I think Carlisle is dying

[naturegirl243]

I am devastated Carlise has been acting odd he is having a hard time swimming upwards and is just kind of laying at the bottom of the tank he has not been eating that much at all.and he is pale.I had a CT named Pirate that did this and he got really bad before he died.I took him out of his 5.5 gallon and scubbed everything and the tankI found that his heater was disgusting I always thought it was what color it turned in the water it wasen't it was like a cream colored thing and it was grosshis filter was dirty too I have been so busy that when I do water changes I just change the water and I don't scrub anything.now I have a 2.5 gal. hospital tank set up the way he likes his tanks set up and the water is heating up before I put him in there.He is pretty bad I am watching him in teh cup right now and he is basically sitting and trying really hard to get to the top.I don't know what to do for him.I know how this goes from pirate it slowly killed him and it was awful to watch.I am hoping now there is some way to save Carlisle since I know more.I put stress coat in the water but I have not put him in yet cause it is still pretty chilly.

[naturegirl243]

Oh and I was thinking this could be dropsy but he is not bloated.Maybe it is just old age he lived a pretty hard life before I knew what I was doing and I have had him for a year and a half now.

[FishyFriend1]

could you get a picture?

[naturegirl243]

There really is not much to take a picture of I already cleaned the gross stuff off the heater but I can take a couple shots of him.

[Oldfishlady]

I would Qt him in a small container and add (dissolved first) Epsom salt 1tsp/gal (not aquarium salt) along with 100% daily water changes for 10 days-hold all food for now and cover the top with plastic veggie wrap to keep the air warm and humid-also maintain the water temp in the 76-78F range

QT container-the cup that some fish come in are great for this and you can float them in the heated tank-remember to attach it to the side of the tank so it doesn't sink and kill the Betta.

You want to keep him in the Epsom salt 24/7-I like to pre-mix the salt in a 1gal jug first-this help make correct dosage and daily water changes easier.

If you have IAL or dried oak leaves to add to the water they will also help
The Epsom salt will help with buoyancy problems

[naturegirl243]

Thanks I will try it tomorrow since I have to go to bed soon I did take pictures but they don't show anything really.Do you think it's a buoyancy problem? it's basically like his back end is a weight it's really sad to watch.

[naturegirl243]

I did what you said I woke up today and he was on the bottom of the cup laying there but he was still alive I went to get the second cup to do a water change and came back and he was twiching a little then he stopped I figured he was just trying to swim and gave up I went to put him in the other cup and he was dead.His face almost turned brown througout the process of this, I have a picture but it is a little disturbing so I won't post it for everyone to see.

[FishyFriend1]

oh no, thats too bad

[bettablue]

omg, that's horrible.... I'm really sorry for your loss...

[naturegirl243]

Thanks it's actually the first time I cried when a fish died.