BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish please help me! i think my betta is dying

dear friends, i need your help!!
I've tryed everything to help my betta but i feel i need your help to help him. i got him from a pet store in portland and he looked as if he would die in a few days so i bought him. he got better and hes been alive for a year n a half but now hes developed this "fungus" and he lost most of his color in his body. hes become bloated n he can't seem to swim up to the top of his tank to eat or blow his bubbles, he just lays on his side on his plants ( the plants are fake) or on the bottom of his tank. i don't think he has much time left. i recently searched a bunch of sites and they said that the average temp of the tank should be 75-80 and a little warmer for a sick betta. i put a little light over his tank to keep him a little more warm because my house is kind of cold. but please some one help! i love my betta n i don't want him to die like this. Hes been hangin in there, hes very tough but Please there isn't much time!!!!

Cassie,

I'm so sorry your fishie friend is sick and so appreciate you trying to find help for him. You did such a good job getting him healthy and well after a rough start!

When you say he has a "fungus" is that because he has a kind of white "fur" on his body? If so, Jungle Labs makes a fungus eliminator that you can give him. You can also add a pinch of aquarium salt to his water as well.

You mention him being bloated - if you can, look at him from above the tank looking down on his body. Do his scales stick out kind of like a pine cone? or is it is tummy right behind his gills that look bigger? If it's his tummy, he might be constipated - the salt in his water will help, and you can try feeding him a small bit of pea. Get some frozen peas, let one thaw, and take the skin off. Then cut the pea into a few pieces and give him a little piece. You may need to hold the piece with a tweezer to coax him to eat it.

I don't want to scare you, but if his scales are sticking out, it means he has dropsey, which is kidney failure and not treatable, I'm afraid.

The other consideration is that if you've had him for a year and a half, he was probably already a year old when you got him and pet store bettas generally live to be 2 to years, especially when they started out life rough like your baby did. It may be his time.

Definately keep the light over his tank to keep the water toasty and keep doing your water changes, maybe even a bit more frequently - clean water is happy water.

I love my betta too, and I'll pray for you and your fishy - be sure to let us know how it's going.

Cheryl

Yes, I agree, you are doing a great job trying to get help for your little fishy. I know how you feel. Did you get a chance to take a look at some of the related articles here on the Fish Site at BellaOnline.com? There are some about fish disease and treatment that give practical advice. You may see something that looks like what your fishy has. I am so sorry that he is sick. How is he doing?

It sounds like it could be "Ich" if it is white spots. They can look cottony. There are Ich guard products at Petco and PetsMart. Aquarium salt as recommended in the previous reply to you here in the Fish Forum is also a good recommendation. It is an old-fashioned salt bath and is time-tested and used to treat various different conditions and less strong than medicines you buy in the petstore (less harmful).

Wow, you are such a wonderful person to be so kind and brave as to buy a sick betta and nurse him back to health and keep him healthy that long! Otherwise, he would have died in the pet store. That always seems so needless when I see that. Thank you so much for saving him and loving him.

Another Betta disease is called Bloat and to cure this it is recommended that you can treat it with tetracyclin, very, very low water levels, and a plant for balance.

How cold exactly was your house and for how long before you warmed up your fishy with the light? What is his water temperature now? Do you have an aquarium thermometer on or in his fishtank?

What size of tank do you have him in? You can get some Betta tanks at PetsMart and Petco or other petstores and aquarium stores that have lights in the hood and you can also buy aquarium heaters of all sizes - even an aquarium heater made specifically for a small tank. Yes, it can get way too cold for Betta fish to be left at room temperature in most of the world in winter time. They are tropical fish and can develop various illnesses in cold water.

How is he doing? There are a lot of fish-loving people viewing your post and wondering the same thing! We know what it's like to feel that worry and sadness and we want your little guy to feel better - and you too!!!