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Help! Emergency!

520 Views 13 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Bailmint, 
DustyDecember
So I came home a few minutes ago and found my betta like this and he was fine a day ago. Help????? He's barely holding on. And I've changed his water.

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Bailmint
Hard to see, what does he really look like? Could we get a side picture? I don't understand what's going on, you need to be a bit clearer. :)
Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?
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DustyDecember
He was a rescue from walmart where he was in a container with another male betta. He did great for awhile then he became sick and has been for 2-3 months and I neglected him and I feel so bad now :(

Housing
What size is your tank? Was in a 10 gallon with prob 5 gallons in it, recently put in a under a gallon bowl for looking after, now in a cup that he came in.
What temperature is your tank? 70 something
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 need since it's summer
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? No

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Aqueon Betta Food
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once every other day but not lately since I've been busy

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I've been busy so not very much this month except a few days ago when I was cleaning tanks
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? Normally, 50% every other day, 100% a week
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Just water conditioner and stress coat

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: N/A
Nitrate: N/A
pH: N/A
Hardness: N/A
Alkalinity: N/A

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Just tail/fin loss
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He just floats, gasping for air
When did you start noticing the symptoms? When I got home an hour ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes, changed water, added some aquarium salt
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Yes, he was a rescue and had torn fins and was acting weird
How old is your fish (approximately)? I've had him for a few months? Like 2-4

Before and now
Best pics I could get.

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NeptunesMom
When you say you haven't fed him lately, how long has it been since you fed him?

You shouldn't add salt if you don't know what's wrong. It can make things worse in some instances. How much did you add?

70 something? Do you have a thermometer? Too much fluctuations in temp make fish more susceptible to illness. You need to keep the temp constant, and at least 76 degrees.

When was the last time you changed it prior to this time? Do you know what the parameter were at that time?

What does "acting weird" mean exactly? Describe his behavior.
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Bailmint
That's some major change holy cow.

I'm guessing it could be Nitrate poisoning, I could be wrong but that's my guess. If you haven't done water changes in an uncycled tank-nitrates build up quite fast. Nitrate poisoning can cause gills to pop out a little or a lot, and I noticed how much your boy's gills are sticking out.

Also Bettas should be fed once or twice a day-they can survive 2-3 weeks without food, but it's really recommended for once or twice a day.
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DustyDecember
I'm not a noob -_- I have 4 other healthy bettas and they do great in the conditions. He hasn't ate anything for the past month or so since he's been sick. And 2 pinches cause I think it's inflamed gills. And yes I have one. I have 4 actually. And it's around it I'm just to lazy to look. And nope. I can check tho. I have the water still. And he just floats like I said. And gasps for air. So yeah I think it's ammonia poisoning and inflamed gills from me being careless and not giving him attention.
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CrazedHoosier
How come you have been neglecting this one specifically?
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Bailmint
Hold up-I never said you were a noob or even thought like that. Don't get too defensive, it's hard to emphasize my wording the way I want to using text.

How come you put ammonia at 0 in the testing if you think it's ammonia poisoning?
Well, inflamed gills need to be treated to quickly, and now that I think about it, it does sound like it because you said he was gasping for air.

If you want to treat inflamed gills; you should isolate your Betta if you can. Do an 100% every three days, and add Ampicillin to the water after each water change. Assuming it is inflamed gills.

Once your Betta is in clean water-put in some Epsom salt to draw out the toxins. Usually 1 tsp a gallon is recommended.

And CrazedHooster has a point, I'd like to know too o -o.
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DustyDecember
I neglected all of them except he's the only one who's showing illness. The others seem fine. One even made a bubble nest. And cause I changed the water before I filled that out. And sorry, I have anger issues. Where do I get the stuff to treat it tho? And if it's nitrate poisoning then how do I treat that? o_O
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Bailmint
Oh.

For Nitrate poisoning, do the same thing except add one drop of methylene blue after each water change instead of Ampicillin. :)

I'm not sure where to get that stuff in stores-but I'm sure you could easily get some off eBay or Amazon.
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DustyDecember
Thanks!
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Bailmint
Welcome C:.
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NeptunesMom
DustyDecember said:
I neglected all of them except he's the only one who's showing illness. The others seem fine. One even made a bubble nest. And cause I changed the water before I filled that out. And sorry, I have anger issues. Where do I get the stuff to treat it tho? And if it's nitrate poisoning then how do I treat that? o_O
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Some fish are more sensitive then others. A bubble nest doesn't necessarily mean much other than he was ready to breed. There are even times where fluctuations in water temp stimulate them to think it's time to breed.

He hasn't eaten in a month? Have you tried soaking his food in garlic?
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Bailmint
Wait-he hasn't eaten in a month?!
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