A little worried

[KeddyPie]

I pay very close attention to my fish (mostly because I take so many photos of them, I see all the little details and get a good feel for their personality). Today was frozen bloodworm day (which I might make another post about in chit chat) and I quickly realized, once I dumped them in... That I did not see Lemon, the red betta in my community tank. I took off the lid, and found him resting on his side on one of the floating lily leafs at the top of my tank. He often hides there, but NEVER lays on the leaf. Worried he was dead, I gently poked him with my finger. I think a good analogy of the way he reacted is, he acted the same as I do when I get poked at 5 in the morning. He righted himself a little bit, turned to face my finger, then plopped back down on his side and turned away from me.

I put a few bloodworms right in front of him. He ate one, then gave up. I kept watching him. After a few minutes, he decided to go for a cruise around the tank for a second. He was rather orange, which I suppose simply means he's pale since he's normally dark red. He was acting normal for that moment, but after about a minute, went and found another leaf, and layed back down. He's been there for about 40 minutes at least.

I'm not sure what to do. He's just a little pale and lethargic, nothing drastic. I'm not sure if I should leave him in the community tank (he is very comfortable there, and nobody nips at him) or if I should move him. On one hand, moving him would be stressful and probably not help the problem... On the other hand, whatever he has could be contagious.

I don't know how old he is, he was an adult when I got him, about 5 months ago. Age could be getting to him. I don't have a hospital tank set up, as I just drained it to put some dividers in, and the silicon is not set yet. I don't want to put him in my other tank, because I intend to use it for one of my new additions come wednesday/thursday, and don't want to contaminate it.

If he's still acting strange tomarrow, I might put him in Berrys tank, and move berry ot the community... But Berry is a little aggressive (or so I assume, since he was FLARING at his thawed bloodworms) and don't know how he would do in a community tank. I might throw something together (simple, like one of those big cookiedough buckets with holes poked in the lid)...

Any suggestions of what I should do? Though I try my best to learn and take great care of my fishes, I AM new to the hobby, and this is the first ill fish I have ever had.

Sorry for the overly detailed long post,
Katy

 

[KeddyPie]

I went ahead and moved him into the empty tank. I'm not sure what good it would do, but I had to do SOMETHING and I could not think of another thing. Also, this way, he is RIGHT in front of me (the tank is between where I'm sitting and the monitor) so I can keep a super-close eye on him. I moves his leaf in there too, and he's just laying on it, taking a bulp of air every once in awhile. (It's a clean glass lid and I'm right over the tank, so I notice every time)

And actually, I think he may be going a lot more getting air then he should. He's RIGHT at the top so doesn't need to move to get air. He's taking a breath at least every minute.

I'm really stretching for something to do for him, any suggestions at all? I might feed him a 2 or 3 bloodworms every hour or 2 by hand, since he didn't eat last time, trying to get him to eat something.

 

[KeddyPie]

I tossed a bit of food in there about half an hour ago, he had absolutly no interest, and now it is just littering his leaf.

I think I'll stop replying to my own post now ^^ I think I was just hoping if I kept it high on the list, it's more likely someone who has a suggestion will respong.

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

I don't know what to say hon, really. My betta likes hiding up in a bit of floating plant in his little area sometimes, but then mine isn't over the stress of what happened to him at the garden centre in the fish tanks with the tetras. And mine is eating. Well actually!
Let him have some peace and quiet and darkness too. Maybe he just needs to sleep. If he is getting old it might explain it.
I don't know anything else that will help. I do find a small amount of melafix can perk up any fish.
Hope he pulls through for you anyway.
Hugs,
P.

 

[OohFeeshy]

How old is he? If you can get them, I'd try indian almond leaf. Or possibly collodial silver might perk him up a tad. Just keep his water nice and warm and clean for now.

 

[KeddyPie]

Unfortunatly, I don't have access to either of those at this time.

