[ANONA]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum. I have been doing on research on what to do for my Betta. She has been laying on the bottom of the tank and some days she is breathing heavily, I have been going on for a month straight medicating the water and doing water changes with no significant improvement to her health. I believe the medication is now starting to affect the other fish and frogs negatively. I have noticed now that my African dwarf frog is developing blister like bumps. I am not sure if the water has a harmful bacteria or fungus affecting my fish but my water conditions are pretty good. I just don't see what else could possibly be the culprit. Anyway, my main concern and goal right now is to bring my Betta back to normal health.

I have had my female betta for over 5 months. She was white when I bought her and she eventually developed red stripes throughout her body, I am aware this could be a sign that the water conditions aren't great and that it is burning her poor body. But I have been taking care of the water like a freak to ensure her health.
I bought a master test kit; here are the results of the water conditions:

PH: 7.6-7.8
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 40ppm
Temperature: 78 F

I have recently added in a PH neutralizer to bring the PH to a 7.0, as for everything else is normal and good. I only use Seachem medicine since they have the best reviews and it has always worked well for me.

Her condition so far:

She floats to the bottom and lays on her side
Some days breathing heavy
Swims to the top very well to get air, but then floats down
Has the energy to swim to the top to eat
Sometimes like to sit at the top of a plant closer to the surface of water
When she swims, its with great effort to stay up, her bottom pulls down and she tries her best with her fins to keep her up

So far I have used StressGuard, ParaGuard, Neutral Regulator, aquarium salt, Prime, and Stability. As mentioned before; mostly seachem products. I believe they may be keeping her alive but its not helping much. I feed her OmegaOne Freeze dried Blood worms. She has two other fishes in the tank along with two frogs. Its a 10 gallon aquarium. I have changed the water a few times within this month, changed the filter cartridge, Medicated the water. I only feed once a day to keep ammonia levels low. I have owned this aquarium for over a year and always fed once a day, it works best for the health of the aquarium. I don't really know what else to try. I do not have another aquarium to hospitalize her apart. What can anyone recommend to me to help her out? Pains me to see her like this

 

[ANONA]

How many gallons is your tank? 10 gallons
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? No
What temperature is your tank? 78 F
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? 1 Loach, 1 small bottom feeder,, 2 African dwarf frogs

Food:
What food brand do you use? Omega One
Do you feed flakes or pellets? N/A
Freeze-dried? Yes; Blood Worms
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? once a day

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? once a month and half
What percentage of water did you change? 20 - 30 percent
What is the source of your water? Tap Water from sink
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? I suction out the waste
What additives do you use other than conditioner? What brand of conditioner? Seachem Prime, and stability; Neutral Regulator, Paraguard, Stressguard

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 40 ppm
pH: 7.8
Hardness (GH): N/A
Alkalinity (KH): N/A

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? 1 month and half ago
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? Not much, she developed red stripes after a while of owning her but lived healthy
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? she cant stay up, her lower body drags her down, sometimes breathes heavy
Is your Betta still eating? yes, she tries when she swims up for food
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? Yes, Medicating daily with Stress Guard, sometimes with Paraguard. Water changes - I noticed water changes stress her more
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? No
How long have you owned your Betta? over 5 months
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? No

 

[Rose of sharon]

Welcome to the forum!

I am so sorry that your betta baby is having so many issues! I did read your other post with the emergency template answers. Maybe the moderators will be able to merge them, as they are for the same issue.

I will do my best to help!

Could you post a pic of your betta? It would actually be very helpful. If you could take both side view pics and a pic from above, that would be great.

I strongly recommend treating the betta in a separate hospital tank. It doesn't have to be an actual tank. It can be a clean plastic tote. I use a glass cookie jar sometimes. You have too many other tank mates in the main tank that are probably being affected by the betta treatments. Once you have something to house her in, add a small air stone, if you have one or can get one, along with a small heater to keep her warm. Bettas are tropical and they do need to be in a temp range from 78 to 80 degrees. Also, if you have something that you could add to the hospital tank for her to lay on, that would be great - a plant, or maybe one or two of those plastic betta hammocks that stick to the side with suction cups. It will help her get to the surface for air, and also provide something for her to lay on so she doesn't have to struggle to swim to get to the top of the tank. If you can do this, I would then do small daily water changes to the hospital tank. You don't have to remove her from the tank to change the water. You could use a cup, and take out the old, and use a turkey baster to remove poop. Make sure that the new water is treated with Prime, and is matched to the temp of her tank water.

