[PupPetta]

Hello all,

I went away for the weekend. Water change and fed my betta Friday morning, returned Sunday night to find his gills inflamed and his "breathing" very hard and rapid. (His gills are moving in and out and his mouth is opening much wider than usual in a breathing motion). Ever since I've had him I'll notice a random chunk of tail missing and all I've gathered is that he is a tail biter and nothing I've done has stopped it. I honestly think he eats his tail when he's hungry...

So when I got back from my trip tonight, at first I thought ammonia poisoning. But I'm not sure how that would be possible since I did not leave him any longer than usual without a water change and he has never had ammonia issues before. And then when I was cleaning out his tank I found chunks of his tail.. which I had never seen before. I tried to feed him but he was unable to get a pellet down, and he actually kind of puked something up? Is it possible while I was gone he was eating his tail and now has some of it stuck in his throat? Sounds really crazy but nothing is adding up to why he is acting strange.

Anyways, I've got him being treated with aquarium salt (1 tsp/ gal) and I'm actually hoping it was some freak ammonia poisoning because that's much easier to deal with than a choking fish. Any advice would be very appreciated in regards to what I should do, or also what I should do in the future with a tail biter.


I will not be able to give any water parameters as I did an immediate water change when I saw my betta after a weekend away.

Size: 2 gal
Water changes: Every other day
Temp: 78-80 degrees

 

[Paolo Osorio]

There's a video on youtube where a guy talks about how to treat a choking betta...

 

[ANHEL123]

Hey how is your betta doing?
Did he develop any other symptoms?
How much % water your been changing for his 2 gall tank?

 

[PupPetta]

He passed away tonight. I believe he had ammonia poisoning, but I still have no clue how he got it. I was doing 100% changes. I think this may have been a contributor, even though all he has known with me was 100% changes for some reason the one before my trip must have been some fluke in my system

 

[ANHEL123]

so sorry for your loss , i was hoping he still alive. I also do only full water changes for all my tanks. So not sure what could happened. Weird, something get in to the water.
How long you had him ? Are you going to buy another one? I am assuming you don't have another betta since you saying something in the water which would effect another one if you had it.
You can just rinse the tank and everything in the tank with hot hot water and let it air dry for a week or longer to get ready for another betta. I hope you will rescue another one.

 

[ANHEL123]

Hey i just realized that i replied to your other thread yesterday. I didn't realized both post from you. I was literally by the door going to my second job and just decide to search the forum for unanswered threads . So i randomly replied to about 5 of them before i left about 1 hour late to may other work.
So sorry i am puzzled too. I also do only full water changes for all my fish and all my fish older than 2.5 y old. Not sure if he could choke on his tail. And i can't imagine what could happened with water while you was away for a few days.
Do you think anyone in your house could put something in the water by accident? Its really weird that he was fine before you went and came back to sick one.
Did you put anything new in his water when you did last change?
Could anything get in the water while you was away?
I hope it will not discourage you from rescuing another betta.