[aqua001]

Hi, sorry, I have been worrying about my betas a lot recently. My CT betta was fine up to today. Let me back up a little. About a week before, my heater broke down so I went to Petsmart to get a new one. This one works and right now it is at 77 degrees. Today I noticed that he had this weird looking thing on his fins (every little strand.) It is at the tip but not really hanging... well, I guess it sorta is, but it is diffenitly eating away at the fins. It also looks like it's rotting away and about to fall off. It looks almost like poop LOL but I'm sure it's not and is a dark reddish, brownish color. I think this may be fin rot but IDK. Now that I look closely, it seems that the stuff is either making his fins bond together or splitting on fins in two. Looks A little stringy and is plumper than the strand it self.

Housing
What size is your tank? Divided 10 gallon (he lives in half)
What temperature is your tank?77 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None, other side of divider is a male VT.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Betta Bites
How often do you feed your betta fish?Once every 2 days, 5 pellets each time.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once a month, filter pads are alo on this routine.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? Half, I change 2 filter pads each time.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aqueon water conditioner.

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

Ammonia: N/A
Nitrite: 1.0 PPM
Nitrate: 20 PPM
pH: 8.O
Hardness:250 PPM
Alkalinity: N/A

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Stuff on fins
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Lethargic
When did you start noticing the symptoms? This morning
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No i have not
Does your fish have any history of being ill? yes, when he used to live in a half gallon, this same thing happened. It went away so I didn't worry about it much. This time it looks more serious.
How old is your fish (approximately)? N/A

 

[aqua001]

OK, I know it's only been minutes since my post but I am very worried. (everybody says I worry toooooo much LOL) Any help on how to treat this is greatly appreciated!

 

[callistra]

Your feeding patterns need to be changed. Your betta should be fed small amounts twice daily and one fast day a week. 5 pellets in one go is a lot because of their small stomach. Try 4-5 a day split up to feeding 2-3 at a time.

Water changes also need to change and the high ammonia shows your tank is not cycled. You need to be doing water changes every week..somewhere between 20-50%. With the two bettas I would aim for closer to 50.. once the tank is cycled. For now you need to monitor ammonia carefully and do small water changes every time you see .25ppm ammonia. There is an article on this board on how to do fish in cycle. With ammonia that high I would do a large water change now and larger water changes daily until the ammonia gets down. http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=47838

He is also on the cool side. I suggest increasing temp to between 78-79.

He probably has fin rot from the dirty water. Can you share photos? Trying to heal him up while simultaneously cycling the tank is going to be tough to impossible so it's best to get him in a temporary properly heated home to treat and while the tank cycles.

Photos would help.

Here is a good guide for keeping bettas: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=20058

 

[aqua001]

Thanks! New problem popped up a few minutes ago... NOT KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think he just developed SBD! I noticed he was facing the surface. At first, I thought he was playing, then I tapped the glass and he moved and sunk to the bottom! I gently moved him up to his hammock and he fell over and went head-first down again! Is any of this contagious? And how do I treat SBD?

 

[callistra]

It's not SBD unless he's bloated. You need to get him out of that water and into something clean.. Do you have a hospital tank or a bowl you can keep warm and put him in? Take maybe 50% of the water and 50% new water and acclimate slowly..

He's going to need some meds based on your description and treating in the tank is not ideal since you have 2 fish and it will mess up your cycle.

His behavior is indicating time is not on your side.. don't want to stress you but you should know.

 

[aqua001]

I moved him up to the hammock again and he does have a little bloat. Do you mean there is 0 percent chance of him living? I do have a extra one gallon but no heater. What type of med do you suggest? I've realized he is making an effort to stay upright...yayyy!!!! Also, if I do treat him in him tank, will it effect my other betta, aqua? Sorry I have so many questions, last one, can you give me some tips on how to transfer him...handling, water level etc. Wait.. I forgot how to post pics...Thanks!!

 

[earthworm88]

I noticed that he had this weird looking thing on his fins (every little strand.) It is at the tip but not really hanging... well, I guess it sorta is, but it is diffenitly eating away at the fins. It also looks like it's rotting away and about to fall off. It looks almost like poop LOL but I'm sure it's not and is a dark reddish, brownish color.

