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Question on sickness or old age, please help I am worried!

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#1 ·
Hey all :)

So to start…I post on here a lot, sorry😅 Anyway, my little guy has really been slowing down recently. He sits in the same spot at the top of the tank most of the time, right in between the glass and his floating log, or just floating nearby his floating log, kinda resting on it. He still eats mostly, but recently he has been having a really hard time seeing his pellets and it takes me a while to feed him since I basically have to put it on his face, and even then he sometimes won’t get it. I kinda remedied this by feeding him frozen bloodworms for his night time meal each day (he has two a day, a couple pellets In the morning and either a couple pellets or a couple bloodworms at night). Today though he got one pellet and 2 tiny bloodworms for dinner but he had a hard time and he ALWAYS eats his bloodworms and sees them easily, so that worried me. I think he has a much harder time seeing now. And today I noticed a weird little brownish bump on top of him. I’ll attach some pics of my little guy. I know he’s getting old, I’ve had him since we bought him at Petco in September of 2020. He looks pretty rough since he is a fin nipper and also has some black coloring due to him being a white opal, but I do think I take excellent care of him. He has tannins/IAL in his tank, live plants, VitaChem, his water parameters and temperature are perfect, etc. I will attach the betta care form below in the comments. I guess I’m just curious if maybe he’s about to die, or if he’s sick or if that weird bump is something bad, or what’s going on.
Wood Bedrock Grass Trunk Landscape

Water Wood Body of water Fish Marine biology

Water Wood Bedrock Watercourse Liquid

Plant Pet supply Terrestrial plant Fawn Houseplant

Vertebrate Plant Wood Rodent Terrestrial plant

Plant Pet supply Organism Terrestrial plant Grass
 
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#2 ·
Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 5.5
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What temperature is your tank? Ranges from 77-79°F
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? No

Food:
What food brand do you use? Imagitarium betta pellets and freeze dried bloodworms and mysis sometimes, also frozen bloodworms
Do you feed flakes or pellets? Pellets
Freeze-dried? Yes, see above
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? Twice a day, 3 pellets in the morning, and either 3 pellets or 2-4 frozen bloodworms at night

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? Once a week
What percentage of water did you change? 50%
What is the source of your water? Tap
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? Vacuum
What additives do you use other than conditioner? API stress coat, VitaChem, a tiny drop or two of pH Up just because of the tap water where we live
What brand of conditioner? Seachem Prime

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.

I USE API 5 IN 1 TEST STRIPS AND TETRA EASY STRIPS FOR AMMONIA

Ammonia: looks like 0ppm
Nitrite: looks like 0ppm
Nitrate: looks like 0ppm
pH: Looks to be around 6.5-7.5
Hardness (GH): looks like around the 60-120ppm range
Alkalinity (KH): looks to be around the 50-90ppm

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? Just a day or two ago
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? He has been changing ever since we got him, getting more black coloring which I was told was due to age, he also has tattered fins due to what I was told is nipping. Just noticed a brownish small bump on the top of him today
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? He stays in one spot most of the day, kinda wedged between the front of the glass of the tank and his floating log, and he will also sometimes lean on the other side of his log and float there. He will still move around but has been sticking around there a lot, which he hasn’t done until recently, like within the past month or so
Is your Betta still eating? Yes, but he’s been having a harder and harder time seeing his pellets. He usually sees his bloodworms just fine but had trouble tonight, and also didn’t seem to really want to eat. Sometimes he’ll even just get bored or something of eating and goes off to another spot in the tank, either to play with his filter or just swim around or go hang out somewhere else, and ignores the rest of his food
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? Not necessarily, other than I recently started using 5 drops of VitaChem in his water every water change. He also has an Indian almond leaf in his tank all the time
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? No I don’t believe so
How long have you owned your Betta? Since September 2020
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? No I don’t believe so
 
#4 ·
Sorry your boy is doing so poorly. You care is great but there is an issue.

Your Betta is being malnourished. He needs to build up his weight. Try feeding him 3-5 x per day. 3-4 of pellets and 2-3 frozen. Imaginarium is not the best of foods; too many fillers in the first ingredients. A better one should help: NorthFin Betta Bits, Fluval Bug Bites, New Life Spectrum, Aqueon Color and Betta formulas (not their "Betta Pro) and Omega One. I feed Devour Grain-Free Bug Crumbles but those need to be ordered as only the company that makes them sells.

