple Sulfa do daily changes along with redosing of meds 50% 100% alternating.

[Kya427]

We bought triple sulfa today, they didn't have kanaplex at all, and I changed the water 100% and dosed the tank with the triple sulfa. He was more active and colorful all night and this morning, I am hoping he didn't get too cold in his cup while I dumped the 1 gallon and rinsed it out. He turned a light orange quickly in there and let himself sink to the bottom when I put him back in the 1 gallon. I checked the levels before I changed the water, he definitely doesn't have ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate poisoning, and the ph is perfect, I plan on checking his new water soon, I wanted to leave him alone for a bit without the lights and messing with the tank at all. I have the API freshwater master test kit that I use for testing

[Kya427]

Hope those pictures work...Red has now started to just hang out at the top and stays vertical. He is also orange now, as he is losing color. I am just doing the triple sulfa meds, day 2 of them, water is nearly perfect and 80* in his 1 gallon qt tank. His eyes are cloudy and puffy, he still wont eat even if I put food right in front of his face, and he swims away from me. Other than losing color and clamped fins, his body looks fine.

[callistra]

How are you dosing in a tank of this size?

[Kya427]

It's a 1 gallon tank. I dose by putting a packet in 10 tsp of water, I use the water I'm going to be putting into the tank that's treated with dechlorinator, and I add 1 tsp or 1/2 tsp, so it's 1 dose or half a dose of the meds. I hope he gets better soon, about to deliver our baby boy soon, and my husband doesn't seem to have the patience to take care of his sick fish...I'm stuck with both fish now! It's his first fish, I knew I would be helping him some, I didn't think I would end up taking full responsibility of it, my Betta, Blue, bit a chunk out of his own fin since I wasn't playing as much with him, so now I'm taking extra care of my boy to be sure he doesn't get an infection in his fin with aquarium salt in his tank. Now I be sure to play with my guy every time I check on Red throughout the day

[osromatra]

That kind of looks like popeye in both eyes, IMO. My betta's eyes are no were near that big and bubbled out. I am not sure how to treat though.

[Kya427]

It does look like popeye now, they weren't puffy to begin with. He showed signs of being sick, then his eyes got cloudy, then puffy. He is still pretty light in color today, but between yesterday and today, he seems to have more energy. He still won't eat anything