I'm losing my Mr. Delta Betta! Can you help save him?

[erishkigel]

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mr. Delta is my first fish, and until recently he's seemed to thrive~~now I am so worried~


Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank? Currently, 79-80 degrees. Night is cooler when I turn off the light
Does your tank have a filter? It did. I stopped using it when it seemed he spent his time at the bottom because the current was too strong
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? Only by the light
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets mostly, some dried bloodworms
How often do you feed your betta fish? Until he stopped eating, I fed him twice a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I was doing ½ changes weekly, full change monthly (keeping about 3 cups or so of “his”water. Last week I changed daily as per instructions from the fish store and on the “Revive” they suggested.

What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? I was using only conditioner, now adding aquarium salt as well.

Symptoms and Treatment

How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He seems bloated, much larger around the “middle” than he was. Also losing his beautiful blue and becoming brown (body)

How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He stopped eating, became lethargic


When did you start noticing the symptoms?
About 3 weeks ago ~~I came back from camping, having left him with one of those dissolvable foods, and his water was cloudy, he wasn't his usual greedy self. It took a couple of changes to get his water nice and clear again. I thought maybe I should use the filter again, tried putting a sponge over it see if that would slow it down, but it didn't seem to help and he struggled with the current, so I removed it again. I expected him to regain his appetite, but it has just become non-existent. At this point, I don't think he's eaten anything in two weeks. Occasionally he'll swim for a pellet, then spit it right out.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I added aquarium salt, and used Revive for a week, changing water daily. The water is clear and he may not be quite as lethargic, but he is not eating, is turning brown, and seems swollen. On one of those changes, I left his gravel out, to see if he was eliminating. Saw nothing, but then he's not taking anything in either. And that reminds me~ I did exchange his old gravel for new in case it was harboring bad bacterias.

Does your fish have any history of being ill? No

How old is your fish (approximately)? About a year


Sorry I couldn't get a decent pic~

[Oldfishlady]

Welcome to the forum and sorry your Betta isn't well.....I would get him start on Epsom salt (Not aquarium salt)-tannin along with 100% water changes daily for the next 10-14 days while in a small Qt container, temp in the 76-77F range.....cover the top of the QT with plastic veggie wrap to retain the heat and humidity for the labyrinth organ...

Premix the treatment water in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water-Add Epsom salt 3tsp/gal and tannins-either IAL or dried Oak leaf and let this steep for 30min to start the tannin release and salt to dissolve....Shake well before use-
Use this Treatment water for 50% water change every 15min for 1 hour today and tomorrow start 100% daily for the next 10-14 days-He need to be in a small QT container-bare bottom during this treatment-covered with plastic veggie wrap-you can float it in the heated tank-attached to the side so it doesn't sink-dim lit quiet location.....

Hold food for now and then offer small frequent meals-if you have access to mosquito larva offer some rinse for one of the meals a day...

Epsom salt can be found at most stores that has a pharmacy dept

Tannins-I use naturally dried and fallen from the tree Oak leaf-use 12-18 crushed per gallon of remixed treatment water

Keep us posted

[Miyazawa]

Originally Posted by erishkigel

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mr. Delta is my first fish, and until recently he's seemed to thrive~~now I am so worried~


Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank? Currently, 79-80 degrees. Night is cooler when I turn off the light
Does your tank have a filter? It did. I stopped using it when it seemed he spent his time at the bottom because the current was too strong
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? Only by the light
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets mostly, some dried bloodworms
How often do you feed your betta fish? Until he stopped eating, I fed him twice a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I was doing ½ changes weekly, full change monthly (keeping about 3 cups or so of “his”water. Last week I changed daily as per instructions from the fish store and on the “Revive” they suggested.

What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? I was using only conditioner, now adding aquarium salt as well.

Symptoms and Treatment

How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He seems bloated, much larger around the “middle” than he was. Also losing his beautiful blue and becoming brown (body)

How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He stopped eating, became lethargic


When did you start noticing the symptoms?
About 3 weeks ago ~~I came back from camping, having left him with one of those dissolvable foods, and his water was cloudy, he wasn't his usual greedy self. It took a couple of changes to get his water nice and clear again. I thought maybe I should use the filter again, tried putting a sponge over it see if that would slow it down, but it didn't seem to help and he struggled with the current, so I removed it again. I expected him to regain his appetite, but it has just become non-existent. At this point, I don't think he's eaten anything in two weeks. Occasionally he'll swim for a pellet, then spit it right out.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I added aquarium salt, and used Revive for a week, changing water daily. The water is clear and he may not be quite as lethargic, but he is not eating, is turning brown, and seems swollen. On one of those changes, I left his gravel out, to see if he was eliminating. Saw nothing, but then he's not taking anything in either. And that reminds me~ I did exchange his old gravel for new in case it was harboring bad bacterias.

