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

It seems as if I never have any luck with the Betta's.

This time, after learning all I could about these beautiful water/air breathing friends, I tried to take care of another, and if this one dies then I am not going to be buying another, don't want to kill anymore.

My Betta {Lawrance of Arabia} is in a 3gal Eclapse tank with a bio-wheel filter and a heater.

When i got him the LFS said that he was only six months old and I have had him for only three, my limit to keeping betta's alive.

Every thing was going great, he was eating blood worms and I tried to give him the betta pellets but he would turn his nose up at them and I would have to get them back out of his tank.

He was just fine, had his tank pushed up to my 10gal with guppies in it so he got lots of flare up when they would go to that side of his tank. He had his bubble nest going on the side of the two tank put together. The heat was at 82, all was well.

Then about a week maybe a week and a half now, I looked at him and he looked like it must be Xmas and he was going to be the Santa Betta. His belly was soooooooo swollen and still is.

Read about Betta sickies on Bettacare.com and there it read to do 50% water changes every other day and 9x out of 10 the betta would get better. Been there and done that for two days when I noticed that he was getting even more lopsided on one side. I decided to put BettaMax in his tank. The first day no change, the second day, he would go to the surface just long enough to get a breath of air and then slowly float down as if his tummy was tooooooo heavy. I did two doses and on the second dose, i noticed a bubble like thing on the one side that was fatter. It was clear like a blister, then after a couple of hours, it got white and fuzzy. I had taken him into the LFS and they told me that there was nothing wrong with him but him being fat and that I should stop feeding him. He hasn't eatin in about five days now. I asked them if he was going to live and they told me yes.

But things are getting worse, he was cureled up around the heater most of the day and then I read the Bettacare.com again and read where if he had not taken a poop that Epson salt would help with the big tummy and the pooping. So I ran down to the store, got some Epson salt, did a water change {50%} and put the salt in. He is now at the bottom of the tank again, he comes up to the top to get air and then back down he will go. some times it is a struggle for him and other times he does just okay.

His tummy still has the white fuzzy bubble on the side that is the fatest and I don't know what else to do for him, I am going to put the last dose of BettaMax in his tank tonight as we won't be home all day tomorrow, Rose Parade and all!! Would rather stay at home and be nurse, but have a son in the Dragon boat races.

Does anyone know what he has? Is he going to make it? I sure hope that he is not in tooo much pain. I was going to say, NO pain but to look at him, you know that he is.

What can I do for him?? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Hello EZ...welcome to our forum!

I am sorry to hear about your poor little sick friend. It sounds to me like he may have gotten a bit constipated...though I don't know what the white bubble is that you mentioned.

For constipation I have found that feeding them a cooked frozen pea...cooled off...works great!
I don't feed them anything for a day, then I offer them a few bits of the pea and feed only that once a day until you see that they have left a deposit in the tank <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> and that they are feeling better. Bettas get constipation from overfeeding or from eating too much freezedried foods from what I understand..I could be wrong about the freezdried foods so you might do a search for more info on constipation in bettas.

Try and take it easy on the meds....they will stress out your fish....try taking out a little of his water and replacing it with some aged/stress coated water with some aquarium salt in it (1 teasp per gallon) a little at a time to what he has in there now...to gradually get him used to the change. then try bettafix (it's a natural remedy and won't stress them out so much) You can even up the temp of his water to 84F. Do the whole 7 day bettafix treatment....oh, when I care for sick bettas I put them in a hospital bowl with no gravel. It's easier to keep the water clean that way and you don't have to use up alot of meds in the smaller bowl..(at least a 2 pint size)..you could float the bowl in his tank where you have the heater, it will keep the water in the bowl warm.

I also syphon out any cruds I see on the bottom of the bowl each day taking out as little as possible,as with the bettafix treatment you cannot do water changes..the med has to gradually increase daily,if you change the water it messes that up. That is why I use at least a 2 pint container.

