Hello all,
My wife and I were given a betta fish about 6 or 7 months ago. We named him Sharkbait. He is very colorful, so I THINK it is a male. If anyone can clarify, please do. Anyway, Sharkbait was a VERY active betta. He would follow your finger around, and swim along with it, etc. Always swimming around the tank, flaring his gills (which I have read is healthy), and dare I say friendly towards onlookers. Almost human at times. We moved him from his 1 1/2 gallon flower vase (which he was given to us in) into a 5 gallon tank. We got him plants, a pirate head, a bubble volcano, a filter, a heater (which was in the old tank), so it is quite an entertaining tank for a fish. However, I will note that he wasn't quite as friendly after the move, but still healthy, and seemed to be in his own new world, rather than focused on us. I think maybe because the inside of the glass might be reflective, so he can't see us very well? Still active, though. Anyway, I digress.
We were changing the tank water about every ten to twelve days, and it was filtered, so it never seemed to be a problem. Sharkbait was happy & active. We live in California and it was winter. We went away on a long weekend, and came back, and it suddenly had been really hot out of nowhere! We noticed that the tank had gotten a little murky, even though we had recently changed it. Our betta LOVES to swim underneath the water dump from the filter... he would shimmy in it... and when I took the filter out when I cleaned the tank, it had some green algae marks on it. A couple of days later my fish started hiding. We didn't put two & two together for a minute, but then he developed pop-eye, almost overnight! We were devastated, and felt really guilty! So we went to Petsmart, and got some "API E.M. Erythromycin", and "API Melafix". The gentlemen at the store said it would fix the pop-eye. We applied it as directed, took the filter out, and changed the water as directed. The pop-eye went down, and he developed (what looked like) an abscess underneath his eye. We got a little scared, but that went away too. After we were sure it was gone, we stopped medicating him, and changed the water out completely. We put a brand new filter in, and waited to see how he would do. He was still hiding, so we gave him a few days to recover, thinking he had been through a lot.
Well, he hasn't recovered. His eye is better, as I have read he might have gone blind in that eye. But, he seems to be reacting on that side, and the eye isn't milky... It looks pretty healthy. However, he is showing symptoms of some kind of sickness still! I have read up on it A LOT, and I can't pinpoint it. We are now using conditioner, and recently did a light cycle of betta fix to see if that would help (which I have read might be bad now.. which makes me frustrated, as it was recommended at the store). All the time we keep changing the water, and the water is pretty much beautiful!
Well, recently he has developed these white spots on both sides of the gills. They aren't fuzzy, and seem flat. There is no mucus coat on him, nor does he seem "sprinkled in gold dust" as I have read with some diseases affiliated with the gills. He is lethargic, hides inside the pirate head all day & night, only comes out to eat (if at all), doesn't spread his fins anymore, doesn't flare his gills, breathes rapidly... he lays down at the bottom of the tank, or in small crevices & dark protected areas. He doesn't seem to have any fin rot, but he just doesn't flare his fins (clumped). He doesn't have any sores.. in fact, other than the mysterious white spots, and heavy breathing, I would say he looks fairly healthy.. just depressed. We bought him a mystery snail & a tiny frog, as we read he may just want company, but he doesn't really notice them. The only other real noticeable symptoms are that he seems discolored.. but, not in patches, just in general. Also, his gills seem to be open wide.
When he comes out of hiding to eat, or for air, he will sometimes DART to the top, and then hide again. Other times he will come out, and eat all of his food swim around a little, and then hide again. The behavior and symptoms seem so eratic, I am scared to medicate him any further, in case it's the wrong type of medicine. I have been careful medicating him, but I feel like it is almost too much.. but he doesn't get better if I do nothing either. I'm totally puzzled, and he seems to have one symptom of every disease I read about, but not all. The only one that seems right on is TB, but from what I have read, that is pretty rare. It's so frustrating. I just want him to get better, and not keep dumping money into the wrong medications, and treatments. He is turning into one expensive little fish, but I still Love him, and want him to survive, as a fish owner. Here is a caption I read about TB that makes me think he has it, but for every diagnosis I read that seems correct, there is something I read that disputes it. Check out this, and the pics, and what I have told you about his behavior, and let me know if you have any suggestions. I would really appreciate it.
Tuberculosis
Yes folks this is Tuberculosis and it can be transferred to humans if you have open wounds. My advice, put on some long gloves that covers up 3/4 of you arms before handling the Betta Fish or water. Let's look at the symptons. Loss of appetite, cloudy or popeye eyes, colors have faded, clamped fins, seclusion and rapid breathing. This is a difficult disease to diagnose since it has a lot of the same symptoms as other diseases.
