Another Rescue

[LolaQuigs]

I knew I shouldn't have gone into Petco. :( This guy looks pretty awful. His fins are a wreck; it looks like fin rot on his caudal, and his dorsal is shredded.

There are also a bunch of black spots on his dorsal fin. I know the pictures are terrible, but do they look like fin rot, his normal color, fungus, or something else?

He's also got some black spots on his body. Are these lesions/scars, or could they be fungus?

I was planning on putting him in an 82* 1 gallon hospital tank with no substrate, just a silk plant, and an aquarium salt treatment (1 tsp, daily water changes for 7-10 days) to treat his wounded fins and kill any potential parasites, but if he has a fungus I don't really know what to do, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know if I'm imagining it or not, but it seems like his breathing is labored, so I'm afraid he might not last long. But if he doesn't make it, at least he will have gotten to leave that nasty little cup for a while. If anyone has a diagnosis, and/or advice for treatment I'd love the help. Thanks.

[Luimeril]

he's beautiful! :O i hope he gets better! ;A;

[LolaQuigs]

Thank you, so do I!

I was just reading up on fin rot, and found that the water temp should be on the low side of the betta range. This is good because I believe cooler water also helps treat fungus--if he has it (anyone please correct me if I'm wrong).

So now...I will try to get the water down to 77 (he's still in his cup at the moment so no worries about shocking him with temp changes) and do the 7-10 day aq salt treatment in his 1 gallon qt tank. Does that sound like a good plan? Again, if anyone has any suggestions as to what the dots on his fin and the dark spots on his body are, I'd appreciate it!

Is it safe to treat with decaf green tea? Do I just stick a tea bag in the new water I'm treating for water changes, and then take it out when I put the water in his tank? I might pick some up tomorrow if it's a good idea to use it.

[Luimeril]

i've heard it was good, but i've never used it myself.

[Crazykat]

I've seen those black dots on some of the females in the lfs. I'd also be interested in knowing if they're a pattern or something else. Your boy is very pretty.

[LolaQuigs]

Oh I don't think he's doing well at all. I gradually transitioned him into his qt tank, and he just lay crumpled on the bottom. Eventually he did slowly make his way to the top to get a breath and I took the chance to drop in a few pellets. He ate them, which is a good sign but he still seems to have difficulty breathing. I'm hoping it's not long-term gill damage. He moves so slowly and looks very weak. He got stuck in between a leaf of his silk plant and the side of the tank and barely had the strength to swim out, so I took out the plant. It seems very laborious for him to get to the surface so I lowered the water level; he's proably in a half gallon of water now.

[dramaqueen]

Poor thing! I hope he gets better. He's very pretty.

[Pekemom]

How's he doing, Lola? How kind of you to give him some tender, loving care...

[Slipstitch]

It's terrible how "pet stores" treat bettas sometimes... I just got my first one from walmart, if I could have afforded it, I'd have bought all six and the appropriate containers. The poor things... Filthy water, not much water, some of them had pieces of their fins floating around in the water with them... Mean. I hope your betta has pulled through okay.

[Aluyasha]

It is such a tragedy when we lose/almost lose Bettas based on the fact that the stores that sell them just are "not in the mood" to give them fresh water.
I lost Darcia just because Walmart did not feel like changing his water.

He is stunning, I hope he pulls through. He deserves a nice big tank with lots of plants and food every day. Please keep us posted.