Stop the freeze dried unless it's Daphnia but soak those for a bit before giving. Daphnia are a natural laxative for insectivores. You can soak them, as well as his pellets, in a bit of VitaChem. You could alternate with garlic juice for his food.

The most critical thing is to get him eating and build up his weight. When people or animals starve they often lose interest in food. I'm sure there's a scientific reason but I don't know it. That may be the reason he shows little interest.

I'm not one for meds but I would consider a mild dewormer; especially if a better nutrition don't help. Someone else may have another idea or can tell you what to get.

As far as age, Your boy is really not that old. Most pet store fish are 2-5 months old when received so he's probably not yet two.

FYI, from above, a fish should look like a bullet or torpedo with a gradual slimming to the base of the caudal. There should be no indent between head and body. This is a healthy fish:
Head Eye Fin Underwater Koi
 
#5 ·
Sorry your boy is doing so poorly. You care is great but there is an issue.

Your Betta is being malnourished. He needs to build up his weight. Try feeding him 3-5 x per day. 3-4 of pellets and 2-3 frozen. Imaginarium is not the best of foods; too many fillers in the first ingredients. A better one should help: NorthFin Betta Bits, Fluval Bug Bites, New Life Spectrum, Aqueon Color and Betta formulas (not their "Betta Pro) and Omega One. I feed Devour Grain-Free Bug Crumbles but those need to be ordered as only the company that makes them sells.

Stop the freeze dried unless it's Daphnia but soak those for a bit before giving. Daphnia are a natural laxative for insectivores. You can soak them, as well as his pellets, in a bit of VitaChem. You could alternate with garlic juice for his food.

The most critical thing is to get him eating and build up his weight. When people or animals starve they often lose interest in food. I'm sure there's a scientific reason but I don't know it. That may be the reason he shows little interest.

I'm not one for meds but I would consider a mild dewormer; especially if a better nutrition don't help. Someone else may have another idea or can tell you what to get.

As far as age, Your boy is really not that old. Most pet store fish are 2-5 months old when received so he's probably not yet two.

FYI, from above, a fish should look like a bullet or torpedo with a gradual slimming to the base of the caudal. There should be no indent between head and body. This is a healthy fish:
View attachment 1037901
Oh my gosh really?? Oh I feel so bad. I was told a few times that I was feeding him too much so I brought it down😭 Okay, I will get on that right away. I really hope he will be okay, I wouldn’t want his death to be because I starved him to death😭. Do any of those pellets float? He’s never really been known to chase after them if they sink, ever since I got him.
 
#8 ·
@RussellTheShihTzu
So I got him to eat 3 pellets soaked in Vitachem and a couple frozen bloodworms this morning, which made me happy. But, I’m currently at work and my boyfriend is trying to feed him, and he’s not having it, my bf said he’s just hiding behind his filter, which I haven’t ever seen him do, and he can’t reach him to feed him, so that’s not great :( He said he’s going to keep trying to feed him throughout the day, and maybe he’ll come out at some point and wanna eat
 
#9 ·
I hope he does better for you, too.

Overfeeding is when they get too much at once. Twenty pellets at the same time is overfeeding; 20 over the course of five meals is not.

Sorry I wasn't clear. Sometimes I'm like that. ;) I mean either/or. You can increase amount to four of either as long if his stomach is gently rounded but not bloated.

He might not be eating because he's not used to a new feeding schedule. You can wait until you get home from work and feed him a couple of meals before you retire. When he's used to that you can try one in the middle of the day and work from there. Just keep experimenting.
 
#10 ·
I hope he does better for you, too.

Overfeeding is when they get too much at once. Twenty pellets at the same time is overfeeding; 20 over the course of five meals is not.

Sorry I wasn't clear. Sometimes I'm like that. ;) I mean either/or. You can increase amount to four of either as long if his stomach is gently rounded but not bloated.

He might not be eating because he's not used to a new feeding schedule. You can wait until you get home from work and feed him a couple of meals before you retire. When he's used to that you can try one in the middle of the day and work from there. Just keep experimenting.
Okay, that sounds good. I’ll check with my boyfriend when I get home to see if he’s eaten yet, and if not I’ll try to feed him a few times before I go to bed! Little guy is quite set in his ways😂 It’s just scary when he’s usually very excited to eat and he isn’t most of the time now😢 I bought some new food for him, actually my Petco nearby had almost all of the foods you recommended sooooo I bought a few to try and see if he likes one more than the other😂😂 I will keep a close eye on his stomach and his shape, and come back if I have more questions (which I probably will😅)

oh also! I saw that API has a product called General Cure, have you or anyone else heard of that? Maybe that would be beneficial? I also have aquarium salt?
 
