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My betta is sick! Please see if anyone could give some suggestions

I was in the same situation actually, and this worked for me:

1: do 3, 50% water changes.

2: Add 1 rounded tablespoon per 5 gallons of water and leave him like that over night.

3: The next day do a 50% water change.

4: Right after the water change add 1 and a HALF rounded table spoons of salt per 5 gallons. Leave him in that for about half an hour.

5: Do a 50% water change so some of the salt is still left in the tank, but not to much. Leave him for the rest of the day and overnight again.

6: Add 2 rounded tablespoons of salt per 5 gallons. Keep him in there for 5-10 minuets, any more salt and it could affect the betta, kept in there for more than 10 mins could affect the betta.

7: After the 10 mins, Do 2, 50% water changes and leave him there.

8: If that does not work ur kinda stuck, if it does not work (it probably will work) then medicate the tank.
 
Obsessed with fish said:
I was in the same situation actually, and this worked for me:

1: do 3, 50% water changes.

2: Add 1 rounded tablespoon per 5 gallons of water and leave him like that over night.

3: The next day do a 50% water change.

4: Right after the water change add 1 and a HALF rounded table spoons of salt per 5 gallons. Leave him in that for about half an hour.

5: Do a 50% water change so some of the salt is still left in the tank, but not to much. Leave him for the rest of the day and overnight again.

6: Add 2 rounded tablespoons of salt per 5 gallons. Keep him in there for 5-10 minuets, any more salt and it could affect the betta, kept in there for more than 10 mins could affect the betta.

7: After the 10 mins, Do 2, 50% water changes and leave him there.

8: If that does not work ur kinda stuck, if it does not work (it probably will work) then medicate the tank.
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Teaspoons 😉
 
It's probably dropsy by the looks of it... and usually that's fatal- not sure how to deal with dropsy. but it could also be overfeeding- how much do you feed him? 4 pellets twice per day is the most I would do, and no more than 5 at once. But your ammonia looks high- anything above zero is a concern. If you haven't already, do a water change. Is your tank cycled? if it isn't cycled, that's probably why your ammonia is high.
 
fishyfun&fans said:
NOT TABLE SPOONS!

TEA SPOONS at the most!

too much salt will definitely kill it.
Click to expand...

I've not heard of measuring in teaspoons in terms of medicnal salt use in fishkeeping. Only 1 or 2 tablespoons/ 5 gallons or 3 grammes/ litre.

Are you talking in terms of permanent prophylactic dosing?
 
Naughts said:
I've not heard of measuring in teaspoons in terms of medicnal salt use in fishkeeping. Only 1 or 2 tablespoons/ 5 gallons or 3 grammes/ litre.

Are you talking in terms of permanent prophylactic dosing?
Click to expand...
I measure mine in teaspoons. Whatever it says on the package
 
From Colin_T's thread (my bold highlighting) for treating disease. 5 gallons = 19 litres.

Colin_T said:
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.
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Salt should not be used long term as a preventative, especially with soft water fish.
 
Salt should only be used temporarily to treat freshwater fish with an illness/ condition. Using it for 4+ weeks causes damage to internal organs.
However I don't think salt is the right treatment anyway. Aquarium salt is used for external bacterial or fungal infection. I suspect the fish's problem is internal, possibly an internal parasite or bacterial infection that can lead to organ failure which causes fluid retention and dropsy.
People sometimes recommend epsom salt treatments but this is stressful for the fish as it involves moving it to a 'bath' several times a day. It could help the swelling and popeye for a while but IME, it's not a permanent cure. If the fish has organ failure these baths are futile anyway.
Follow a strict maintenance routine with large frequent water changes to eliminate the ammonia. Fast for 3 days then feed a blanched de-shelled pea.
What do you feed the fish? What is it's poo like?
 
Last edited:
image.jpg
After searching more, I kind of feel confirmed it is under the swim bladder disease. The treatment I found on YouTube is to make him fasting three days, change water every day and put aquarium salt, and start to feed a little bit on the fourth day.

I was trying to the method I found on Youtube to treat Swim bladder disease for three days: change half water every day and add some aquarium salt; not to feed for three day until the 4th day. But It didn’t work.

I usually feed the betta food as image shows, and recently started to feed the flakes as it seems easier to digest.

My betta seems get more serious, and now can not always balance himself. What should I do?

The poo I need to observe it more - didnot really notice his poo poo since bringing back him home last year, maybe eaton by the snails.
 

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mjfromga said:
It's easier for us to read your tests if you line the tubes up in FRONT of the card on the white bits between the color chart.

Swim bladder disorder/disease would not cause the fish to bloat up like this. Your ammonia looks high. Quite green in the tube. This is problematic.

It looks more like dropsy or a bacterial infection. This is often fatal. I would definitely work on getting that ammonia down. What does your maintenance routine look like?
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I really change 1/3-1/2 water once a week with waste treatment solutions. There are some snails and water plants in the tanks. I clean the tanks and change filter every 3-4 days.
I changed the water a lot recently so the water should be all clean now.

Does it looks more like swim bladder disease?
 

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As I said before - I don't think this is SBD. The fish had popeye and was bloated. I believe this is bacterial in nature. You can't just *THINK* the water is good. You need to test it.
 
mjfromga said:
As I said before - I don't think this is SBD. The fish had popeye and was bloated. I believe this is bacterial in nature. You can't just *THINK* the water is good. You need to test it.
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You are right. Just tested the water again.
It looks alight. What else can I do for the poor betta?
He sleeps more than before and looks a bit hard to balance himself.
 

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mjfromga said:
As I said before - I don't think this is SBD. The fish had popeye and was bloated. I believe this is bacterial in nature. You can't just *THINK* the water is good. You need to test it.
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If it is bacteria, salt should help. But I tried to replace half water and put salt in the past three days, and he seems not get better.
 
Just wondering - will aquarium salt hurt the Nerites? I've never had to use it myself (touch wood) but just wondering.
 
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