sick fish :'(

[bborglund]

I have a veil tailed male betta fish named Bluey (he's blue). For about a week and 1/2 now he has been lying at the bottom of the tank. I have moved him to a separate hospital tank. He has refused any food. At first his belly was swollen, but he went to the bathroom and then his belly went away. He has been looking worse still. The man at petco said to try the pea treatment, but Bluey refused to try it. I have been doing water changes about every six days. It appears as if he is struggling to breathe and he looks as if he is in a lot of pain...
Anybody have any ideas on how to help?

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 80
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? hikari pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? once a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? every 6 days
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aqua safe water conditioner and aquarium salt

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
No

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? extreme loss of color
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He is laying at the bottom on the tank with gills moving quickly. when comes to top, struggles to stay a float and swims very sporadically
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 1 1/2 weeks ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? hospital tank, pea treatment.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? had a fungus a couple months ago.
How old is your fish (approximately)? 6 months- year

[turtle10]

Originally Posted by bborglund

I have a veil tailed male betta fish named Bluey (he's blue). For about a week and 1/2 now he has been lying at the bottom of the tank. I have moved him to a separate hospital tank. He has refused any food. At first his belly was swollen, but he went to the bathroom and then his belly went away. He has been looking worse still. The man at petco said to try the pea treatment, but Bluey refused to try it. I have been doing water changes about every six days. It appears as if he is struggling to breathe and he looks as if he is in a lot of pain...
Anybody have any ideas on how to help?

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 80
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? hikari pellets
Switch to a new brand, Hikari isn't good anymore.
How often do you feed your betta fish? once a day
Feed twice a day, about 2-3 pellets.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? every 6 days
In a one gallon tank you need to be doing 100% change ever day or at least every other day. Ammonia will build fast in something that small in 6 days.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aqua safe water conditioner and aquarium salt
Aquarium salt is only to be used for treating disease, not as a regular additive.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
No

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? extreme loss of color
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He is laying at the bottom on the tank with gills moving quickly. when comes to top, struggles to stay a float and swims very sporadically
This sounds like ammonia poisoning.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 1 1/2 weeks ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? hospital tank, pea treatment.
Though peas are sometimes recommended, they are actually not very good for bettas and can do more harm than good. Use daphnia instead
Does your fish have any history of being ill? had a fungus a couple months ago.
How old is your fish (approximately)? 6 months- year

It sounds like he is suffering from bad water. You just need to do more water changes and do a ten day aquarium salt treatment.

[Oldfishlady]

Welcome to the forum and sorry your Betta isn't well.....

In a 1gal unfiltered tank I would make twice weekly water changes 1-50% and 1-100% to maintain water quality....

Right now-I would get him in a small QT container that can be floated in a heated tank to maintain water temp in the 76-77F range and it needs to be small, clear and bare bottom with no more than 3-4 inches of water so he can get to the top to breath with little effort, cover the top with plastic veggie wrap to retain the heat and humidity for his labyrinth organ and start Epsom salt 2tsap/gal along with 100% daily water changes....

Pre-mix the treatment water in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water-add Epsom salt 2tsp/gal (Not aquarium salt) and tannins if you have either IAL or oak leaf...use this water for the 100% daily water changes for 10-14 days....

Hold food for now and on day 3 offer live food-mosquito larva or frozen food (Not freeze dried) 2 times a day...if you only have pellets-feed half his normal feeding twice a day every other day during treatment.....

Keep us posted....