#14 · (Edited)
@RussellTheShihTzu

Really sorry for these long posts!!!!

Last night I got him to eat decently well, the only thing he eats mostly routinely is his frozen bloodworms, which I really want him to try his pellets too because I don’t think he can just live on frozen bloodworms, right? This morning is rough. He’s not interested in eating his pellets at all. I think he might be partially blind, he swims into the glass and just hangs out in the same spots all day. That spot still looks the same I think. I’ve also noticed he is swimming kind of sideways if he swims a longer distance than just a few centimeters. I’m so worried😢 I feel like once we moved 2 hours away from the city we bought him, 6 months ago, and he was in a shoebox lined with towels and in his little cup for a day, he started deteriorating slowly and then this eating thing and the sideways swimming and the staying in one spot all the time and the spot on top of him all happened quickly.

I was looking around his tank, trying to find things that may be causing issues. The only things that look maybe slightly concerning to me are this brown algae?? or something else? that is growing on his big decorations. I’ll post a pic with it circled. Plus on the sides of the glass there’s these little…crystals?? idk. Tiny crystallized little things that pop up on the glass of his tank. I can try to take a picture, they’re hard to see. When I slide them off of the glass, they’re hard and feel kinda like sharp tiny crystallized shells or something. It’s hard to explain😂 But they’re soooo tiny, like prob around a millimeter. There’s not many of them, depends on the day but usually around 10 all the way around his glass, in random spots, usually sitting near the top of the water line. That’s all I can really think of :/

Okay update, as of this morning after trying to feed him pellets for 25 minutes, we just tried frozen bloodworms and he eats those right up. Little dude just does not want pellets. I assume he can’t live on bloodworms? Ugh I don’t know. I’m stressing trying to get this little bugger to eat😂 And to figure out what’s wrong with him

he just looks so sick and unhappy and it breaks my heart

Here is that “algae” or whatever it is
Plant Vertebrate Organism Wood Pet supply
Purple Terrestrial plant Wood Plant Natural material

Wood Kitchen appliance Gas Event Food

Plant Felidae Small to medium-sized cats Tail Magenta
 
#16 ·
I feed my Betta a variety of frozen foods and the occasional Devour Grain-Free Bug Crumbles. They do fine on all frozen if you want to go that route. Bloodworms are the most fattening but I'd still alternate with one or two of the following:

Brine Shrimp (with Spirulina if possible)
Freshwater Frenzy
Krill (rinsed)
Cyclops
Mosquito Larva (some are listed as "Mini Bloodworms" so check)
Tubifex Worms

Also, you can easily culture live foods like Micro and Grindal Worms.
 
#17 ·
Oh that’s good to hear!! I got some frozen mysis shrimp to try since he loved the freeze dried ones, I’ll see if I can get some of that stuff as well :) And maybe try those Devour ones! It’s just hard if things don’t float for long or if I can’t hold them with tongs, since he has never chased stuff, or very rarely if he does. Thanks :) I will see if anyone sees this and has any medication recommendations. I have API Betta Fix and aquarium salt as of now
 
#19 ·
I’m so sorry about your guy, I can’t think of what meds would be useful since no one knows exactly what is going on with him. Any suggestions on meds could cause more harm than good. Only thing I would suggest differently is soaking his food in the vitachem instead of dropping into the tank water. I know it says that in the bottle but it would be better utilized if ingested. In fact most antibiotics used in the water column do very little. Mixing the meds with food have better results or so I have read. kanaplex is most recommended because it is better absorbed through the skin. Honestly… I have very little success treating my fish for ailments, I’m terrible at diagnosis! I don’t offer advice in the emergency threads anymore for that very reason. I’m well read on common fish diseases but personal experience is very little. I do agree that if it’s lack of nutrients (for whatever odd reason, your care seems great btw) that would make his immune system weak. Even with medications a weak immune response will keep causing issues. I sincerely hope he makes a turn around with added meals. The best I can offer is that he didn’t get sick suddenly and he won’t flourish suddenly either. It will take time for him to bounce back. Big hugs to you! I know these things are never easy 💜
 
#20 ·
Thank you so so much for your reply. It’s certainly never easy, you’re right. He’s the first pet I’ve ever had on my own, so I’m especially attached. And thank you, I do try and take such good care of him!

