Cryo's recovery- struggles to swim, black speckles?

[Norichan]

Pretty self-explanatory. I've had Cryo for a couple of weeks now. While the rips in his fins are doing quite well, he's still having a few issues that concern me.

1) He seems to struggle to float, which makes me worry about maybe swim bladder problems? If he wants to be near the surface, he has to sit on something, or else he struggles to stay up there. It *looks* like the weight of his tail drags him down... that's how the movement goes, his back end steadily droops, and his little fins and his poor tail and up moving frantically to keep him afloat. But he's not bloated or distended or anything...?

2) He has kind of an odd coloration on his fins (not his body at all). I didn't notice until I got a close look at him, but there are really tiny black speckles all across his fins. Barely perceptible, you have to be right up against the tank and he has to be close for you to see them. They aren't holes, they don't appear to be growths, but I'm not sure if it's a problem or a natural occurrence?

[youlovegnats]

Could you fill out the sticky and maybe give us a picture? That would help a lot. :)

[earthworm88]

Hi Norichan,
1) Sounds like your guy is having SBD problem. Try to lower the water level enough to about 2-3 inches so that he can get to the surface easier to breath (low height and wide base container is ideal). I would start him on Epsom salt treatment to see if the SBD will go away. If the SBD is due to the digestive system, this will help. Is he bloated? What do you feed him? If it's chronic or genetics, then that's nothing you can do except to make him comfortable in the shallow water. 1 tsp Epsom salt pre-dissolved in 1 gal of pre-conditioned water and change the water daily.

2) The black specks you mentioned, are they along the rays of the fins? I suspect it may be the natural pattern/coloring of him. If you are worry, it may be best to put up a photo? Mine have them too

p/s: for more accurate "diagnosis" and "treatment", it will be best if you could fill out the sticky on the main page so that the people here can you better.

Good luck!
Cheers

[Norichan]

Photo not really possible =/ All I have at the moment is a cell-phone camera, really low-quality.

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5
What temperature is your tank? Unknown, but my room is always a steady temperature.
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? There's one in the filter?
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Omega-One Betta Pellets, and occasional freeze-dried bloodworms. He prefers the pellets.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Daily. If he doesn't seem to eat enough, I'll drop in a few more pellets later. I always clean out the soggy ones.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50% one week, 100% the next.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Just some conditioner to remove anything harmful in the water.

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

Ammonia: The only thing I'm currently able to test for. Readings are always good, 'ideal' most of the time, or 'safe.'
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He's only started to look BETTER since he got here.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? It hasn't- what concerns me is that it persists.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? About a week before I adopted him.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No, because I didn't want to do anything that might potentially harm him. I've just been feeding him lots of protein so his fins will heal, and keeping the water super-clean.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Unknown.
How old is your fish (approximately)? Maybe a year or two? Not entirely sure.

[youlovegnats]

What temperature is your tank at? I noticed that you don't have a heater- and this might be the base of the problem. Cold water can cause bettas to become listless.