Betta With Swollen Gill/ripped Fins

[happyannie]

It's become clearer what's going on with my betta. One of his gills is swollen on just one side. His color has faded and he's less active. His belly also seems swollen underneath. He's hungry but is having trouble taking the food in his mouth. I started him on Maracyn and Maracyn2 yesterday but he seems kinda worse today. His parameters are all good. He's in a heavily planted tank with just a little pleco that's been in there for a month or more. I have the heat at 79 or so. I haven't put him in a hospital tank yet as he loves his own tank so much and I thought it might be even more stressful to move him around. I did take the carbon out of his box filter but left the poly fiber stuff to filter the water. I did a 40% water change before starting the meds. Any ideas would be MOST appreciated. Thanks in advance.

EDIT TO THIS POST--HE FINALLY STRAIGHTENED OUT HIS FINS AND THEY ARE TORN TO SHREDS IN THE BACK. WOULD A PLECO DO THIS? I'M PUTTING HIM IN A HOSPITAL TANK ASAP & STARTING ANITBIOTICS. OMG CAN'T BELIEVE HOW AWFUL HE LOOKS!!

 

[tttnjfttt]

Have you seen him scratching against objects in the tank? The only other possiblity I can think of would be gill flukes.

One thing you can do to help him is to raise the temperature in the tank. There have been a few discussions on here about temperature and bacterial inections being treated with antibiotics. The new info that Steelhealr brought out was that antibiotics are more affective at higher temps, so that should help a little too.

Since he is eating, maybe medicated foods?

 

[WILDER]

Are there any red patches on the belly, the fins check to see if there is any red streaking or red edges, swollen gills can be a numbers of things, is it red and inflamed, any excess mucas on it.

 

[happyannie]

I'll check for mucus. Thanks for the suggestion. His undertone is red so it's not gonna be EZ. I'm going to get out the flashlight and magnifying glass if need be--maybe binoculars too..?? It almost looks like he has a knot on the side of his head just above the gill which is making it stand out. I was hoping you'd answer wilder. Thanks alot.
Did raise his temp a bit and threw in some IAL. Between that and the meds he's in a murky swill. I might change some water out to see his little face better.

 

[WILDER]

What colour is the lump, does it feel hard or though it's filled with liquid.

 

[happyannie]

It's the same color he is--just looks like it's sore and the gill is raised...like he can't quite fold it back in the right way. The underpart is out more so can't go back in. The outer gill is drawn up like there's a knot on the side so the underpart sticks out more and he can't fold it in. Instead of being smooth and folding in in a semi-circle this gill goes out like it's got a fold in it which makes it stick out . I can't see any liquid....or if it's liquidy...I'll enclose a really bad photo I took last night of his fins. He's hungry as a little pig today but can't manage large pieces. I'm feeding him these shrimp brine flakes made by Ocean Nutrition as he can't seem to chew well. Those things are the only food my other betta will eat so I know they're sustaining. He seems so sore and doesn't have that usual way of snapping his food down from the surface.



I keep wondering if the plec did all this. I quit feeding it algae tabs as Little Chen was ravaging them and I didn't want him to be overeating. I started hiding them a bit so he couldn't find them but he is quite the little hunter at the bottom of his tank (he points to things like a hunting dog ) and also rather aggressive.

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like the growth might been growing in the mouth as well, i would go the bacterial way for now, does he try to rub around the gill area,

Do the gill have a mottled appearance.

Also they swim around with an open mouth if they have a sore in the mouth.

Just take a look here.
Branchiomycosis


http/www.fish-disease.net/diseases.htm

 

[happyannie]

No he doesn't try to rub against anything. He does reposition his gills a bit from time to time like opens his mouth and adjusts his jaw then closes again. He's not swiming with mouth open. His gills don't seem mottled at all tho he is the faded color of when he first wakes up in the AM. He has a vertical truquiose stripe right by his gills which shows then and that darkens as he wakes up more.

Should i just leave the water as is for now. I put some IAL in which I've taken out. The meds cloud the water and the IAL make it tea stained so it's kind of dark and disturbing but maybe better. He's hanging at the top watching me at the computer.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry wrong one meant this one.
Proliferative Gill Disease


http/www.fish-disease.net/diseases.htm

I would treat it as bacterial for now as his fins are a mess too.

Tetracycline like tttnjfttt said, as he's in a bad way.

Is that a fluffy white spot on the tail or just the pic.

 

[happyannie]

I don't know where he would have gotten that?? I'll think on it tho. Could he have picked it up from the pleco? At least he wants to eat. Could it be fish-TB? (asked the nervous betta-mom)


No--that's just a water spot on the outside of the tank reflected by the flash. His fins are just hanging like that--no spots.

 

[WILDER]

Picked what up from the pleco, is the pleco wasting away.

 

[happyannie]

The gill disease. no the plec is doing fine.

 

[WILDER]

Why does it sound like that article.


He still needs a antibiotic for those fins, as they are bad, I would try a salt bath on the fish to see if it helps with the gills.

 

[happyannie]

No it doesn't sound like that. I'm kinda freaked out now. grabbing at straws here.

 

[WILDER]

I would go in with the tetracycline and some melafix.
Don't think it's tb at this moment in time.
http/www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html