Baby betta may be sick or depressed.

[Jayderana]

She is exhibiting certain warning signs that have me a touch worried. First of all a little backgroud I bought her this past monday (i am pretty sure whatever she hasif anything came with her from the store). She has been eating great until saturday she started floating at the top of the tank. I know what you are thinking....swim bladder...well it could be but she has no trouble swimming (however she isn't doing much of it) and is upright. I think that the lfs fibbed to me about her age she is unable to eat pellets so I was mostly feeding her brine shrimp until i could get to the petstore where I bought some daphnia. She doesn't appear to be having any digestive issues if you know what i mean. So she has not been eating....she comes and sniffs at her formerly adored food and stares at it. Her fin is also clamped. I couldn't tell you if she is pale as she is transparent. I have read that often young fry become depressed after they are separated from their siblings. Do you think there is any truth to this? So here is my diagnosis....either she is suffering from a bacterial infection or she is depressed or perhaps has a mild case of swim bladder. I just don't know what else it could be.

 

[gouramiguy]

i thonk she is depressed or a mild case of swim bladder.

 

[Jayderana]

No need to be sad....yet .... I will do all I can do to get her better again.... any suggestions anyone has would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Jayderana]

Well not knowing what else to do I put her into some bettamax....she is coming around a tiny bit....but I guess it is just a waiting game now.... oh and if you think i am doing something wrong or could be doing something more please tell me. I haven't had her long but I refuse to cash in on the healthy fish guarantee at the lfs... I am to attatched already and if she dies I want to make sure that I have done everything I could. I would not be able to bring her in and say "she's broken give me a new one please" and know that she would just die... they care but not that much.

 

[bkk_group]

just how old do you figure the betta is? none of my fry have had separation issues when removed from the grow out tank. one thing you could do with pellets if they are too big for the fish is to smash them in between a sheet of paper with a hammer. instant pellet crumbs
it sounds like it could be constipation though...
symptoms: floats to the surface on his side and can't seem to get his balance;
belly may be swollen, loss of appetite
could be: Constipation (not contagious)
remedy: Do not feed for one day then feed vegetable flakes or the inside of a cooked pea. As a last resort do a short Epsom salt bath (15 minutes only!) using 1 Tbsp salt per gal.
prevention: Rotate foods on a regular basis including live foods and do not overfeed.
2-3 pellets, bloodworms, etc. two or three times a day is plenty.
the clamped fins worry me though. bettamax sounds like a good idea, i guess we can only wait and see what happens in the next day or two, keep us informed, and good luck

 

[Jayderana]

I am thinking that she is around two months...they tried to say around three....no way she is three months old... However she was significantly smaller than her siblings... I am assuming a runt...she was being picked on a little (the reason I had to get her out of there). I have tried crushing them....she didn't go for it then it sunk and I had to fetch it and dispose of it.... I brought home a sample of micro pellets...when she is eating maybe she will go for them.

She is floating completely upright not on her side...she doesn't appear to be struggling with balance at all....that is why this worries me so much. I can pretty much guarantee it is not constipation as I watch my bettas like a hawk and I know for a fact that day she was pooping just fine.

The clamped fins worry me aswell and she refuses to eat.... so the bettamax will have to do for now... Hopefully it is the cure for whatever ails her. I will definitely keep you posted on her status...

 

[Jayderana]

I just made a pretty terrible discovery.... it is her gill...she appears to have some sort of deformity or inflamation...the bettamax highlighted it for me....the first day I bought her I thought I noticed something odd but dismissed it as just a mistake on my part. She is quite transparent so seeing red on her is not unusual...I guess I was on to something....I only hope it isn't to late...she keeps sucking in air and it pops out her gill....so definitely not swim bladder although at this point....I really really wish it was.... So tommorow I will have to hunt down medicine intended for inflamed gills... I sadly have nothing on hand since this is my first encounter. Please any advice....I would really appreciate it at this point....medicines? treatments? anything.... bkkgroup thank you for your help...it was great considering the info I had at the time....however I am certain this changes things....

 

[Jayderana]

Well she died at around midnight last night... .I just didn't have enough time to cure her and she was to far gone before I could get her into the proper medication. It is all so crazy....24 hours ago she was fine...and 24 hours later she was dead...it was swift....All I can say is watch out for this on your fish... it may have hit her so hard because she was so young....but it proved to be quite deadly. Well i guess you just have to live and learn with these little guys...i still wish I could have helped her.