Fishy Emergency! Please Help...

[AndiMcAwesome]

Hello All,

I have a handsome little fellow named Mr. Waffles who decided to get himself into a conundrum yesterday. He swam inside his castle and found I tunnel that I didn't know existed and got himself stuck. I helped get him out and he was lethargic with some parts of his dorsal fin missing and his anal tail has a decent portion missing.

He ate a little last night and wasn't using his left "side" fin. He's using the side fin today and seems more active. He has a filtered tank (I removed the carbon and left the "bubbly" part in because he actually likes the noise/vibration) and added BettaFix and some water conditioner. I'm going to do a 50% water change today--I didn't want to cause more stress on the little guy by doing it last night. I removed and discarded the castle entirely.

Is there anything else I should be doing? I feel so bad for Mr. Waffles. I checked on him throughout the night and am doing everything I can to nurse him back to health...

He has some "white" areas now where the damage was (dorsal, a little caudal and some on his hind tail). Is this a normal part of the fishy healing process?

He was perfectly healthy before he decided to be a little adventuresome fellow...

Thank you for all of your help in advance... I'm a nurse and know how to save people, but need a little help from experts when it comes to this little guy.


-Andi

[Pataflafla]

If he's more active today, that's a good sign.

I'd keep his water extra clean with a few extra weekly changes and watch him closely. I also don't recommend using the bettafix again as there is a chemical in there that has the possibility of harming their labrynth organ if overdosed (Same with Melafix, which is just a stronger version of bettafix) the ingredient is tea tree oil and it makes a film on top of the water, making it harm for them to get to the surface to breath as well as being inhaled when they breathe.

If the white starts to look fungusy at all, start on 1 tsp/gal aquarium salt and do daily water changes. 100% daily makes it the easiest to redose on the aquarium salt effectively and safely.

For healing fins, it'll usually be a smooth whitish/clear portion where the tail was bit or ripped.

[AndiMcAwesome]

I will do a 100% water change today and stop the usage of the BettaFix. The person at the pet store told me that it would help bring him out of his "shock" state and assist in the repair of his damaged fins/scales.

Can you elaborate on what symptoms I might look for with fish fungal infections?

He hasn't been too hungry today and I'm worried about the little guy, but I figure that his little body is probably recovering from the SHOCK of being trapped and his appetite isn't 100% yet. He ate a few pellets last night, but isn't too interested today. I hope he doesn't have internal injuries from being stuck...

He's very special to me and I'm doing my best to save him <3

Thank you for replying so quickly--he's never been "finjured" before and I didn't know what to do...

[Pataflafla]

Fungus tends to be fuzzy, almost cottony with some.

•Symptoms: White cottony like patches on its body or head, Lethargic, Not eating, Clamped Fins, Pale Colors
•Treatment: Conservative: Lower temperature below 76* F and treat with Aq.Salt at 1 tsp/gal. Increase water changes to 100% daily. Replace accurate amount of salt following water changes. Never continue salt treatments for more than 10 days. Medication: If Conservative treatment is ineffective after 10 days or you see the fungus spread rapidly during the course of conservative treatment, move to medication. Add “Fungus Eliminator” by Jungle, API Erythromycin, API Fungus Cure, API Triple Sulfa, OR Mardel’s Maracyn II. Change water every day and add a new dose of the same medication. Continue until all fungus has disappeared.

If he's got open wounds from being trapped, those can be treated with clean water and aquarium salt at 1 tsp/gal (mix it up in some tank water so there aren't any salt crystal left).