Bent Tail?

[Elise]

At least this one was free!! My friend's last rescue betta was finally diagnosed as having terrible dropsy....he was suffering terribly and had to be euthanized....

So, she went out and rescued another, this one she talked the store into giving him to her for free! (See, it can be done!) He has a very short body and when he "swims" his whole body seems bent. His tail and lower body can't move almost. I'll try and take a pic. He's happy, but most of the time he has to sit on the plant tops so he can just lift his head and get air. When he was in his tiny cup at the LFS, he would "sit" like a human on the bottom with his tail under him so his head could just reach the top. Any ideas what's wrong with him? Is this a birth defect?

 

[Synirr]

Sounds like a birth defect or maybe the result of disease... at least he's happy and has found a good home

 

[alabaster]

Well done rescuing him, Elise! try to post pics!

 

[Kiarra]

One of mine has what seems to be the same problem. I've been treating him with LOTS of fresh water and some Maracyn. It cleared up for a while, and he was swimming very much normally, but I had to be away a lot this last weekend, and Saturday night, I noticed he was laying on his side, sitting on the bottom with his head up again.

Try Maracyn and aquarium salt. It has been helping mine. I think it just got chilly in here, and that's why he went into remission.

 

[BettaMomma]

Is this kinda what he looks like when he is on the bottom of the tank?

 

[Elise]

Yes, that's exactly what he looks like!

 

[BettaMomma]

Well, the fish in that picture and kiarra's fish that she's referring to above appeared to have pretty much the same exact thing. The good news is that the fish in the picture above (Eeyore) has made a complete recovery, and here he is now:

We kinda concluded that he had a swim bladder problem - probably caused by some kind of infection, we're just not sure. Maracyn or Maracyn 2 would be a good course of treatment (we used maracyn 2 on Eeyore - just one round) and just a few weeks later he was off and swimming like a champ. Keep the water low, give him a live plant, like cabomba or hornwort, to perch on and I would almost bet that he'll make a pretty good recovery and lead a pretty nice life.



OH, and also - one thing to mention is that when they're swimming around like that with swim bladder issues - where they either can't get up off the tank floor, or down from the tank surface, they ALWAYS look way more debilitated than they really are. It's just a reallly big pain in the butt for them to struggle to do normal everyday betta things. They aren't necessarily in any pain from it, it is just awkward for them to get around.

 

[Kiarra]

That's what Flop does, too, exactly. Which means all of the stuff I advised before, I more thoroughly advise now.

Lower the water level so it's no struggle for him to reach the top, provide plenty of plants and other perches, and treat him with Maracyn or Maracyn 2. Keep his water very clean.