The few pellets he has been eating have been soaked in Vitachem, he seems to like it (as much as he can right now), so that’s good :)

I will look into Kanaplex, just to have it on hand in case it comes to that. Thank you so much, I appreciate it :)
 
#25 ·
Update:

Tonight when I got home I fed him some tubifex worms that I had just bought, he loves those too!! And my boyfriend had fed him at least 6 bloodworms throughout The day. Then I put a pellet soaked in Vitachem in, and he was NOT having it. I tried the multiple different pellets I have and nope…I think he’s just sick and tired of them?😅 Of the frozen food variety, I now have bloodworms, mysis, Spirulina brine shrimp and tubifex worms. He’s still sticking in one area in the tank and doesn’t come to the front anymore for food, but maybe he will start doing that again, I hope!
 
#26 ·
Update!

So it’s been the same with the pellets, he totally avoids them and also just flips his fins around aggressively when I put one in to get it away from him🤦‍♀️😂 But I’ve been feeding tubifex worms, bloodworms, mysis shrimp and I’m going to pick up the spirulina brine shrimp today. I put a frozen chunk into a little cup and add a few drops of Vitachem and tank water, and he gobbles them right up.

Also…instead of always eating in the back corner and it taking forever to feed him, he’s come back to the front almost every time I feed him and eats where he usually does and devours his frozen food🥺 He still has a ways to go but him eating and coming back up to the front is a big step and it makes me super happy.

His spot still looks about the same. I went to my LFS on Thursday and bought more IAL, and his tank is nice and loaded with tannins.

He still swims a little funny, like kind of sideways and also erratically sometimes, but at least he’s coming to the front and eating.

Quick question, is it okay to defrost a small chunk of frozen food, soak in Vitachem and tank water as usual, and since he doesn’t finish all of it in one sitting, just keep the cup with it in the fridge? Will it go bad? Just so I don’t have to dump out so much food haha
 
#28 ·
I mix mine is medicine bottles with child-proof caps (for better seal). If you don't have any most pharmacies will give you a couple.

I feed mostly frozen with Devour Bug Crumbles to a lesser degree. You can also add a couple of pellets to the mixture a minute or so before you feed and see if that works.

It's strictly a guess, but it could be his thinness is the reason he swims funny.
 
#29 ·
Oh that’s a good idea!! I have plenty of those orange bottles laying around. I tried the Fluval bug bites but they sink so quickly that he can’t get them :/ Which is a bummer. Okay I’ll try adding pellets to it right before I feed! He has eaten a couple pellets in the past few days. He got too spoiled with the frozen and now he is over the pellets 😂😂😂

How long do you keep the defrosted mixture in the fridge in the pill bottle? Just until it turns a weird color like @X skully X said? Thanks again to both of you!
 
#30 ·
Update!!

So my lil guy has been coming to the front for food again 85% of the time! I have an IAL floating and he loves to rest underneath it and sit on the top part of it that’s submerged. Instead of finding him in the spot wedged between his floating log and the tank wall where he’s been 90% of the time the past week or two, he was resting on that leaf this morning and came right up to me when I walked over to feed him🥺 His tank water is nice and full of tannins, and I think he’s starting to fill out a little bit and not look so skinny. I have been feeding him 3 times a day, rotating between frozen foods; bloodworms, tubifex worms, mysis shrimp and spirulina brine shrimp.

The second I put a pellet in there, I swear he starts rioting🤦‍♀️ Dude pretends like he’s blind if I drop a pellet it😂 I’ve been soaking his frozens in some VitaChem and Garlic Guard, and he gobbles them right up. I’m still a little worried about that spot on him, but I’m just keeping an eye on it.
 
#33 ·
Hi there, yes I was told this by @RussellTheShihTzu in the first few posts on this thread :) I have been feeding him a lot more to try and continue to plump him up, and he’s been getting better every day. Now I’m just worried about the brown lump on him. I know he looks rough. He bites his fins and I’ve never been able to keep him from doing that, plus he has black coloring on him which I was told was due to him aging and being a white opal betta. I take really good care of him, I just was unknowingly not feeding him enough, but I realize my mistake now and am working very hard to fix it :) I just want to figure out what this lump/growth on top of him is now!
 
#37 ·
He is plumping up! That's great.