And also, I'm not sure of his age. I got him 5 months ago, full grown, and he was lookin' fairly old. I'll go to some stores tomarrow and see if I can get some melafix or collodial silver, despite not knowing what either of these are

A few hours ago, I took his leaf away from him. Not to be mean, I just wanted to see if he was laying on it because he wanted to, or because he HAD to. He sank when I removed it, so I quickly put it back. Since then, I've seen him away for the leaf swimming once.

Thanks for the help,
Katy

 

[FishEnthusiast]

What is the temperature of the water he is in? Sometimes they get lethargic when the water is too cold.

I hesitate to say it is old age, but sometimes it just is. I recently lost one of my guys to what I believe was old age. He did basically what yours is doing now. He laid around a lot and completely stopped eating. He would look at his food, but not even taste it.

It is difficult to watch, and even harder to say goodbye, so I will keep my fingers crossed that it is something treatable.

You did the right thing moving him on his own. The peace and quiet might perk him up a little. I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers. Please do let us know how he gets on in the next couple of days.

I wish I could offer you some great advice that would magically make him better, but I just don't know for sure what could be wrong, if it is anything at all.

 

[KeddyPie]

The temperature has not changed dramatacally in WEEKS, the tanks are not heated right now as I have an annoyingly hot room already. The water temperature is a little warmer then I'd like today, at about 81 degrees.

I'm almost positive it's nothing with the water, as all the other fish are acting the same (besides the Dojos, who think it's mating season), and moving tanks has done nothing for him. He's still a little pale, but he has been away from his leaf once or twice.

He's been making a lot of bubbles, but not a bubble nest or anything. He normally can't make a nice bubble nest in the community tank, as the filter creates some current.

I know there is no miracle cure when you don't know what the problem is... I just feel so helpless and wish there was SOMETHING I could do. I cleaned up the kitchen spotless in hopes of bumming 20 bucks off my mom to buy some previously mentioned things, as I'm broke from buying new tank and divider supplies to prepare for the three boys I am getting from nashnut... But she declared she had already given me far too much money this week. So if he's still hanging in there, thigns to help him out will have to wait until Tuesday...

I'll tell you how he's doing in the morning.

Katy

 

[Alix]

well jus try to heat up his tank a lil

 

[KeddyPie]

I would not heat the tank at 81 degrees... I think that'd start to stress the poor bugger. He's used to a tank around 79 degrees, and seems happiest around that temperature.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

If you are going to get Melafix, I would suggest you go for BettaFix instead. It is made of the same ingredient, but in a much lower dose. Too much Melafix can harm a betta. Indian Almond leaves are good, as is blackwater extract. I am going based on word of mouth only, I have never tried either of these.

It could be the heat bothering him, but I am not positive on that. I hope he feels better for you.

 

[KeddyPie]

Well, he's about the same this morning. He's been enjoying making little bubbly structures (though I'd hardly call them nests, what with being 1-2 bubbles high and an inch long) but he is still using his leaf. I'll update again if there is any change in his behavior

 

[KeddyPie]

It isn't looking good. After I did all my morning procedures (coffee, drag dogs off couch, laugh at the rats antics...) I turned on my desk light... And that is what I realized that I did not before... My betta (which I don't hink I mentioned, we call "Mr. Soda") is sickeningly pale. Keep in mind, that his body before, when he was healthy, was just a tiny bit darker than his fins... This is the photo I took of him today.



Because of that, I've suddenly become very dismal with this situation. No fish that isn't dying would be that pale. This is a seriously ill fish, and I have no idea what is wrong with him... I hate this feeling of helplessness.

I'm going to post pictures of my fish tanks, which is mostly betta tanks, in the photo section, if anyone wants to see where he or anyone else is staying. Nashnut can see where her fish are soon to be living, and I hope she approves

Katy

 

[KeddyPie]

Well, I went out for 2 hours, I came home and he was dead...

Sleep well, little guy.

 

[Mina]

Poor little guy. I'm glad he was well loved though.