Advice Needed Asap Please

[Lady_Lesley]

I need help/advice ASAP please regarding my Siamese Fighting Fish. He is still only a baby. We bought him on monday. He has been fine up until today, well about an hour or so ago. I have just noticed his tail fins have almost been bitten off and he is swimming really slowly. All the other fish in my tank are not nippers so i dont understand why he is now like this. However, we did buy 4 fancy guppies today. I have just now put him in a 2 gal tank.

These are the fish i have...

1 red tail black shark (baby)
1 bala shark (baby)
2 kissing gouramis (babies)
2 blue gouramis
2 indian gouramis
4 gold gouramis
1 pearl gourami
4 x-ray tetra
6 scissor tail
5 penguin tera
2 sword tail
5 platy
4 molly
3 catfish

 

[l.michelle]

You might be better off putting this in the betta section. As far as I know, the tetras will nip bettas, amongst other fish, what size is your tank?

Bettas usually prefer to be on their own. So having him in his own tank I think would be best.

Here is a link to the FAQs regarding tankmates.

Q; Can my betta live with tetras?

A: No. they shouldn't at all in my opinion. Once again, people have done this successfully, but most tetras (neons in particular) are the nippiest darn things, and will tear apart your betta's delicate fins.

It is a good read.

 

[Lady_Lesley]

Thank you for the info.

As i said in my first post, i have put him in a 2 gal tank on his own. Will he survive? Will his tail grow back? He is swimming around, but slowly.

Please help... dont wanna loose him just yet, only got him monday

 

[WILDER]

How much of his tail has gone, if he's struggling to swim sadly he might not make it, i would add abit of melafix to make sure the wounds don't get infected.

 

[l.michelle]

See if you could maybe get some aquarium salt, and yes, melafix works very well, keep his water clean, but read the melafix, because i think it says to put in for 7 days and then do a 25% water change? Double check that, and keep an eye on it, but yes, keep him in the 2 gallon on his own. Good luck!!!!!

 

[Lady_Lesley]

Almost all of his tail has gone, and his other fins

At the moment, he is either settled at the top of the tank, about 15 mins ago he was at the bottom. He is very still but still alive, and when he swims its slow

 

[l.michelle]

If you can, get melafix and start treating right away. Some people might suggest to do salt dips, or salt baths, but check with them (mostly Wilder, she knows reallllly well about fish) but you need to make sure it doesn't get infected, If you haven't put in melafix make sure to do constant water changes, but not too many as you don't want to stress the fish out. Good luck!

And again, Wilder is amazing at fish stuff, she has helped me so much with my one fish that was so sick, so you are in good hands with her

 

[Lady_Lesley]

Thank you all for your help so far, i'm really greatful for it.

I will get some melafix first thing tomorrow, that is if he is still with us...

At the moment he is at the bottom of the tank again, bottom lip touching bottom of tank, very still, still with us though.

His face was creamy/white, now its looking more like pale orange, his body colour is orange, is this colour change something to worry about or natural ?

I will keep you posted on any other changes i come across with him.

Thanks again for all the help and advice

Lesley

 

[WILDER]

Sadly he not sounding to good, i would add some salt if you havent added the melafix it will help wth the stress, one tablespoon to five gal, but add it gradually, good luck.

 

[Lady_Lesley]

Thank you Wilder, and all else who helped me out.

I come with bad news 'Purple' (my 6 year old daughter named him) has now gone on to fish heaven.

Even though we only had him for a couple of days we miss him already.

Now we are gonna keep an extra close eye on our tank to see if any other fish get nipped the way he did.

Thanks again all... now i'm off to get ready to tell my 6 year old the news tomorrow...

 

[WILDER]

Sorry bless him, R.I.P. He didn't sound to good, fish can be awful at times, hope you have no more deaths, good luck.

 

[wodesorel]

I'm so sorry to hear about Purple. I've lost a few bettas this year myself, and while you feel horrible about it, just know that you did what you could for him.

Just the fins being nipped alone probably wouldn't have caused him to pass on - there was probably something else wrong that you couldn't have known about. It is very common for lfs bettas to pass away in the first few weeks from illness that isn't always apparent. Most likely the nipped fins stressed him to the point where whatever else was wrong was able to just take over.

I wouldn't mix another betta in with gouramis. They both inhabit the same space in the tank, and from what I understand it's just an accident waiting to happen. A two gallon bowl is a decent sized for a betta, or they have lovely 2.5 and 5 gallon kits that make great single-betta dwellings. Even though they're small, the 5 gallons are sturdy enough to not accidently knock over, so would be a great idea for your daughter's room perhaps?

 

[PaulEbs]

Lesley, sorry to hear about purple, hopefully you'll have better luck with a betta in the future?

What size is your tank?

Paul.

 

[Lady_Lesley]

Thank you both for you kind words and all the advice and help given to me.

I broke the news to my daughter, shes upset but wants another one. I'll give it some time first, i think she is a little too young to have it in her room if we do get another...

I'v been watching my fish, i personally cant see it being my gouramis, because none seem to be aggressive, and my oldest 'Pearl' (pearl gourami, about 6 years old) has had her tail nipped too, its a rather big bite for the fish we have.

However, i do have 3 catfish, 1 is a hoplo (we called it 'Becks' lol dont know the sex though), 'Becks' is harmless doesnt hurt anyone. The other two... which i keep forgetting about cos they are always hiding... i dont know what breed they are yet. I was watching them closely last night and this morning and they seem to be pretty aggressive. The bigger of the two is the most aggressive, it goes for the other if it gets too close, and some other fish too. A couple of days ago 'Pearl' would swim more or less above them but now she has moved to the other side of the tank. And when i found Purple he was by the catfish too.

I'm gonna pop over to the catfish section now and see if i can ID them. If they are the cause of this they will be taking a trip back to the fish shop i think.

Hi Paul, thank you, i hope i have better luck too lol

My tank is 4 foot, 38 gallons... i think