Here are some pictures showing his gills w/ white spots (which are on both sides, and showed up after the pop-eye got better), and a picture of him hiding under a plant (which is a rare time he makes an appearance), and also a frontal shot. Sorry if the pictures aren't great, but it is really hard to even get a picture before he swims off and hides. It took me three days to accumulate these, if that says anything = /
All I know is that this fish used to look majestic, and flare his gills up, swim around like he owned the place, was SUPER bright, and spread his fins like a peacock.. and didn't have white spots on his gills. Now, he is a bottom dweller, who rarely comes out at all. Sad.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Pete
My wife and I were given a betta fish about 6 or 7 months ago. We named him Sharkbait. He is very colorful, so I THINK it is a male. If anyone can clarify, please do. Anyway, Sharkbait was a VERY active betta. He would follow your finger around, and swim along with it, etc. Always swimming around the tank, flaring his gills (which I have read is healthy), and dare I say friendly towards onlookers. Almost human at times. We moved him from his 1 1/2 gallon flower vase (which he was given to us in) into a 5 gallon tank. We got him plants, a pirate head, a bubble volcano, a filter, a heater (which was in the old tank), so it is quite an entertaining tank for a fish. However, I will note that he wasn't quite as friendly after the move, but still healthy, and seemed to be in his own new world, rather than focused on us. I think maybe because the inside of the glass might be reflective, so he can't see us very well? Still active, though. Anyway, I digress.
We were changing the tank water about every ten to twelve days, and it was filtered, so it never seemed to be a problem. Sharkbait was happy & active. We live in California and it was winter. We went away on a long weekend, and came back, and it suddenly had been really hot out of nowhere! We noticed that the tank had gotten a little murky, even though we had recently changed it. Our betta LOVES to swim underneath the water dump from the filter... he would shimmy in it... and when I took the filter out when I cleaned the tank, it had some green algae marks on it. A couple of days later my fish started hiding. We didn't put two & two together for a minute, but then he developed pop-eye, almost overnight! We were devastated, and felt really guilty! So we went to Petsmart, and got some "API E.M. Erythromycin", and "API Melafix". The gentlemen at the store said it would fix the pop-eye. We applied it as directed, took the filter out, and changed the water as directed. The pop-eye went down, and he developed (what looked like) an abscess underneath his eye. We got a little scared, but that went away too. After we were sure it was gone, we stopped medicating him, and changed the water out completely. We put a brand new filter in, and waited to see how he would do. He was still hiding, so we gave him a few days to recover, thinking he had been through a lot.
Well, he hasn't recovered. His eye is better, as I have read he might have gone blind in that eye. But, he seems to be reacting on that side, and the eye isn't milky... It looks pretty healthy. However, he is showing symptoms of some kind of sickness still! I have read up on it A LOT, and I can't pinpoint it. We are now using conditioner, and recently did a light cycle of betta fix to see if that would help (which I have read might be bad now.. which makes me frustrated, as it was recommended at the store). All the time we keep changing the water, and the water is pretty much beautiful!
Well, recently he has developed these white spots on both sides of the gills. They aren't fuzzy, and seem flat. There is no mucus coat on him, nor does he seem "sprinkled in gold dust" as I have read with some diseases affiliated with the gills. He is lethargic, hides inside the pirate head all day & night, only comes out to eat (if at all), doesn't spread his fins anymore, doesn't flare his gills, breathes rapidly... he lays down at the bottom of the tank, or in small crevices & dark protected areas. He doesn't seem to have any fin rot, but he just doesn't flare his fins (clumped). He doesn't have any sores.. in fact, other than the mysterious white spots, and heavy breathing, I would say he looks fairly healthy.. just depressed. We bought him a mystery snail & a tiny frog, as we read he may just want company, but he doesn't really notice them. The only other real noticeable symptoms are that he seems discolored.. but, not in patches, just in general. Also, his gills seem to be open wide.
When he comes out of hiding to eat, or for air, he will sometimes DART to the top, and then hide again. Other times he will come out, and eat all of his food swim around a little, and then hide again. The behavior and symptoms seem so eratic, I am scared to medicate him any further, in case it's the wrong type of medicine. I have been careful medicating him, but I feel like it is almost too much.. but he doesn't get better if I do nothing either. I'm totally puzzled, and he seems to have one symptom of every disease I read about, but not all. The only one that seems right on is TB, but from what I have read, that is pretty rare. It's so frustrating. I just want him to get better, and not keep dumping money into the wrong medications, and treatments. He is turning into one expensive little fish, but I still Love him, and want him to survive, as a fish owner. Here is a caption I read about TB that makes me think he has it, but for every diagnosis I read that seems correct, there is something I read that disputes it. Check out this, and the pics, and what I have told you about his behavior, and let me know if you have any suggestions. I would really appreciate it.
Tuberculosis
Yes folks this is Tuberculosis and it can be transferred to humans if you have open wounds. My advice, put on some long gloves that covers up 3/4 of you arms before handling the Betta Fish or water. Let's look at the symptons. Loss of appetite, cloudy or popeye eyes, colors have faded, clamped fins, seclusion and rapid breathing. This is a difficult disease to diagnose since it has a lot of the same symptoms as other diseases.
Here are some pictures showing his gills w/ white spots (which are on both sides, and showed up after the pop-eye got better), and a picture of him hiding under a plant (which is a rare time he makes an appearance), and also a frontal shot. Sorry if the pictures aren't great, but it is really hard to even get a picture before he swims off and hides. It took me three days to accumulate these, if that says anything = /
All I know is that this fish used to look majestic, and flare his gills up, swim around like he owned the place, was SUPER bright, and spread his fins like a peacock.. and didn't have white spots on his gills. Now, he is a bottom dweller, who rarely comes out at all. Sad.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Pete