Help! Whats wrong with my fish?

[caitic10]

Housing
What size is your tank? He as in a 5 gallon divided, so his space was 2.5 gallons. His quarantine tank which he is in now is about .8-1.5 gallons.
What temperature is your tank? I am looking for my thermoniter
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? He's in a divided tank with another male. The othe rmale is not showing any symptoms.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Two in the morning, two at night, fast one day a week

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 2-3 times a week in the five gallon, once a day in the quarantine tank.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? In the five gallon: 50%, 50% then 100%. In qurantine: 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? I usually only add Nutrafin Betta Plus water conditioner, but today in the quarantine tank I added a little Jungle Start Right aswell. He was showing the symptoms before I added the Jungle stuff.

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? First, his anal fin was missing a chunk and had two white specks on it. The next day, the bottom of his quarantine tank was covered in weird transparent strands. Today, there were more strands and some were coming off of his fins.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He is his usual self.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Three days ago. I only noticed the strands yesterday.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? He is in quarantine with very clean water. I am changing his water everyday.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No.
How old is your fish (approximately)? I got him less than a month ago, so maybe 5 months -2 years?

Please help! He is so new, I only got him a few weeks ago. He is my first and only halfmoon and I was so excited to get him. He doesn't have a name yet.

I will upload pics soon.

[EverythingNice55]

Hmm, the little guy is just getting used to his new home?

I suggest you make sure that his fins didn't get caught in the dividers if there are any sharp point or little holes.

You came to the right place, so you'll get an answer from an expert betta owner. I'm a newbie. Good luck, I hope he gets better!

[TequilatheBetta]

To me, it sounds like a case of excess slime, the protective slime of the fish. When i clean out my tanks I always find those strands on the bottom of the tank, and when I rub it it comes out. Try a little extra AQ salt, or wait for a real expert to come along :)

[caitic10]

I have never noticed the strands before. And when he was is the bare bottom quarantine this morning, the bottom was COVERED in strands.

[Myates]

It sounds like excess slime coating, which happens when they are fighting off some sort of sickness, or exposure to harmful chemicals like metal.
The chunk that is missing, does it look like a bite was taken out, or ripped? Is there black edging on his fins along with fraying/shredding?
Something in his tank he is not agreeing with, so I would do a water change in his main tank, 100%. Use his regular water conditioner, start right and stress coat helps promote the growth and all that good stuff.. but right now he is having issues with too much of it.. so I would stop using that for now, along with tannins if you can.
With your divider, are you using paper clips or some sort to hold it against the glass? If so, look to see if there is any rusting metal, also look at plants/betta hammock (bed) which usually has metal in it.
Normally clean water helps with the slime coat problems, it's finding the root of the trouble that is the hardest.

[caitic10]

It looks like the piece of fin was never there. Its just gone. No black edging, but what looks like new fin growth.

So I stop adding the Start Right and just use their regular water conditioner? Do I add stress coat? Should I add IAL? Sorry, Im a little confused...:P

The divider has two hooks that hook onto the outside of the tank. The metal is not in the water.

His plants are plastic, nothing is metal.

[Myates]

Start Right/Stress Coat are the same thing. I want to just say do daily 100% water changes on him with his regular water conditioner for a few days until he clears up.
Just don't know what happened to him to begin with. Did you get a new decor or new conditioner?
If you have IAL, then yes use it. If not, it's not a must, just nice to have tannins around because they can be beneficial to their health and healing.

I'm debating on whether to use AQ salt... I would ask either OFL, Sakura8 or even Pala on that. Usually excess coating means he is warding off/fighting something, so he may have an underlying issue that needs to be treated as well.

[caitic10]

No new decor or additives.

He seems to of stopped....Should I still be worried?

[Myates]

Just keep him in there for another 2 days, changing the water 50% today and tomorrow.. if he seems like his old self on Tues I would go ahead and put him back in his home. Just make sure you do/did 100% water change since you taken him out to make sure whatever was in there is gone. Rinse out the substrate real good as well. If he starts showing signs of illness then it will be easier to determine what is going on, such as clamped fins, loss of color, appetite, fungus, etc.

This is assuming when you say stopped that the strands are gone and he looks healthy once more.

[caitic10]

The quarantine tank is empty, execpt for him. I followed instructions can changed the water yesrterday and today.

One of the strands is coming out of his eye!!! The strands were gone...now one is coming out of his eye!? Im scared!