BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish VERY sick Betta what can I do??

Oooh Nannynan, I am so sorry about Frazz, that he didn't make it. My mind is telling me that Jonah is just a fish and that I am being silly to hurt so much for him. But when your little guy knows you and trusts you and hopes you can do something to make him feel better, well, it just breaks your heart. I bet Frazz did make friends with your husband -- Frazz waving at him had to be irresistable -- I note he attended the funeral and did wave back.

Jonah's Mom,

Joseph is our 7 yr old son, John is my husband. John attended from a slight distance, but did watch. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Then he told me it was my girl fish, Glitz, that was waving at him all the time. The really funny part is that she had her spawning stripes on while flirting with him! :love:

I agree about how hard it is to see them hurting and wanting so much to make it better.

Well, no change at all in 5 days except that he seems weaker, if that were possible. He lays so still, but will give me one sloooowl little wave whenever I check on him to assure me that he's still hanging in there. I think he knows I'm suffering more than he is. Other than the slight flicker, he hasn't moved once all day. His water chemistry is excellent, so at least I know he's comfortable.

welcome to the forum J's mom! for this first time in months all my little boys got something at once. i don't know what it is either, but i'm taking chances on that it could be parasites.

anyways, i wrote to give you a warning that someone gave me. if you are done with the ampicillian treatment (the whole amount of time you're to do) let him rest by not giving any more meds for while. extra salt, warm water is best for a breather. some people have lost their darling to whatever ailed them, plus maybe over medicating. it can happen when you're desperate to make friends better.

i am wondering though if you're feeding your Jonah freeze dried blood worms, frozen blood worms or live worms? if it is freeze dried or frozen, you might want to change his diet. i've heard that eating those all the time can make the fishies have tummy problems.

it is very best to give your lil' guy a varied diet. they need different vitamins and nutrients just like we do. they are meat eaters, but they also need a tiny bit of veggies. i think they get some of that from peas or from betta vitamin flakes. giving him some Hikari Gold Betta Bites is good for him too. Special made for Bettas.

i personally give my boys a mix dieat, not even on a schedule to keep them guessing. sometimes for breakfast i'll give them vitamin flakes, or betta bites. i don't always give them dinner, but usually it's one or two live black worms. i'm a bit mean so i make jump or hunt for them ('cept the one with a spine prob). they just love those!

don't over feed, even skip a day or two (it's good for them) and clean up left overs right away. clean water is happy fishie. ok, done with my 5 cents.

enjoy!

It is hard to believe that my first post was only 11 days ago. It feels like I have been on this death watch for an eternity. The situation had been going on for awhile even then. Jonah shows no sign of improvement. He hasn't eaten one single thing in at least 3 weeks. He is just bone. Nothing is of interest. Today was a definite turn from bad (just laying his right side on the surface) to something much worse. He didn't like it when I turned on the light this morning (so now I think I'll just leave it on all the time) and zipped around his bowl a little and a strand of his gorgeous blue "plumage" fell off. I don't think he's suffering, but he is obviously on hospice care.

The strand falling off is a sign of fin rot. Since he's been laying on the gravel, it's not hard for them to develop it. I'm so very sorry Jonah's not doing well. I wish I had a magic healing wand to make him all better. Are you using bettafix and salt? Poor baby.

He's not laying on the gravel. He is floating, floating, floating for weeks now. But I am using bettafix.

Since he won't eat, the pet store (I finally discovered a really great one at last -- they specialize in fish and their folks are quite knowledgeable, passionate, and compassionate about them) gave me live blood worms yesterday to try to entice him to eat. That was an interesting short-lived experiment -- the worms dove straight to the bottom and wriggled under the base of the plastic plant. The bottom might as well be another planet to a floating fish. His swim bladder must be damaged. These photos of swim bladder problems most closely resembles his current situation:
http://bettas.fishjunkies.com/Disorders/sbd.php

I suppose they can get cancer too. Unlike the books, he is not going to live with this disorder so I think it must be only part of his problem. I have no doubt that I overfed him or those caring for him while I was on vacation may have also. I have since read that "a fish's stomach is roughly the same size as its eye". Have you seen how big those freeze-dried blood worms are?!! I am sure I have fed him more than an eye's worth most feedings, even though I thought I was being appropriately stingy with him. Apparently I loved him to death! But now, at this point, I think he needs to eat something. "Eat, baby, eat!" Do I sound like a mother, or what? He is just a floating sack of bones now and has no interest in anything. He is still pretty though.

I know this is tough, but it is your call: if you decide to help him into fishie heaven, we all think that putting him into a cup of cold water with ice cubes is the most humane. Or a cup of water and put in the freezer. Freezing to death is like falling asleep and much nicer to the ailing sweetheart than flushing.

Anyway, think about what is the best path for your baby. I hope he makes it, but things don't sound that good. You are a good betta mom for caring and trying so hard to save him.

Bizarre as it may seem, Jonah is still hanging in there, still just floating and still not eating. But oddly enough, he is doing something new today that make me hopeful. When I offered him food, this time he swam off, albeit poorly, wriggled might be a better verb, and is now hiding from me in his plant. Oh Joy!!!

I feel almost hopeful today!

Jonah's mom,

You've got yourself a fighter indeed! I had the same experience with live bloodworms, bloop, right to the bottom! LOL. Jonah sounds like a real great fish, and I hope he makes it. The fact that he's hung in there this long is nice, but don't be too shocked if he doesn't. :angel:

Hugs,
Nan