He could have a tumor or a cyst. If he were mine and was now eating and being more active I'd not worry too much. There's really not a lot we can do for tumors and cysts; just wait and see. Keep his water clean, darken with IAL or plain Rooibos Tea tannins so if it bursts you're ahead of the game with antibacterial and antifungal properties in his tank. If it does rupture, SeaChem Kanaplex treats both gram negative and gram positive bacteria so that's where I'd go.

It may just get bigger or it may stop. The hard part is one doesn't know how deep these things go and only a fish vet can determine that.
 
#38 ·
Yay I’m so glad you say he’s plumping up too!!! I was comparing his pics from last week and today and I can totally tell he’s getting there :) It makes me very happy to see him a little more active and eating again. Lil dude is just over pellets😂

Okay, I’ll go ahead and order some Kanaplex just to have it ready. I’ve seen that suggested a lot other places as well. So I shouldn’t use any Kanaplex yet? Unless it ruptures? How would I know if it ruptured?

Is there anything else I should order to have on hand? Like do I need to change the filter or use something else when I use Kanaplex?

I also have aquarium salt on hand, in case that would do anything?

I’ll add another IAL to his tank as well, his water could be a lil darker. And I’ll ask around about a fish vet in case it comes to that. Thank you!!!
 
#39 ·
@RussellTheShihTzu
@X skully X
@betta4ever!
@K8lynFish

Still watching that lump, it’s definitely getting bigger :/ But he’s still a happy camper, he’s eating normal again and is super excited when I come up to his tank again, which makes me so happy🥺 He is swimming normally again, and swims a lot more than he was last week. Much better since he started eating more!! Y’all saved my fish from starvation from my ignorance, thank you SO much, you have no idea how grateful I am❤ I just feel so bad because his fins look so rough😅

I have Kanaplex on hand and am keeping his tank loaded with IAL and tannins. How do I know when to use the Kanaplex? Or aquarium salt? Thanks for all the help y’all.
Water Feather Wood Fish Liquid
 
#40 ·
I do notice that white scaled bettas tend to grow tumors or cysts. At least the majority of those concerns posted here on the forum are either white or heavy scaled blues. Hard to say what it could be exactly. As a reference photo for others here is a picture of him from when you first joined the forum so people can see what you are talking about. located directly in front of his dorsal fin. And a link to the post showing his fins getting shorter and the opinions given was fin biting at that time for anyone who may see this post for the first time and feel the need to chime in.


I’m glad he is doing better than before. Hopefully this lump stops growing. The kanaplex is for gram negative and gram positive bacterial infections. It won’t help with the lump that I know of, but IF it is a fluid filled cyst and bursts it would help clear up any infection that an open sore may get. The down side is medications like that can make a weak fish even weaker. Not what you were hoping to hear but I felt it was best to be truthful about what could happen with the lump getting larger. So sorry you’re going through this.
Nature Bird Organism Beak Adaptation
 
#41 ·
I do notice that white scaled bettas tend to grow tumors or cysts. At least the majority of those concerns posted here on the forum are either white or heavy scaled blues. Hard to say what it could be exactly. As a reference photo for others here is a picture of him from when you first joined the forum so people can see what you are talking about. located directly in front of his dorsal fin. And a link to the post showing his fins getting shorter and the opinions given was fin biting at that time for anyone who may see this post for the first time and feel the need to chime in.


I’m glad he is doing better than before. Hopefully this lump stops growing. The kanaplex is for gram negative and gram positive bacterial infections. It won’t help with the lump that I know of, but IF it is a fluid filled cyst and bursts it would help clear up any infection that an open sore may get. The down side is medications like that can make a weak fish even weaker. Not what you were hoping to hear but I felt it was best to be truthful about what could happen with the lump getting larger. So sorry you’re going through this.
View attachment 1038451
Thank you so much for your reply and the linking of my old post :) You are so so kind!! Agh it makes me so sad to see how beautiful and healthy he used to look😭 It makes me feel like I’ve done so much wrong when I’ve tried to do my best to care for him, and worked so hard to give him a great life. I think he’s still adorable but I know he looks so rough. I appreciate the honesty, that’s definitely what I need to hear. I want to call around asking about a fish vet, see if maybe there’s any in my area.

How would I know if it bursts if it does end up being a cyst? It would just be shrunken down or open? Will using aquarium salt in the meantime help at all or would it just be an extra thing? I feel like since he’s eating and swimming around and such that he should be okay for now, unless the lump starts to really affect him. I know the tannins will help, so I’m keeping those heavy in his tank.
 
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