[sflemin2]

My little guy has been on his death bed for months now and I don't know what else to try. I think it started when I put sand in his tank (its out now). He got a really bad eye infection. It eventually went down but now he lays on his side at the bottom of the tank and is gasping. His eye is swollen again, his color his awful, I havent actually seen him eat in over a month. I have tried Maracyn 2, Coppersafe (which made him much sicker and I took it out immediately), and now he is on day 3 of Maracyn with no signs of improvement. I also have the aquarium salt in there. It has been the only thing that helped at all.

He is in a 10 gallon tank with the water at 80 (I cant seem to get it warmer). He had a filter but I turned it off so he wouldnt have to fit against it. I lowered the water to 4 gallons because he has trouble swimming to the top. I had him in a 1 gallon "hospital tank" for a few days but I didn't see how it was better than what I am doing now..hes use to 10 gallons! There are no other fish or anything in his tank.

I do a 50% water change every week and I use a water conditioner. The pH is good..I don't have any other water testers. I will have to order one for the nitrate levels. I also use a turkey baster to suck up any uneaten food twice a day. His water stays crystal clear.

Please tell me what to do, I hate that he is suffering

 

[sflemin2]

Housing
What size is your tank? 10 gallons with 4 gallons in it right now
What temperature is your tank? 80
Does your tank have a filter? Yes but I have turned it off because I don't want him to fight the current
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No but I can add one.. Should I?
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Regular pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? twice a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Every 7 days
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? A water conditioner

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Color looks terrible. I think he lost an eye with an infection and now the other one is a white bubble. I think hes blind .
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Very inactive, lays on his side at the bottom of the tank. Doesnt eat or come up for air (that I have seen). He looks like hes gasping.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? This has been going on for at least 3 months
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I have tried Maracyn 2, Coppersafe (which made him covered in white fluff so I took it out), Maracyn (hes on day 3), and aquarium salt.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? This has been a long string of illness.
How old is your fish (approximately)? 1 year

 

[sflemin2]

PH is 7.5 and Nitrite and Nitrate are at 0

 

[Oldfishlady]

This is a copy and paste of the response from your PM I received from you....

Sorry your Betta isn't well, sadly it doesn't sound good especially since he has been sick for so long and not responding to treatment-compounded by poor nutrition due to him refusing to eat...

If he is suffering you need to do what is right by him.....

Since you are on day 3 of the antibiotic-I would keep with it for at least 1 more day-then get on Epsom salt 3tsp/gal (Not aquarium salt) tannins either IAL or dried Oak leaf

Place him in a small container that can be floated in the heated tank to maintain temp in the 76-77F range and cover with plastic veggie wrap to retain heat/humidity for the labyrinth organ- (be sure and attach the QT to the side of the tank so it doesn't sink)

Premix the Epsom salt 3tsp/gal and tannin source in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water and let it steep for 30min-Shake well before use and use that for 25% water changes every 15min for 1 hour on the first day.

On the second day start 50% daily WC with the premixed treatment water-If you used tannins it should look darker every day and this is what you want.

Turn off the light

If you have access to mosquito larva offer some rinsed to see if you can get him to eat-if he doesn't eat them-leave them in the QT with him to stimulate his feeding/hunting instinct....

Good luck....but sadly it doesn't sound good....but it never hurts to try.......

Epsom salt you can usually find this in most stores that have a pharmacy dept-like wal mart....

IAL-usually get them on line

Oak leaf-if you have any Oak trees-collect naturally dried and fallen from the tree Oak leaf-use about 20/gallon of water

 

[sflemin2]

I really appreciate your help and will update on here how it goes. Should I do a 100% water change to get the Maracyn out before I start this? He has always tolerated water changes very well. I usually don't do 100% but I have a couple of times in fear that he has some kind of parasite

 

[Oldfishlady]

Add some fresh carbon to the filter to help remove the medication after a 50% water change on the 10gal.

Since you will be QT'ing him and making 4-25% water changes with the premixed treatment water on the first day-this should take care of any medications.

 

[sflemin2]

Great! Thanks!

 

[sflemin2]

He passed away this morning