I think what you are describing is possibly slime coat shedding which could be due to the imbalanced water chemistry in the tank. Photos always help to clear up any confusion since we may all describe things differently.

I agree with Callistra that the feeding schedule as well as the water change schedule need to be revised to avoid all these issues in the future.

It's not SBD unless he's bloated.

I will have to disagree with this statement unless our definition of "bloated" is different. I think of bloated the same as in human...enlarged or distended belly area.

Aqua, it can seem to be overwhelming when our bettas appear to be suffering. Don't panic, this all can be corrected if done properly and on time. First, get a new tupperware type container or anything that is wide and shallow that you can clip to his side of the tank to submerge it in order to keep his water the same temp as his regular tank water. This way it's heated and you can change the water inside this container easily. Shallow is important because then it will make it easier for him to tilt up and breath instead of struggling to swim up. Keep him in there with preconditioned clean water everyday for a day or two to see if there is any changes. Slime coat requires aquarium salt and SBD requires epsom salt, but you CAN'T combine both treatment simultaneously. So let's deal with one at a time. But it's always good to have both type of salts on hand for they are cheap, useful with ong shelf lives. Do you have API stress coat or Seachem stress Guard? These will be helpful for their slime coat. Do you have any IAL (Indian Almost leaf)? These are also helpful and have natural anti-bacterial properties. Anytime you need to transfer your betta, just use a clean cup (the cup he came in, or those disposable Solo party cups), and dip in at an angle, this will create a suction and suck your betta into the cup without being in direct contact with him. I hope this will help you get started. Try to take a deep breath, everything will get sorted out at the end if you act accordingly. My personal experience is that CTs are a lot more vulnerable to poor water quality or at least more prone to issues (even if quality is good) compared to say VTs. So I think they just need extra special attention

Good luck!

Cheers!

 

[freemike]

Treating him in the tank with meds will mess up your cycle which would cause problems with your water quality. Also you don't want to treat your other fish if they aren't sick or risk an infection breaking out from your sick Betta. Without seeing pics it's hard to tell what he has specifically. Getting or setting up a hospital tank is highly recommended. I'd suggest:

Medium 1.75 gallon keeper. http://www.petco.com/product/12031/Petco-Pet-Keeper-for-Aquarium-Fish.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

2-10 heater http://www.petco.com/product/114078...3-_-Tetra Submersible Aquarium Heaters-114078

thermometer

It's really hard to recommend further action without seeing his fins to see if it is fin rot or possibly an external parasite.

 

[Myates]

A+ to earthworm- bloating isn't necessary when it comes to SBD. But this doesn't sound like an SBD problem.. The symptoms you are telling us sounds as if he is in shock- has anything changed in his tank right before this happened? Did you do anything with the tank, or spray something in the air around the tank?

Did these symptoms happen right after a water change? If so, then the acclimation process may not of been correct and it put him into shock.

Otherwise, there really isn't much we can do- you can try a 1 tsp of Epsom salt per gallon daily 100% water changes while he is in QT if you wish, as that is gentle and safe just in case he is having issues with his swim bladder.. but other then that there isn't any medication that would be able to help him at this point since his symptoms point to either organ failure/damage or shock of some sort.
I'm sorry.. wish there was something else that could be done.. just give him clean water and see how he fares.

Also agree, your feeding can easily lead to bloating/constipation/sbd issues.. daily, small multiple times as mentioned before is what is recommended.

 

[aqua001]

Thanks everybody! All your answers were greatly appreciated.
Well... it no longer matters. He died this morning. Still soooooo hard to believe. I buried him in he backyard. He died this morning I had a half heart attack when I saw him this morning LOL. He was half way upside down and his gills were so longer moving. I started to cry (over-dramatic, I know) so I had to bury him. I will diffenitly refer back to this if I have any more questions so if anybody wants to keep answering they can. I wil be making a post in the Betta memorials section so you guys can check that out too (only if you want).
I have an empty side of the tank (5-6 gallons) so do you think I can start a sorority in there? If so, I will do more research, just wondering.

 

[freemike]

I'm thinking 10 is the minimun for a sorority. Though personally I'd suggest bigger as I've seen a few fail in the smaller tanks.