Something Is Wrong With My Betta!

Hello,
When I left home this morning my Betta seemed fine but when I came in late this evening he is obviously sick! He is not eating and is hanging at the water line with his fins clamped together. He doesn't move when you touch the glass but one time darted around the bowl quickly, then right back like he was.
He is in a one gallon bowl changed every other day or every 3rd day... no longer than that. I use no soap... just rinse the bowl with hot water and wipe clean with paper towels. I use Stress coat and 1/2 tsp salt with each water change. I have had him about 6 months or so with the same treatment.
His bowl is sitting on another bowl with a nightlight in it to help keep his water warm. This sits by my "Bunn" coffee maker which is always warm to the touch and his water temp is usually 78-79 degrees. I did notice a drop in temp when I came in. It was around 76 degrees so I added a towel around the bowl and moved it closer to the heating element on the coffee maker. It is now 77-78 degrees. He was staying at the side of the bowl that is the warmest but is now just hanging at the front. His eyes seem a little bugged but not really bad... Now that I look closer his scales are a little ruffled looking and he also seems a bit bloated. He really doesn't look good! The only change has been a reduction in the amount of food I have been giving him. I think I was over feeding him... It is 5:00 A.M. here but now that I see his condition I will stay up and wait for advice. I have a pretty good medecine chest but hesitate to treat him for the wrong thing and make him worse. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Might just be old age, although i've never had a betta come down that quickly. When was the last water change? Are you using aquarium salt? you say you'e had him at least 6 months well.. most LFS bettas re around 1 year old when sold so that would make him 18 months old... which is kind of getting on but certainly not OLD for a betta. If you could get a more recent, clearer picture of the fish AND a picture of the surroundings he is in i may be able to help more

Bret

the only thing i can think offhand from that description is maybe he ate something he shouldn't have, or something bad got in the water (aerosol or other chemicals) while you were away. this could cause a quick reaction, and kitchens are little chemical wonderlands. Do you think this is possible at all?

If you haven't, I would do an immediate water change with some extra stresscoat, some salt too, if you like, but the clean water will be the most important thing if it is the above situation.

It would be really cool if you could lower the water line some to get a decent side shot of him as he is mostly obscured by the top of the bowl

Thanks! Will change his water and post better picture ASAP!

O.K! One water spill...one change) These are not much better...I have an old Sony Mavica and "Finley" hates the flash! I did want to add that he seems to gulp for air, then blow a bubble. His breathing doesn't look right. I also see 2 tiny grayish spots on his back but they are onlt pin dot size. Thanks!

There is a nightlight (7 watt) in the green bowl. Between that, the towel, and the coffee pot it pretty much keeps his temp constant. I always get his new water to the temp it was before the change. Thanks!

hmm.. i think i see where you mean his scales look "ruffled" If he is bloated too, this is something called Dropsy which is hard to treat as it is a symptom of many things and not the illness itself. I believe it is always a sign of something internal but unfortunately I don't know a great deal about it. If he is retaining fluid, than a salt(epsom, not aquarium) bath may help, but dropsy can also be caused by a list of things and most wll not respond to a salt bath.

if you look at him from above does he have any pine coning (meaning his scales are sticking out off his body)? if yes then it is likely dropsy. another fairly innocuous cause of dropsy is constipation, which can be healed by feeding him some pea if he is still eating. Unfortunately, the rest of the causes of dropsy are pretty nasty.

Because of the broad range of possible causes of this illness, it is best that you use a broad spectrum antibiotic that covers both gram negative and gram positive bacteria such as Maracyn and Maracyn-Two. Combining these two medications, which is safe to do, you are getting the benefits of treating both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Maracyn treats Gram Positive, Maracyn-Two treats Gram Negative. All bases are covered.

Click to expand...

from http/groups.msn.com/TheBettaObsession/il...dcurepart3.msnw

There may be others on this forum who can give you more information than me. I do hope he gets better, he's a very pretty little guy.


[edit] i forgot to add that they also make medicinal foods that you can feed him if he is eating, I have seenthem in petsmart, but never really sought them out. if you are looking for them they will be in the food/medicine aisle of the aquarium section

He doesn't have that look about his scales from above at all! Just slightly fron the sides. I see no sign of any parasite, etc. He is usually a VERY social little fish but today is hiding and when I walked into the kitchen a while ago he made a wild dash around the bowl as fast as he could go then back to the side where you can't see him. I gave him Maracyn and Maracyn 2 at noon today. He has been on a diet of blood worms (dried) because he just refused to eat his flakes anymire. I bought some floating pellets today but he has no interest in anything really. He just looks so pittiful! What in the world comes on this fast He was FINE yesterday morning! How long does it take to see the effect of the medicine if it is going to work?

hmm...if he doesn't seem to have really overt signs of drops and you are feeding him dry foods (flake, freezedried) then he may be constipated. Pea is good for constipation if you can get him to eat it (most will readily). Fresh or frozen is good, just not canned. you'll want to cook it until it's soft, then give it to him. this usually gets things moving again.

I don't know much about how long it would take to see improvement through medication.

Wish i could be more help but i hven't had a constipated betta before, and my one with dropsy didn't get medicated as I caught it late. I'm really only spitting out what I have read in the past on this forum definately try the pea, though, before you medicate him.

[edit] i believe the usual prescription for constipation is don't feed for something like 4 days, and then try the pea.

The poor baby is normally a voracious eater! Hopefully he will be hungry enough to eat the pea.... I'll post back if there is any change. Thanks for all your help!

Hello!
Today doesn't look good for the little guy! He has gone from hanging at the top to sitting on the bottom. He isn't even flapping his little fins.... He paid no attention at all to the pea and no attention to the food I tried. He was swimming around a bit yesterday but so far today... nothing. I need to know if he is suffering and should I do something? Also, I am not too sure I could do anything to him. Does anybody have any idea what could be wrong or what I might do? I have started him on Maracyn and Maracyn 2. Thanks!