My Betta Has Something Wrong, Help Please.

hi all, im new here. i came here out of desperation.

my male betta jermane is very sick. i have absolutely no clue what is causing his illness.
his gills are basically extruding, he has a big peice of feces coming out of his anus, it does not seem proportional at all.
he is not swimming normal at all. he was having a hard time moving about the 10 gallon tank so i transfered him to a smaller container along with his original water. i noticed this morning his gills were discoloured. almost like he grew teal colored scales?

his gills seem like they are exploding through his side, as well as under his body.
ive had him for about a year, for the entire year ive fed him the same food. 3-4 pellets twice a day, i followed the directions on the betta food bottle.
i always wash my hands with warm water and no soap before i feed, ive never mis-treated him or his tank. i change water, change filter when needed, etc. he has a heater and the temp is usually 76-78, at max 80.

and now all the sudden he is in bad shape. the new addition to the tank is a female betta and she herself is very healthy. so is my algea eater fish.

here are some pictures of jermane, maybe these will help diagnose what is wrong with the little guy.









in the first picture, you can see the feces.
in the rest of the pictures you can see his gills, very puffed and big.
my camera is horrible for close ups, especially for fish. but this is the best i can do.

id really appreciate the help. i dont know what to do. i dont think he is constipated, and if he was i dont think he will eat any peas. its late now and i will have to go to the pet store tomorrow for further treament remedies.... i really hope he makes it through the nite ok. im very sad

Well I've never seen this myself with a betta. But here is info from a page I've bookmarked on diseases. Good luck, batmang.

DISEASE: INFLAMED GILLS

GENERAL INFO:
The gill or gills of a betta may become inflamed, because of nitrate poisoning, and possibly bacterial infections, or even a defective gill (if it was born that way).

SYMPTOMS:
One or both gills will not close all the way (look at betta from the top it is easier to see it then), gills may look red on the inside (inflamed) or not, in the last stages, the betta may be gasping for air, unable to breath and ultimately die.

TREATMENT:
Isolate sick betta. Do a full jar water change every third day. Every time you change water, add antibiotic (Pick one that treats inflamed gills) to the water. In the case of nitrate poisoning, simply add one drop of methylene blue in betta’s jar.

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Hi batmang,

When you say the female betta is a new addition to the tank, do you mean they're in the same tank together? Or is there a divider or something between them? If they're in together it's possible they've been fighting amongst themselves, males and females are generally not kept together unless spawning [there are exceptions to every rule though!] because they can be aggressive towards each other.

With his swimming troubles, is it that he's having a hard time swimming and is lethargic, or that when he tries to swim he's wonky or turns upright?

Are you able to check the water parameters to see if the nitrates/nitrites/ammonia is high? Or if not can you take some water to the LFS to be tested?

Does he still have the feces or has he been pooing since this post? Any clamping of his fins? Has he been trying to scratch himself on anything or has he developed any different coloured patches?

Sorry for all the questions, trying to determine what it could be! Sending prayers his way

8) cant look at his sad face....when they are ill their eyes seem to follow you...hope he is ok. fingers crossed.

ElectricMayhem said:

Hi batmang,

When you say the female betta is a new addition to the tank, do you mean they're in the same tank together? Or is there a divider or something between them? If they're in together it's possible they've been fighting amongst themselves, males and females are generally not kept together unless spawning [there are exceptions to every rule though!] because they can be aggressive towards each other.

With his swimming troubles, is it that he's having a hard time swimming and is lethargic, or that when he tries to swim he's wonky or turns upright?

Are you able to check the water parameters to see if the nitrates/nitrites/ammonia is high? Or if not can you take some water to the LFS to be tested?

Does he still have the feces or has he been pooing since this post? Any clamping of his fins? Has he been trying to scratch himself on anything or has he developed any different coloured patches?

Sorry for all the questions, trying to determine what it could be! Sending prayers his way

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eletric, she was given to me by my brother in law. he picked her up from a local pet store. they are both sharing the same tank, no divider. i wasnt aware that they should be separated. i will def. keep them apart if jermane survives treatment. i went to walmart to see if they had anything to help him.

i picked up api's melafix. i transferred him to a brand new glass bowl and applied the proper amount of melafix to the new bowl. im hoping this helps him. i should have bought a betta first aid kit.. but im new to fishes, and im now learning from my mistakes.

as for signs, he did rub against things, he rubbed against a plastic plant within the tank randomly. when he swims, he seemed to be weak. he did not turn completely sideways or upright. he sorta teetered side to side, but always maintained proper form when he swam.

