[xkidbunnyx]

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 Gallon
What temperature is your tank? N/A
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, I've currently set it in front of a space heater to try to warm it up
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Plant

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once a day, 5 pellets but I was on vacation so during this time, he was fed 1x a week, 20 pellets

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 1x a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 60%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Beta H20 conditioner, Top Fin Water Clarifier, a tiny bit of Aquarium Salt

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? All fins are mangled and spine is curved
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? It needs to rest on the plant in order to support itself or else it will sink, throws up the food it eats
When did you start noticing the symptoms? After I returned from break
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? 80% water change, heat up water
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Its fins were always kind of mangled but never its tail, spine was curved but now more severe
How old is your fish (approximately)? 1.5 year +

 

[Greenapp1es]

Can you post a picture? That would help us to see what we're looking at.

However, I'm noticing several problems immediately.

First of all - 1 water change a week is no where near enough for a 1 gallon tank, especially if it doesn't have a filter. The problems he is seeing may very well be caused by poor water quality. Please change his water daily until this is handled at AT LEAST 50%. 75-80% until this is handled is probably better. Afterward, change every 1-2 days at 50% and change 100% at least 1x per week. A better plan would be to change 50% one change and 100% the next for a tank of this size.

Secondly, do you know what the temperature IN the tank is? Bettas need to be kept warm and their temperature kept stable. If you have him by a space heater, That could be causing a lot of fluctuation and that in and of itself can be causing a problem for him. You also don't know if he's too cold - of if he's *too* close to the heater and it's making the water *too* warm. Please get a tank heater for him ASAP - in a 1 gallon though your options are pretty limited. I believe a hydor theo will work in a 1 gallon if put on it's lowest setting.

Thirdly - I understand you were going on vacation, but you would have been better to not feed him at all rather than feed him 20 pellets at once. 20 pellets at once is overfeeding...and this in and of itself can cause problems. At the very least, this is probably creating more problems with water quality and exacerbating the issues there. Also, what type of pellets are you feeding him?

Please get us a picture ASAP. In the meantime, keep his water CLEAN and his water temperature warm and stable.

 

[Greenapp1es]

I see you've added a couple of top-down pictures since my first post, can we get one that shows a profile (side view) of him as well? I'm particularly interested in getting a good picture of his stomach area - with as much as he had to eat I'm concerned if he may be constipated\bloated.

Please clean up any uneaten food from his tank for now.

 

[xkidbunnyx]

Here are some more photos, it's tough to see him from the side because of the tank

 

[Greenapp1es]

I can't see the picture well enough to see what I'm looking for.

Is his stomach swollen at all? Is it bulging out? Something like the picture attached?

Has he pooped lately? Has he showed any interest in his food?

It is entirely possible that what you're seeing is largely due to water quality. However, it is also very possible that it could at least in part be due to constipation and overfeeding. If constipation is part of the problem, I'd recommend 1tsp per gallon. However, I'm not sure I'd recommend this if the problem was more due to the water quality directly. So, anything you can tell us about the amount of poop you've seen from him lately, his eating habits, and if he looks bloated at all could really help us help you...help him.

 

[xkidbunnyx]

I don't see any bloating at all. There was quite a lot of poop before I did the water change. None since.

He shows interest in food but minimal, he's taken 2-3 bites in all and always spits it back out.

He hasn't been fed for a few days so I don't think it's from overeating, maybe the opposite of that?

 

[Greenapp1es]

If you're not seeing any bloating, and there was a lot of poop in the tank, let's focus on the water issues. I truly doubt that his current lack of interest in food is the problem, and betta can go a long time without eating. Given his history it might be a good idea to fast him for a couple days anyway (don't offer any food for a couple days).

Given you were gone, the size of his tank, and the time he went between changes, he's probably dealing with some issues with water quality. It's hard for me to say the extent of them without more information, but someone else might be able to chime in. Would you be able to find some methelyne blue at a local fish store? That would help if he's dealing with nitrite poisoning...which is very possible. You would want to treat that as a dip, but I'm not sure of the dosage. I'm sure someone else here will know.

Otherwise, keep his water VERY CLEAN. Use a turkey baster to remove any un-eaten food, and change his water 50% to 100% daily until this is under control. If possible, see if you can get an airstone or filter as well to help keep more oxygen in the water for him.

