New Thai betta having issues....

[PitGurl]

I was hoping my new DTPK would improve by now but he hasn't so I'm looking for some advice. He arrived around 11 am this morning and I noticed he was having some buoyancy issues in the shipping bag. He tilted to one side and struggled to reach the surface. I floated him for about a 1/2 hour and then started slowly adding tank water into the bag. I decided to put him in a cup rather then into the tank to help him breath easier. He is in 2 inches of water with some oak leaf extract. He sits with his mouth just out of the water. He'll be upright and then slowly tilt to the left until he is almost on his side and then he'll adjust himself. I'm guessing it's a swimbladder issue, especially since he's a DT. I've been hesitent to add anything to the water other then oak leaf because I don't want to stress him out further. The water in his tank is around 78 degrees. Any suggestions? Thanks...

[fishman12]

Sounds like SBD. QT him, add 1 tsp/gallon, pre-mixed in the QT tank. 100% water change every day, another dose of epsom

[LittleBettaFish]

It could just be the stress of shipping still giving him issues. Once he's fully acclimatised to your water I would just leave him floating in a shallow container in the main tank so the water stays warm.

Then I'd put a towel around it all and keep the room dark so as not to further stress him out. Because he's only just arrived, I wouldn't go all gung ho on treating him. Hopefully good water, some fasting and a bit more time to settle in should fix him.

[Oldfishlady]

Dang...thats no way for a new fish to act....you acclimated him properly....he may need more time....but I would go ahead and cover the top of the container with plastic veggie wrap to retain the heat and humidity for the labyrinth organ and add more tannins.....crush up some leaves and add to the container and I would even add some Epsom salt 1tsp/gal to start...dissolve some in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated tannin stained water and make 10-20% water changes every 20-30min over 3-4 hours to his tolerance...light out in a low traffic area...hopefully its just stress and jet-lag.......

[PitGurl]

Well I'm happy to announce that Loki appears to be back to normal ! He was still having issues as of this morning but I just got home from work and he was zooming around his cup looking less then thrilled at his situation. I'm going keep him in the cup till this evening and if he still looks good I'm going to release him into his new home. Thanks everyone for your suggestions .

[Oldfishlady]

Great...good to hear he is better.......they do like to keep us on our toes..laffs.......look forward to seeing more pics......he is a looker....

[LittleBettaFish]

Glad to hear he's settling into his new home. My Thai imports have always been the most sensitive. One of mine lays on the bottom of his tank during water changes.

Loki is one of my favourite tail types. Plakats are so much more feisty than their halfmoon counterparts, and additionally, there's no tailbiting.