Does your fish have any history of being ill? No

How old is your fish (approximately)? About a year


Sorry I couldn't get a decent pic~

You should change water a little bit more frequent. Since dirty water makes your Betta very very prone to disease. I suggest a 50% and a 100% per week. Maybe you can skip the 50% if you have a filter.

[betaguy]

how much did you feed him? number of pellets during feeding.

[betaguy]

and bloodworms are more of a treat few and far between, they shouldnt be included in everyday feeding.

[Bambi]

I'm wondering how mmany pellets aswell?


Has he been er..pooping regularly? If not could be constipation?
http://www.petfish.net/articles/Bettas/constipation.php

[Oldfishlady]

The most likely cause was the feeder block...which is something you shouldn't use with this species since they will often try and eat all of it at one time and then along with the water quality issue that went along with the feeder block and lack of proper water changes...

In a 1gal unfiltered tank-water changes of twice weekly-1-50% and 1-100% to maintain water quality-provided that the Betta isn't overfed and uneaten food is removed within a reasonable time.....

With a filter in a 1gal-50% twice weekly...1-50% water only and 1-50% to include substrate cleaning by vacuum or stir and dip method....

[erishkigel]

Thank you~

OK, I just put a T of Epsom salts in the gal setting out for tomorrow morn ~has the conditioner in already. The tannin is more problematic~ I don't live in an oak tree area. I will call the fish store first thing to see if they have the almond leaves. If not, will tea leaves work? I know tea contains tannins.

I'll get another gal of water started now with the conditioner. Am I understanding, once I have tannins to steep in his water, I should change four times in an hour, then leave (with or without tannin and epsom salts?) and repeat the next day. Then continue with 100% changes daily for 10-14 days. That is also with epsom and tannins ?

I would go ahead and switch him to epsom water now, but it hasn't been sitting long enough :( I can, tho, try the pea treatment, and see if he'll take a littllle of that.

Originally Posted by Oldfishlady

Welcome to the forum and sorry your Betta isn't well.....I would get him start on Epsom salt (Not aquarium salt)-tannin along with 100% water changes daily for the next 10-14 days while in a small Qt container, temp in the 76-77F range.....cover the top of the QT with plastic veggie wrap to retain the heat and humidity for the labyrinth organ...

Premix the treatment water in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water-Add Epsom salt 3tsp/gal and tannins-either IAL or dried Oak leaf and let this steep for 30min to start the tannin release and salt to dissolve....Shake well before use-
Use this Treatment water for 50% water change every 15min for 1 hour today and tomorrow start 100% daily for the next 10-14 days-He need to be in a small QT container-bare bottom during this treatment-covered with plastic veggie wrap-you can float it in the heated tank-attached to the side so it doesn't sink-dim lit quiet location.....

Hold food for now and then offer small frequent meals-if you have access to mosquito larva offer some rinse for one of the meals a day...

Epsom salt can be found at most stores that has a pharmacy dept

Tannins-I use naturally dried and fallen from the tree Oak leaf-use 12-18 crushed per gallon of remixed treatment water

Keep us posted

[Silverfang]

some people have used green tea, but the caveat is it must be caffeine free, flavor free, just plain decaf leaves. For the Indian almond leaves you generally have to order them online.

[erishkigel]

Has he been er..pooping regularly? If not could be constipation?
http://www.petfish.net/articles/Bettas/constipation.php[/quote]


It could be. He's not pooping now, but I don't know if that is because he's not eating or because he's constipated. His swelling looks alot like the pics in this article. So, I have a pea becoming squishy to try (I'll let you know if he eats any) and epsom salt in the water thats conditioning for tomorrow. Thanks for this link.

How many pellets would vary~~3-4 larger ones or 6 -8 small ones. I did ask at the fish store because I hated that everything would just tell me 'as much as they'll eat in 2-5 (depending on the source) minutes. The people at the store tolld me not to worry, I couldn't overfeed him, he'd just stop eating.