Is Red diseased??

[Red and Bob]

So after about four years in my care I think Reds time with me is coming to an end. ='( Last night I noticed he was just laying at the bottom of the tank, like he had just died, but when I opened the feeder area he perked right up and was swimming around. After he swam around a bit he layed back down on the floor of the tank. I noticed he has a belly on him, which is weird because I don't feed him excessively. Maybe its because he's old? Also, he's got tiny white specks on him almost looking like air bubbles (they could be air bubbles but i've never seen them on him before) and a mark on his back. I will try and get as best pictures I can of him.


Housing
What size is your tank? 5 Gallon
What temperature is your tank? Room temp
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? I am not sure
Is your tank heated? No, but I plan on getting a heater soon.
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? My Pleco, Bob

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? I was feeding Aqueon betta food, but I just switched to Omega One tropical fish pellets.
How often do you feed your betta fish? 5 - 6 days a week

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Every 2-3 months, needs one now I think.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? All of it.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Top Fin Water Conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? White specks on body and one scar looking one on his back.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He's lethargic. He only swims when he thinks im giving him food. Then he just lays at the bottom.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Last night, 11/28
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? 4 years

[Red and Bob]

You can kind of see the white specks in one of the pictures if you look closely, but see what I mean that he's only staying at the bottom of the tank. He swam around a little when I was taking pictures but he kept resting. Whats going on??

[TaylorW]

I think it might be Ick (or Ich) from poor water quality, not his age! Don't be so hasty to count the old man out! :P

He really needs a 100% water change once a week, once every 2-3 months is not good for your little guy :(

Pick up some aquarium salt and a heater, then crank the heat up to 82 degrees F and add aquarium salt for 7 days. Or you can use QuickCure from Walmart instead of salt, make sure to used the dose for tetras! The water must be warm to cure ich because it is a parasite that will only come off the fish in warm water. Once it is off the fish, you fish's immune system will kick in and fight it or the medicine in the water will kill them. That will help his ich!

I would google Ich if I were you to get a general idea of how the parasite functions.

[Malvolti]

To me it looks like it could be Ick, but there are other diseases that look like Ick but aren't so I can't give a definite diagnosis.

First he needs a warmer tank, you said you're getting a heater soon so that's good. You should also be doing water changes weekly, not every 2-3 months. Fish and fish food release a lot of invisible toxins into their water that build up fast. Poor water quality then makes them susceptible to disease.

The best treatment right now would be to do daily water changes, roughly 50% should be good. You can also try adding 1tsp of aquarium salt per gallon.

EDIT: Taylor beat me to it!

[TaylorW]

Hehe, sorry Malvolti! ;)

[fleetfish]

2 -3 MONTHS?

A 5 Gallon tank NEEDS to be changed at least once per two weeks with partial waterchanges in between. From the looks of it, your betta has Ich, caused by dirty water conditions. I would immediately take your betta out of the tank and place it in a hospital container, with a heater at around 82 degrees. From there, a daily waterchange is a MUST if you want him to recover.

Edit: Taylor beat me too!

[TaylorW]

Sorry to you too Fleetfish! :P

Unfortunately, if Red's owner was taking pet sore advice, they would have told him that was plenty of water changes :/

[Red and Bob]

Im so glad I joined this forum. I've grown quite attached to my betta in the 4 years I've had him. I will try and get those things as soon as possible. Would ich have to do with him being lethargic?

Also, what wattage heater should I get for a 5 gallon tank? Petsmart seems to only sell 10 watts and up online. Maybe they have more in the store.

[Malvolti]

You'll probably want a 25w. 10w are only for up to 2.5 gallons. You'll also want it to be adjustable and submersible. It will tell you all of this on the front of the package.

Most illnesses will make your fish lethargic, as will poor water quality and low temperatures.

[Oldfishlady]

If you haven't changed your water in a couple of months I would be careful changing out too much at a time and causing a nitrate and/or pH shock...especially with the pleco-and what type and how big is the pleco? regardless, the pleco really needs to be rehomed to a 20gal if it is a bushynose type and a common type to 125gal or bigger and I would not use any aquarium salt with the pleco or most medications for that matter-some pleco can be really sensitive.

Do you have any water pram readings? If the nitrate is over 60ppm I would make small percent daily water changes to start and increase by 10% every 3 days with gravel vacuum every 3rd day until you get to 50% and then daily 50% with deep vacuum and if it is Ich you can manually remove it with the vacuum...careful raising the temp up too fast with compromised fish like this-especially if your tank has high nitrate-since high nitrate can affect the immune response and you could end up with columnaris or dead fish...