as for the feces, it is still hanging from his body. it does not seem to be like normal feces. i almost want to say it may be his actual intestine. the reason i think this is because he has had it hanging from him for about 2-3 hours now. feces would have broken off his body by now.

colorwise he is the same he was a couple hours ago. he is pretty much the same state he was when i first noticed the problems.

i am able to test the water as i have a home testing kit. i will do that tommorrow asap.
he has no poo'ed from what i can tell. i saw no feces on the bottom of the tank anywhere, still seems to be the same peice from his body just hanging.

i have no clue what caused the hanging feces/intestine issue. that is totally random. after reading through betta disease guides, i feel like a horrible owner. the blotchyness on his face, swollen gills, frayed fins, etc. but the feces/intestine issue makes no sense.

im hoping the melafix helps, i will keep you guys posted. thanks a bunch for the replies.

Not sure about this. I received a very cute, young female betta many years ago who had a problem with her "intestines" (not sure if that's what it is in fish) prolapsing outside a little--like what I can see on your guy--from time to time, not always. I had put an antibiotic in her tank and the intestine went back in after a couple of days of small feedings--but after a couple more days it came back out. I feed her only very small amounts with more frequent feedings so she never had a big bulk of food in her digestive tract ever and switched her to moist food (frozen bloodworms, frozen glassworms, frozen mysis shrimp). She never was able to keep it inside all the time and she died within a few months (I suspect that her digestive tract may have been deformed). But since you've had your guy for a year and he's only developed this now and the gill thing recently--I don't know what to tell you. I take it you didn't quarantine the new female before putting her in the tank to make sure she wasn't carrying something contagious (you should quarantine any new fish for at least a week, 2 is better). She may have infected your guy.

He might just be constipated and its really took it's toll this time. Pellets for a whole year may of just been too much for the poor lil guy.

Bret

Don't feel like a horrible fish keeper. The fact that you're here looking for help and went out and bought him meds, and the way you describe you look after him shows that you care about your fishies. Sometimes these things just happen.

I really think trying a pea would be a good idea. Get a frozen pea, cook it and smush the shell off so you only have the middle bit. Try and get him to eat a bit of that. If he is constipated it'd explain the bloatiness, which would make him lethargic and make it hard for him to swim. If he really won't go for the pea you could try an Epsom salt bath, I'd have to look into Epsom salt-water ratio. You can get Epsom salts at the chemist or supermarket.

The Melafix is a good mild anti-bacterial med and it can also help if it's fungal. So I think if you try treat him for constipation you've got all bases covered. I'm no expert on sick fish [thankfully haven't had to deal with sickness much] but I think it's worth a try.

And the DIY section has a good thread on how to make a cheap divider for when he's ready to go back into the tank.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!

dont feel bad you are doing your best. Years ago one of my kids goldfish started bleeding from the back passage and then something came out like insides luckily the kids were at school and it happened really fast. The fish died within space of half an hour. There was nothing I could do! fingers crossed for your fish.

I don't know what is wrong with your baby

But if he is constipated have you fed him any mashed peas?

And you should never have a plastic plany with bettas as it can tear their fins. Only silk plants or real ones

welp, i do beleive the thing coming out of jermane was in deed feces, i think. it is not the normal color though, it looks almost like a baby tree root.

he is still alive and just kinda hanging around. seems like he is more exhausted then he was yesterday. im going to monitor him throughout the day and see how he responds.

here are some pictures from today.

here is the feces i was talking about:


here is how he is looking today. in this picture you can see how big the feces was compared to him.









poor fella

Were his fins frayed before you put the female in the tank? My guess is that there have been fights. Sometimes stress can cause constipation. Feed him some pea, get his fins healed, and maybe put a little anti-parasite med as well if he's been rubbing. Also make sure he's warm. I'd say 74 at the least, but 78-82 would be better with a sick betta.

Good luck!

Hope the little fella gets better.

flautist said:

Were his fins frayed before you put the female in the tank? My guess is that there have been fights. Sometimes stress can cause constipation. Feed him some pea, get his fins healed, and maybe put a little anti-parasite med as well if he's been rubbing. Also make sure he's warm. I'd say 74 at the least, but 78-82 would be better with a sick betta.

Good luck!

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yeah, his fins were frayed prior to the addition of the female betta. his fins were frayed when we picked him up from the store. but i thought it was normal.
i plan to get peas today. are 0% sodium peas the proper peas to use? what is a good anti parasite med? im
going to have to go to petsmart or petco today to see about additional meds.

Glad your guy passed that poop, at least. I recommend picking up Maracyn-Two; it's good against bacterial infections and fin&tail rot. I have used it on a couple of occassions with success --- once against tail rot and once against popeye.

Also, peas with no salt added are best. Good luck!