Betta Dying

[EllRog]

She's been eating bug bites, freeze dried blood worms, and micro wafers.

Her scales have lifted a bit and she does seem dull in color that usual. I feed her once a day and fast her once a week.

That's quite a high protein diet which could be part of the problem. Is there any way of you lowering the water level so she doesn't have to climb so high for air? May be worth trying to feed her a boiled, de-shelled, crushed pea.

If you're able to get a better photo at any point, it would come in handy. Euthanizing her may not be necessary just yet, she could still have a chance

 

[EllRog]

@Byron Would you have any ideas here? I know Colin isn't around at the moment, but you know everything too

 

[PheonixKingZ]

She still may have a chance (as @EllRog said), but it’s all up to you. (If you choose to euthanize her or not...)

Keep an eye on her, try to feed her cut up peas, and keep doing water changes.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

@Colin_T’s advice for treating a bloated fish:

“You need to preform frequent water changes. The addition of 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon of water will prevent methemoglobin toxicity by blocking the nitrite absorption through the fish's gills.“

 

[EllRog]

If it was me, I'd do another big water change, vacuuming the substrate thoroughly. Wipe down the glass inside the tank and rinse the filter in the tank water and fill the tank back up with the water level abit lower. I'd fast her for two days, monitoring her behaviour and on the third day, attempt feeding her a de-shelled, boiled, crushed pea (you can soak it in garlic to attract her to it more) regular water changes will be helpful either way.

I'm sure someone will see this that will know almost exactly what her problem is and a solution for it while you're doing these things. Has she displayed any signs of illness before this? I recently lost a betta to dropsy, and I knew something was up days before he even began to pinecone by his behaviour. He stuck to the surface of the tank, wasn't really interested in food, fins drooping and generally looked upset. No mobility atall. Then I began to see swelling, the next morning he began to pinecone, by the evening he practically had his face buried in the substrate, upside down, no colour in him, swollen double the size. That's when I euthanized him because it was already all over for him

 

[EllRog]

She still may have a chance (as @EllRog said), but it’s all up to you. (If you choose to euthanize her or not...)

Keep an eye on her, try to feed her cut up peas, and keep doing water changes.

Hold off on the talk of killing the fish for a moment. Her condition hasn't deteriorated enough to give up on her and the OP said their children will be gutted for the fish to die. Let's try get her on the mend for the kids

 

[cupofjoel]

Okay did a 60% water change just now.

Ammonia is still .25ppm. She's still acting the same.

I give her a high protein diet because that is what I have been told/taught to give her.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Okay did a 60% water change just now.

Ammonia is still .25ppm. She's still acting the same.

I give her a high protein diet because that is what I have been told/taught to give her.

Your ammonia should be going down, especially if you just did a 60% WC. Are you sure you are preforming the test correctly?

 

[cupofjoel]

If it was me, I'd do another big water change, vacuuming the substrate thoroughly. Wipe down the glass inside the tank and rinse the filter in the tank water and fill the tank back up with the water level abit lower. I'd fast her for two days, monitoring her behaviour and on the third day, attempt feeding her a de-shelled, boiled, crushed pea (you can soak it in garlic to attract her to it more) regular water changes will be helpful either way.

I'm sure someone will see this that will know almost exactly what her problem is and a solution for it while you're doing these things. Has she displayed any signs of illness before this? I recently lost a betta to dropsy, and I knew something was up days before he even began to pinecone by his behaviour. He stuck to the surface of the tank, wasn't really interested in food, fins drooping and generally looked upset. No mobility atall. Then I began to see swelling, the next morning he began to pinecone, by the evening he practically had his face buried in the substrate, upside down, no colour in him, swollen double the size. That's when I euthanized him because it was already all over for him

I've done the water change and cleaned the filter and glass. Did a gravel vac as well. I will keep an eye on her and fast her for two days. She started to act this way a couple of days ago, but still swam to me to get food. It just got rapidly bad today.

 

[EllRog]

Okay did a 60% water change just now.

Ammonia is still .25ppm. She's still acting the same.

I give her a high protein diet because that is what I have been told/taught to give her.

You'll have to keep up the water changes until the ammonia hits zero I'm afraid. I can't see obvious signs of dropsy, she almost looks as if she's holding eggs.
Is there any reason you can think of why your ammonia is still testing so high?

I understand that you're only doing as you've been instructed, that's not your fault, to your knowledge, you're doing the best by your fish

 

[JuiceBox52]

Cupofjoel you're in the same area as me. False readings of .25 are common and it's actually ammonium. It's fine

 

[Naughts]

In the photo her fins look eroded and the anal fin looks red so I'm thinking bacterial infection. Do you have medication for that? It doesn't really explain swelling though so I would still do the fasting/ blanched pea.

 

[EllRog]

Cupofjoel you're in the same area as me. False readings of .25 are common and it's actually ammonium. It's fine

That's something that's reassuring atleast!
Definetly monitor her for signs of worms and white poop. I think dropsy can be ruled out for the time being

 

[cupofjoel]

You'll have to keep up the water changes until the ammonia hits zero I'm afraid. I can't see obvious signs of dropsy, she almost looks as if she's holding eggs.
Is there any reason you can think of why your ammonia is still testing so high?

I understand that you're only doing as you've been instructed, that's not your fault, to your knowledge, you're doing the best by your fish

is .25ppm high? someone just said I could be getting a false reading. Honestly I hate how the API master kit makes it so hard to see the colors and how the shading of the color changes depending on how close you hold it to the color sheet and how bright your room is lit.

Back to my fish. She can't be holding eggs since she's alone in her tank.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Cupofjoel you're in the same area as me. False readings of .25 are common and it's actually ammonium. It's fine

I was wondering that, but he said he usually gets readings of zero?

@cupofjoel is there anything in the tank that could be producing ammonia? Something like a dead snail can make water go nasty fast.

It still shouldn't be testing at the same level right after a 60% water change though. Although if you rinsed your test tubes in tap water, make sure to dip them a few times in the tank water before taking the sample for testing, so you're not getting test results that are contaminated by tap water.