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New Betta (almost 2 weeks old) is he ok?

881 views 7 replies 2 participants last post by  Sakura8 
#1 ·
I have a semi-active Red colored betta fish.

I am unaware to the exact breed/make/model of this lovely fish. =oP

He's in a 2.5 gal. heated, non-filtered, non pH tested (but pH medicated) tank. No sharp edges inside, just a few fake plants that he loves to sleep on.

So at times, he lays on the leaves of the fake plants... other times he's on the bottom, and then other times he's swimming around darting around.

Attached is a photo of the fish. I am a professional photographer, so I used my 1:1 macro lens. It picks up the most minute of details and dust/bubbles/etc.

I see a few white specs on him (confirmed that they are present in other photos in the same spot), but they do not look like ICK to me, as I've had tetras that have had ick before and it never looked like this.

As far as I know... I'm FAR from an expert.

I just want "Red" as my daughter named him, to live... He doesn't flare much, but he lives in my office and it's quite quiet and nice in here.

He feeds on the packet of flakes that came with his aquarium kit (made for bettas), and I perform 50% water changes once a week.

I know the ammonia could of been high in the tank, we just completed a 50% change tonight, so I hope that helps with lethargicness (sp?).

Thanks everyone for your help... I just don't want this lovely beautiful fish to die from something stupid I could have prevented or helped with.


AND now the picture!



I have confirmed that he has a little bit of blackend tips at the end of his main fins (on the back of the fish). He's always had them, and because of his deep red coloring I've read it might be "fin rot", or the start of it?

Thanks again everyone!

-tlmiller10
 
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#2 ·
Hi tlmiller and welcome to the forum. :) I envy you and your professional photography skills, that is a beautiful picture of your guy. I see the white spots and my first thought is ich. So . . . hmm. Do you think the white spots may be simply dirt/dust in the tank that settled on him while he was lethargic? Do the spots disappear or always stay there? And are the spots multiplying quickly? Another possibility to consider is fish lice. Does he rub up against anything like decorations or the tank wall as if he's trying to rub something off?

As for his fins, if it is fin rot, the tips will be very ratty and large pieces of fin will simply fall off/melt off. If none of this has happened, he may just have darker tips.

Hehe, thanks to that macro lens of yours the gravel is in great detail - I never realized the neon gravel looked so much like Fruity Pebbles cereal!
 
#3 ·
Hi tlmiller and welcome to the forum. :) I envy you and your professional photography skills, that is a beautiful picture of your guy. I see the white spots and my first thought is ich. So . . . hmm. Do you think the white spots may be simply dirt/dust in the tank that settled on him while he was lethargic? Do the spots disappear or always stay there? And are the spots multiplying quickly? Another possibility to consider is fish lice. Does he rub up against anything like decorations or the tank wall as if he's trying to rub something off?

As for his fins, if it is fin rot, the tips will be very ratty and large pieces of fin will simply fall off/melt off. If none of this has happened, he may just have darker tips.

Hehe, thanks to that macro lens of yours the gravel is in great detail - I never realized the neon gravel looked so much like Fruity Pebbles cereal!
I will keep an eye on him, but he has been "rubbing" up against things lately... but he's always been a very lazy fish. Takes LOTS of naps.

-tlmiller10
 
#4 ·
You can take him out of his tank and put him in a small QT container. A 1 gallon tank or even the cup he came in from the pet store if you still have it. If he is rubbing up against things, I'm beginning to think he has an external parasite. It could be ich or it could be something else. Either way, it's probably best to treat him with aquarium salt and see if that helps. Mix up one gallon of dechlorinated water and one tsp of aquarium salt. After the salt has dissolved, use this water for his QT. Change the water every day and redo the salt for five days, keeping an eye out for any parasites that may have dropped off. It's important to do the water changes because you want to get rid of any parasites that drop off before they decide to get back on. Also raise the temp of his QT (if you can) to around 82-84*. This speeds up the life cycle of the parasites. If he still looks like he has parasites after five days, increase the salt to two tsp per gallon. If not, continue for another five days at one tsp per gallon. Hopefully this will do the trick of getting rid of whatever parasite he may have, be they skin or gill flukes, ich, or fish lice.
 
#5 ·
You can take him out of his tank and put him in a small QT container. A 1 gallon tank or even the cup he came in from the pet store if you still have it. If he is rubbing up against things, I'm beginning to think he has an external parasite. It could be ich or it could be something else. Either way, it's probably best to treat him with aquarium salt and see if that helps. Mix up one gallon of dechlorinated water and one tsp of aquarium salt. After the salt has dissolved, use this water for his QT. Change the water every day and redo the salt for five days, keeping an eye out for any parasites that may have dropped off. It's important to do the water changes because you want to get rid of any parasites that drop off before they decide to get back on. Also raise the temp of his QT (if you can) to around 82-84*. This speeds up the life cycle of the parasites. If he still looks like he has parasites after five days, increase the salt to two tsp per gallon. If not, continue for another five days at one tsp per gallon. Hopefully this will do the trick of getting rid of whatever parasite he may have, be they skin or gill flukes, ich, or fish lice.
I'll see what I can do about raising his temp... but the heater is an auto-regulating one currently. We have a 2nd tank with guppies, with an adjustable heater, I could possibly take it out and put it into his tank.

-tlmiller10
 
#7 ·
Well... they do.

But we could easily take out the smaller heater (originally came with the 10 gallon tank setup), and cleanse it properly of possible ick/etc.

THEN, transplant the larger heater into the QT tank (I have a 1.3 gallon tub, that has never seen soap, or chemicals...), and then start the salt/bath/treatments.

It's a plan... I'll check on him in the morning, and if I see any extra "dots", or if they are larger, then I'll start treatment right away.

Thanks for the help... I was a few days late (due to work), changing his water this time. He probably got stressed and ikc happened.

-tlmiller10
 
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