 

[Greenapp1es]

How is your guy doing?

 

[Nova betta]

i think this may be columnaris. the reason why is because he kinda looks like this. and i found an article about it. ( this is not my work)

What is Columnaris?
Columnaris is a disease that goes by many names. Flexibacter, mouth rot, mouth fungus, gill fungus, body fungus, saddleback columnaris, and cotton wool disease: all of these common terms describe one tenacious bacteria, Flavobacterium columnare, previously known as Flexibacter columnaris. This gram-negative, motile, rod-shaped, aerobic bacteria thrives in many of the same conditions that our tropical fish also enjoy, making it especially dangerous and virulent to stressed fish. Fish have been known to die in as little as 24 hours following the emergence of visible symptoms, which makes prompt recognition and treatment of vital importance.

What Are the Symptoms of Columnaris?
The most commonly observed form of columnaris often presents itself as stringy white, grey, or off-white "wool" on the fish's face, mouth, or gills. Alternate locations include the "saddle-back" presentation, in which we see a distinct band of the same substance over the back just before the base of the dorsal fin. (Other symtoms may include small gray patches on the face, gasping, and rapid fin loss, but these may be indicative of other diseases, as well). Left untreated, the cottony growths on the fish's body will eat away at the underlying tissues. One of the clear indicators of advanced columnaris is a angry red ulcer with dying white tissue around its perimeter. However, you should not wait until such ulcers appear before deciding to treat! At this stage, the disease is advancing into the internal organs, and the fish is at great risk of secondary infections or death.

 

[Nova betta]

here is the rest of it.

My Fish has Columnaris! Help!
Although prevention helps keep columnaris out of your tanks, it is sometimes unavoidable. Maybe you recieved a fish in the mail whose trip was spent in a sweltering mail truck. Maybe you didn't notice the small gray splotches on your betta's face until you brought him home. Perhaps you just have an old boy whose immune system isn't quite up to par. Whatever the case, if your fish has symptoms of columnaris, you need to begin treatment right away. Remember when starting treatment that time is of the essence; I suggest doing twice daily health checks on all of your fish, and keeping a stash of medicine around the house in case of emergencies.
Below is a treatment protocol:
Placement of the afflicted fish in a hospital tank that can be easily kept clean and medicated should initiate treatment; personally, I suggest fully disinfecting the original tank while the fish is in treatment.
The hospital tank should be heated to approx. 74-75 degrees. 76 and above is the ideal breeding temperature for columnaris. Please note that cooling the tank is somewhat disputed. The theory behind it is that columnaris is such a rapidly progressing disease that reducing temperature may slow the spread sufficiently for the antibiotic to have time to work before too much damage is done. Keeping a betta below 74 degrees, however, is not reccomended as its own metabolic rates - and thus immune response - will be slowed as temperatures cool. Regardless of what temperature you keep your fish at, it MUST be stable.
The hospital tank should also be dosed with aquarium salt at a concentration of 1/2 tsp per gallon. The use of salt is sometimes questioned in fishkeeping circles, as the validity of its purported effect on a pathogen's osmotic balance is disputed. However, columnaris prefers a low salinity environment, and research in channel catfish shows increasing survivorship when columnaris-infected fish are dosed with salt.
An anti-biotic appropriate for gram negative pathogens should be utilized. Several are available on the market. Kanamycin, Nitrofurazone, Minocycline, and others have all been shown to be effective in treating columnaris.
If possible, feed an anti-bacterial food, as columnaris typically causes both internal and external damage. GelTek manufactures several foods appropriate for gram negative organisms.
Finally, be religious with treatment and maintenence. Pristine and stable water conditions, full course anti-biotics, a low-stress environment, and high quality diet will all help your fish to overcome this deadly disease.


also keep the room dar kand quiet helps.

 

[Greenapp1es]

I don't see anything that looks like white fizzy patches though - except possibly in the one pic that is too blurry to tell? I'm seeing white on the fish's back, but that looks more like pale coloring than it does white fuzzy growth.

OP - do you see anything white and fuzzy growing on your guy? If so, then yes...it may be columnaris and you should start to treat that right away.

I just don't see anything definitive to point to that, and with the state the fish sounds to be in I wouldn't want want to start on antibiotics if not necessary. The fish is stressed in any case.