My 2.5 year old female Holly has been housed in a 3 gallon, no filter nor heater (other than running the tank light). I have been feeding her brine shrimp gum drops and pellets alternately, skipping every third day or so. She has no live plants. but was doing all right with monthly water changes until early December when I got sick and lost control. I wrapped the tank up and kept the light on to boost the temperature but admittedly it’s a cold apartment. I avoided dealing with her much and it was 6 weeks before I addressed her tank again.
I noticed a line along one side near her back fin. She also seemed to stop eating. In January, I changed the water out (80%) & shortly thereafter her side ulcerated, and she seemed to hang near the surface if possible and had jerky swim patterns when she did move about the tank. I kept trying to get a picture to post for some help to diagnose but she slumped on that side often and the pics I got didn’t illustrate the problem well since she is so light in color.
Since then I have moved her to a small breeding tank 67F with a low water line of about a quart so she needn’t struggle to breathe. I have been changing that every 3 days and have added a little aquarium salt and done some rounds of Melafix. The tea tree seems to improve the surrounding tissue (her tail seems less atrophied for instance) but does nothing to heal the wound itself.
I am assuming the cold temp, septic water and rich diet caused constipation or a blockage and/or maybe an infected her swim bladder? I am wondering if my diagnosis is correct and if I should do salt baths OR will that be more torturous than good ?
I am hoping she can be nursed back to health but feel I should get some good advice rather than guessing. Certainly I am getting a heater before she goes back into the 3G, which I might replace to get one with working filtration. I won't underestimate clean H2O and warmth again.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
Similar Threads