I would do a large water change on your main tank. I strongly recommend doing water changes every week - up to 50% - to keep your water pristine. There is more to clean water than the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph levels. I would also monitor your water parameters every few days for a while. Your nitrates are getting up there, so it would be a good thing to get those down to about 20 ppm's. Not sure what your bottom feeder is...is it a corydora cat fish of some kind?

The only water conditioner you need is Prime. I would not add anything else, so no stability, stressguard, paraguard, aquarium salt, or neutral regulator. The ph level is just fine for the betta. It will adapt. There are people who keep bettas in water that have a ph level of 8.0, and they do fine. If you want to lower the ph, slowly and slightly over some time, add Indian almond leaves for the tannins, if you don't already have them, or a nice piece of driftwood. Both will tint the water brown, but the tannins in the water have some slight antibacterial and antifungal properties, and all of the tank mates will love it! It's always better to do things naturally than add chemicals.

Do not change out the filter cartridge unless it is so old that it is falling apart. That is where a lot of the beneficial bacteria is, and when you change it out, you are losing the bulk of your good bacteria. This can cause the cycle to crash, and ammonia and nitrites to build up in the tank, which are both toxic to your fish/frogs. The companies that make these things want you to buy them, so the directions will say to change them every month. I have the same one in my filter that has been in it for almost 2 years now.

Now, back to your betta, if she is bloated, then I would fast her for 2 to 3 days. Then, try feeding her some frozen daphnia, if you can get it. Those freeze dried blood worms have very little nutritional value. They block up bettas, and are the betta version of candy or fast food, lol! Bettas need a varied diet, so some good frozen foods along with some good high protein pellets are really good. For frozen foods, daphnia (which acts like a laxative and is good to feed once or twice a week), baby brine shrimp, blood worms or mysis shrimp are good choices. For pellets, Omega One betta buffet, New Spectrum Thera A +, or North Fin pellets are good. Fluval bug bites are good, too. I would ditch the freeze dried blood worms after you get new food.

I am guessing without a picture, but the reason why your betta is having trouble swimming may be because she is bloated due to the freeze dried blood worms. When bettas get constipated, their swim bladders are affected, and they either have trouble swimming (no buoyancy) or they have trouble sinking (too much buoyancy). They can no longer regulate the air in their swim bladder, which is the organ that they use to float.

If there are other issues with your betta, then the picture will help. If you can't post pictures, please look at her body closely. Do you see anything out of the ordinary? Look at her from above. Do you see her scales starting to sick out, even slightly?

As for her breathing issues, I would add some aquarium salt to the hospital tank. Follow the instructions carefully on the package. When you change out her water, you want to make sure that you only add back the amount that would have been taken out with the old water. Aquarium salt is only removed by water changes, and if you add a full dose every time you do a water change, unless you are doing a 100% water change, then you are adding too much.

Only use antibiotics if you suspect an infection. Using them can cause kidney problems, which can lead to the kidneys shutting down completely.

I know this is a lot. I hope it helps you!!!!

If you have questions, please post them.

 

[Rose of sharon]

Hi,

I replied to your other thread!

 

[imaal]

I second @Rose of sharon 's excellent advice especially the comments about diet: add frozen foods to the regimen and toss the freeze-dried in the trash.

 

[ANONA]

Welcome to the forum!

I am so sorry that your betta baby is having so many issues! I did read your other post with the emergency template answers. Maybe the moderators will be able to merge them, as they are for the same issue.

I will do my best to help!

Could you post a pic of your betta? It would actually be very helpful. If you could take both side view pics and a pic from above, that would be great.

I strongly recommend treating the betta in a separate hospital tank. It doesn't have to be an actual tank. It can be a clean plastic tote. I use a glass cookie jar sometimes. You have too many other tank mates in the main tank that are probably being affected by the betta treatments. Once you have something to house her in, add a small air stone, if you have one or can get one, along with a small heater to keep her warm. Bettas are tropical and they do need to be in a temp range from 78 to 80 degrees. Also, if you have something that you could add to the hospital tank for her to lay on, that would be great - a plant, or maybe one or two of those plastic betta hammocks that stick to the side with suction cups. It will help her get to the surface for air, and also provide something for her to lay on so she doesn't have to struggle to swim to get to the top of the tank. If you can do this, I would then do small daily water changes to the hospital tank. You don't have to remove her from the tank to change the water. You could use a cup, and take out the old, and use a turkey baster to remove poop. Make sure that the new water is treated with Prime, and is matched to the temp of her tank water.

