okay, so my betta was perfectly fine this morning, I needed to clean his 3 gallon tank so I put about 4/5 a gallon of water (from the tank he was in) in the little gallon tank where he waits when I clean his tank. I hadn't cleaned his tank in a few weeks so I did a 50% change and vacumed the gravel. I put in water conditioner in and waited about 30 minutes before I put alfred back in hi tank. I didn't check the tempurature of his little 1g where he was waiteing, and it was about 5 degrees colder than his normal tank. I picked him up in the net which I don't usaully do, and put him back into his tank, Its been about 3 hours and 45 minutes and alfred is lying at the bottom of the tank in his cave, not moving, one of his gills is slightly inflamed.... I don't know what to do! I put a pinch of aquarium salt in his tank to see if that helped, but it did nothing. PLEASE HELP!!!
Cody, he never really minds, I do once a week for water changes, I just don't use a net. The tank temp. is 78 degrees, what it always is. pH- 7.3 I put in dechlorinator. I got him to get up and swim around. His fins are clamped still, and he is back at the bottom of the tank in his cave again. I forgot to tell you he just reccovered from various diseases. (He was the only fish out of over 100 that survived a crueal science experiment, and they were going to flush him down the toilet cuz knowone wanted him. Thats y I took him, and he was in a terrible position!) His gill isn't inflamed anmore, but hes hardly able to breath, Do you have any advice on how to help that?
He may have been just a little stressed from the water change. Like Cody said, check water params to make sure everything is ok. Poor little thing. I'm glad you saved him from being flushed! I've taken several that no one wanted or couldn't take care of. I hope he gets to feeling better.
thanks, dramaqueen! Everthing seems in check, but he is still gasping for air. I think when I got out to get some plants for my larger tank, I will go ahead in get him some airstones, I don't think they will help much right now, but in the future they might, This little guy has such a bad immune system! sad little betta buddy! Alfred has an amazing personality tho! I'll keep an eye on him.
Sometimes they just seem to never get over the mistreatment even when they are taken by someone who takes good care of them .My rescue betta has swimbladder problems off and on as a result of his mistreatment.
Awesome! Mine, like I said has a bad immune system, so he needs all the help he can get! My sisters taking me to petsmart sometime soon so I can get him an airpump. I found one thats onlt like $5!! Yay! I don't have to spend a billion dollars on my fish! (not that I wouldn't If I had the money! lol)
An airstone may create bad current that may stress your betta as well.
How is an airstone supposed to improve an immune system as well? I've never heard of using it that way. An airstone generally means you want to add surface agitation which means more oxygen *in the water.*
no, not to help with the immune system, to help while he is sick, when he is sick he can't always reach the top of the tank for air, and he sometimes gasps for breath, I was thinking it would help him to breath better while underwater, so he could recover faster. sound reasonable?
You could try lowering the water level a bit during the times when he's having a hard time getting to the surface to make it easier for him to get air.
I'd skip the airstone for the reasons mentioned before and instead buy a tall, broad-leaved silk plant. Position it so that he can rest on the leaves really close to the surface. That way he can always take a breath
i agree with kim. my bettas usually rest a few inches from the surface on a plant, their not sick, but i suspect its more convienent, good luck though! keep us posted
I have a plant for the one in the 4 gallon. When he was in the critter keeper, he would make bubblenests under it but now its not tall enough to build bubblenests under so he sleeps on it. lol
Lol, my plants take up about 1/3 of the tank, i try to get the ones that spread out nicely so they have room to swim between them, or rest on them. My little one is always hiding in them towards the bottom, its really funny cause he will peak around the corner of one to watch what you are doing. while my other one sleep on it... i havn't had any bubble nests Under them though... though the leaves aren't very broad so i dont think it would stay anyways
None of mine do except for the one in the 4 gallon tank. Some just don't blow bubbles for some reason. If he's healthy otherwise, I wouldn't worry. I love bubblenests, though. Some people think they're nasty.
I thought thats what it was. I'm glad he's better!
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