Give this a try EZ and let us know how he does. all the best to the little guy! And don't be discouraged!! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Emg <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Lawrance has not eaten since the 7th of this month. I don't use regular aquaidic salt, I read where I should be using Epson Salt, so I used that and one side is not swollen any more but the other is. The side that is still swollen still has the bubble of fuzzy stuff, it seems to pull him to one side when ever he goes to the top for air. He can maintain his stability after he starts but getting started he tends to lean to the one side.

I don't know if we have any Betta"Flex" here in Portland, what the LFS gave me was Betta"Max". I went back to that LFS and told them of the bubble that appeared and the fuzzy look on it and the guy just walked away from me. he was the one that said Lawrance was okay, just fat. But I didn't want him to get away that easy, so I followed him around the LFS even tho it had a lot of people in there and kept asking him why this thing apeared the next day after he said it was just fatness. He finally told me that it was complactions from being fat just to get me to be quite so the customers would stop looking at him.

I have started to turn down his heat. I sure hate to move the guy into anything else. He was taken to the LFS and then Brought home and his fancy fins are shreading off. They started turning black around the bottom and then there was a strip of white above the black strip and then his color of blue. Where ever the white strip is, the fancy fins are falling off, poor guy looks like a mess but he is hanging in there and so i really hope that I can pull him through this. As hard as he is trying to stay alive, I feel just that helpless.

I will do a small water change and put in the carbon filter to his tank and just use the salt. I really don't want to move him, he is in a 3gal tank and i have put an air stone in there with him, I know that he is an air breather, but the Epson salt instructions say to airegate more.

I tried to feed him a small piece of pea but he just looked at me with that look of "help me".

I wish i was Dr. Do-Little <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Hang in there EZ ! While there is still life, there is hope!

I can't tell you much about the epsom salt, I have never used it..I don't know anything about it except that I remember reading something awhile back about using it to treat dropsy in fish.

I don't blame you for not wanting to change his surroundings...a good idea seeing as how he is feeling so bad, change would just stress him more. As far as the heat goes, I wouldn't turn it down...84F. isn't too warm for a sick fish, and I know Jilly has said that even as high as 86F. is ok for them...and she knows ALOT more than I do. And if he has ick, it will help to get rid of that.

The fuzzy stuff may very well be a fungus of some sort...hhmm...you have been treating him with the BettaMax...I have never used that so I don't know if it is used to treat fungus...I know that I do use regular aquarium salt in all my tanks.

Have you read any of the threads about treating ick and fungus? You can get a link directly to those threads by opening the first thread listed. That way you won't have to wade through so many posts. Jilly won't be back until Tues, she is a great wealth of info on just about anything aquarium related. She has many posts and articles which will help you out...you can find them linked at that first thread.

Like I said EZ...hang in there and keep pullin for that little guy. Stay in touch!

Here are a few threads that may help.....
http://www.bellaonline.com/code/ubb/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=000081
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art16478.asp

Also, I wouldn't waste anymore time talking to that fella at the fish store... :rolleyes:


Emg :love:

<img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Things are not much better with Lawrance. He now has a white stringy thing hanging from him that seems to be coming from the white fuzzy thing on him. The pretty blue body is now turning white. He is hanging at the top of the water by wedging himself inbetween the heater and the glass. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I have read the links that you sent and am now determind to find BettaFlex. I am putting back in the carbon filter to help get out any of the other meds that are in there and then do a small water change. He is such a tough little guy and is still hanging in there with life so I just have to do something to help him. I know that he must be in such pain and if there is anything that I can do to help him out of it then I will drive all over Portland today if nessesary to find the BettaFlex.

As far as the other LFS I will not do any talking to him, I will just ask if they have BettaFlex and if not then I am just going to walk out. There was another LFS that I use to go to but they were worse. They would give you "NO" info on how to help your water breathing friend. They would just tell me that I'm over loving them to death and so stop feeding them and leave them alone. So I stopped going to them, when I found the new LFS I thought they were great because they gave info on all kinds of water breathing friends and how to cure them even over the phone, but seems as if they don't know anything either, they even told me not to listen to people in these forums cause they knew nothing.