I would do a large water change on your main tank. I strongly recommend doing water changes every week - up to 50% - to keep your water pristine. There is more to clean water than the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph levels. I would also monitor your water parameters every few days for a while. Your nitrates are getting up there, so it would be a good thing to get those down to about 20 ppm's. Not sure what your bottom feeder is...is it a corydora cat fish of some kind?

The only water conditioner you need is Prime. I would not add anything else, so no stability, stressguard, paraguard, aquarium salt, or neutral regulator. The ph level is just fine for the betta. It will adapt. There are people who keep bettas in water that have a ph level of 8.0, and they do fine. If you want to lower the ph, slowly and slightly over some time, add Indian almond leaves for the tannins, if you don't already have them, or a nice piece of driftwood. Both will tint the water brown, but the tannins in the water have some slight antibacterial and antifungal properties, and all of the tank mates will love it! It's always better to do things naturally than add chemicals.

Do not change out the filter cartridge unless it is so old that it is falling apart. That is where a lot of the beneficial bacteria is, and when you change it out, you are losing the bulk of your good bacteria. This can cause the cycle to crash, and ammonia and nitrites to build up in the tank, which are both toxic to your fish/frogs. The companies that make these things want you to buy them, so the directions will say to change them every month. I have the same one in my filter that has been in it for almost 2 years now.

Now, back to your betta, if she is bloated, then I would fast her for 2 to 3 days. Then, try feeding her some frozen daphnia, if you can get it. Those freeze dried blood worms have very little nutritional value. They block up bettas, and are the betta version of candy or fast food, lol! Bettas need a varied diet, so some good frozen foods along with some good high protein pellets are really good. For frozen foods, daphnia (which acts like a laxative and is good to feed once or twice a week), baby brine shrimp, blood worms or mysis shrimp are good choices. For pellets, Omega One betta buffet, New Spectrum Thera A +, or North Fin pellets are good. Fluval bug bites are good, too. I would ditch the freeze dried blood worms after you get new food.

I am guessing without a picture, but the reason why your betta is having trouble swimming may be because she is bloated due to the freeze dried blood worms. When bettas get constipated, their swim bladders are affected, and they either have trouble swimming (no buoyancy) or they have trouble sinking (too much buoyancy). They can no longer regulate the air in their swim bladder, which is the organ that they use to float.

If there are other issues with your betta, then the picture will help. If you can't post pictures, please look at her body closely. Do you see anything out of the ordinary? Look at her from above. Do you see her scales starting to sick out, even slightly?

As for her breathing issues, I would add some aquarium salt to the hospital tank. Follow the instructions carefully on the package. When you change out her water, you want to make sure that you only add back the amount that would have been taken out with the old water. Aquarium salt is only removed by water changes, and if you add a full dose every time you do a water change, unless you are doing a 100% water change, then you are adding too much.

Only use antibiotics if you suspect an infection. Using them can cause kidney problems, which can lead to the kidneys shutting down completely.

I know this is a lot. I hope it helps you!!!!

If you have questions, please post them.

Wow thank you so much for all of that information! Now i will be looking for other foods to try. I have bought her a tiny 1 gallon aquarium to hospitalize her, I’m just waiting for it to arrive any day. I preferred that because I wasn’t too sure if having a filter was detrimental to her improvement. Once I get that I will follow your instructions. I will include photos after this comment once I find out how to. But thank you so much!! I really appreciate your kindness and for educating me. I really care about my betta since I’ve lost two others before due to my lack of knowledge 😔

 

[ANONA]

Wow thank you so much for all of that information! Now i will be looking for other foods to try. I have bought her a tiny 1 gallon aquarium to hospitalize her, I’m just waiting for it to arrive any day. I preferred that because I wasn’t too sure if having a filter was detrimental to her improvement. Once I get that I will follow your instructions. I will include photos after this comment once I find out how to. But thank you so much!! I really appreciate your kindness and for educating me. I really care about my betta since I’ve lost two others before due to my lack of knowledge 😔

 

[Rose of sharon]

What a beautiful little girl!!!

She truned from white to the color that she is now, and that's fine. Bettas can have certain genes that allow this to happen. She does look a bit uncomfortable in the pics, poor little baby girl....

I am not seeing anything on her body, so maybe a stress reaction. Try to keep her in a place with little or dim light. They do not like bright lights and need a good 14 to 15 hours with lights out.

I hope that she bounces back soon!!!!