Well, you guys have given me more hope and more info on Lawrance then they have an even when they have seen him, so as far as not listening to the people in the forums, I would rather put Lawrance's life in your hands then in theirs.

Thanks for all the info and all the help so far. I will get the Bettaflex TODAY and start Lawrance on it ASAP. I know that if I can just get that stuff off of him, he will be better. He use to come to my hand when ever I put it in there, he would rub up against it but now he just looks at me and then my hand and it seems as if he doesn't want to come tooooooo close. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I want him to be able to do that again and to make his bubble nest again, he would get soooooooo mad at me when i did a water change and ruin his nest, he would circle around my hand and the siphon hose as if to tell me to stop it.

I am on my way to travel Portland to find BettaFlex. Will keep you informed on what is happening.

Thanks for everything so far, will be back I'm sure for more info.

EZ,
I hope you get BettaFix in Portland. Sounds like you have a wonderful little guy, and I don't think you can "over love" :love: anything. Lawrence sounds like a real fighter, so I do hope he gets better.
Nan

At 10:25, I put BettaFix in Lawrance's tank.

He was wrapped around the Heater and I think that was what keeping him at the top of the water so that he could get air.

After I changed the water and put in the Bettafix, he went to the bottom on his side, he was struggling to get to the top again so I grabed a small plastic bowl and put him in it with just enough water so that he wouldn't have to reach soooooo far for air.

I have just looked at his tank and he did not make it <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I guess he had hung in there as long as he could and it was toooooooo much for him, he past away. I feel sooooooo bad about getting the medicine tooooooooo late for him. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> .

I don't think that I am going to get another betta even tho they are sooooooo very pretty cause they never live past 3 months in my care.

My son said that he had changed the water and when he did, he used the Spring Water that we have delievered to us. Before that water was put in his tank, he was doing great, then after that water was used he started getting sick,could it have been the water that might have contributed to his illness?

I feel as if I had killed him, if only I would have gotten that med sooner. If only that LFS guy would have known what the ---- he was talking about, if only I would have gotten on this site sooner. If only I would have left him in the store maybe someone else could have bought him and he would still be alive.

I guess I was not meant to have a Betta. Poor Little guy <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> .

I am going to find a small box to use as his coffin and then I will wrap him in cotton and bury him in the front yard along with my other water breathing friends that died when the Black Cloud of Death went though my 29gal tank.

Sure am going to be sad every time I see that empty tank. He was a great little guy and he will really be missed.

EZ,

I am so so sorry. I know your sweet boy was very special to you. You got the medicine as soon as you knew about it! You did absolutely everything you could for your betta. Please don't blame yourself. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I hope you won't give up on bettas forever. Maybe if you read more on the site here about them, and consult with the experts who are so generous with their suggestions.
Nan

Thanks!!

Just buried him in the front yard with matches to make the cross, that way I can always remember how he tried to stay alive.

Maybe I should do more research about them before I get another. My sister said it was because it was a weak stock, hers is one year old now.

I will diffenitly do more studing about them before I get another. Don't want to kill that one too.

I feel as if it is my fault a little, because I listened to the LFS guy that was talking out of his hat cause if his brain knew anything, Lawrance would be alive.

thanks for all the help and you guys gave me more advice and better advice then I got before. Thanks

EZ...please don't give up on bettas...this was a learning experience, we all have them. Now that you know we are here, and you know about bettafix and..you know where you can come should another issue crop up...you have a better chance on the next one.

I think maybe the spring water could have had something to do with it if it was a drastic change in water from what was in there before. Bettas are touchy about changes in their water..they even get upset sometimes if you change thier little world with a new toy or fixture. :rolleyes: FussPots..but once you get a routine going and keep to it, they are pretty easy and fun.

You sound like you're a good betta parent as you care so much and try to do everything you can for them. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Try not to take the loss too badly though..they only live a few short years at best and you really did all that you could for him.

Emg <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />