Finley's Still With Me But Has A Bad Gill Problem...

[janragan]

Finley is still kicking and is even trying to eat! The trouble is, he lunges for his food, grazes it, and doesn't get any in his mouth. He has tried and tried! I have given him tiny bits of bloodworms, lettuce, mini-pellets, and tiny bits of flakes but no luck. He hasn't eatin in 5 or 6 days now.

The other problem is his right gill. It has always had a "thing" sticking out from it that worried me until I caught a peek of the same thing on the other side. That gill never opened as far and this "thing" doesn't come out. On the right gill it does. Now that gill won't close all the way and he looks soooo pittiful. It blows way out! I started him on tri-sulfa yesterday to try and help the gill even though it isn't red. It is a sickly gray color... He just really looks bad. I did a 50% water change and I have his temp at 80 degrees and added extra salt to his water. I put in a rounded tsp in his 1 gal bowl. Any advice/help is always appreciated!

I am posting a picture that shows how open his gill is and the "thing" is very visible. Thanks!

 

[vancouver]

One of my bettas has that sort of thing coming out of its gills.. mine is fine and has had no problems eating or anything..

If it hasn't eaten in awhile there must be something wrong.. have you been doing water changes frequently?

 

[janragan]

Yep! From what everybody says I have been keeping him too clean! I was doing a full change with a bowl wipe down every other day and NO more than 2 days between... He quit eating on the 23rd and began hanging at the water line, then went to the bottom, and now does both but mostly at the bottom. Sometimes he leans to one side not even flipping his little fins. The gill is the first thing I could see that could be wrong other than the gray color. I just don't know what to do! I feel so sorry for him that he can't eat! I have cats and when they don't want to eat due to illness you can force feed them. What can you do about a fish???

 

[starrynightxxi]

well, as for his gill, are you sure it isn't just his gill flap?

 

[janragan]

I don't know what the thing is or why it protrudes.... When I look at him from the top he doesn't even look like a fish! That right gill is just all blown out on one side, Swimming toward you he doesn't look much like one either. There is definetly something wrong there.

 

[~Bella~]

Both my bettas have that. And so have all the bettas i've seen, it moves in and out like they're breathing and that's what i assumed they were doing.

 

[Betta_Lovex3]

Poor little guy. I really don't know how to help much, but I just wish you luck in getting him healed.

 

[janragan]

Thanks so much for the well wishes! I am beginning to think I am just prolonging his suffering. He has at least become more social in the last 2 days. All he did for several was hide. He tried to eat again just now and it is just terrible to watch. He tries so hard and misses the food. I am putting the tiniest pieces and it seems like they are still too big! Here is a shot from above him... this is not normal gill function!

 

[starrynightxxi]

what's on his gill is probably just the gill flap. it is visible (much more so in males) normally when the fish is relaxed, but can be flared out to make the fish look bigger and more impressive. in males this is generally used in warning other males that they are bigger and better, or in courtship.

i wouldn't worry that you can see it, as that's pretty normal. It's also normal for it to be black, even though the fish himself is green. Sometimes the gill flap gets stuck, but this should right itself with time (i don't recommend handling the fish to fix it as the fish SHOULD be able to deal with it and you would be unnecessarily risking disturbing his slime coat and causing an infection)

that he isn't eating and is unwell is a bigger concern. There's no such thing as "too clean" with bettas and their bowls, though it's possible that he is being stressed by the constant moving and cleaning. If he wants to eat, then keep trying to feed him. Have you tried feeding him the pea since he started wanting to eat again? i wouldn't worry that he's 'missing' the food. my guys do this a lot too. in their haste they miss their dinner completely (and have gotten their tails instead on occasion).

Is he still bloated? if so, I would continue treating for internal bugs. i don't know what grey gills really means, in mammals grey or white flesh means shock, but i don't know if it is the same in fish. regardless, if he is still bloated, my bet is with an infection in his gut rather than his gills because infected gills are usually a bright, inflamed red. grey gills may mean a lack of oxygen in his blood, which would explain his sluggishness, but that's just conjecture.

 

[janragan]

Wow! Those are some pretty boys! He doesn't seem to be bloated anymore I am just afraid he will starve if he doesn't eat soon.... I posted on another site the other day and got severly chastised for wiping the slime out of the bowl and over cleaning. I was told "with fish cleanliness is NOT next to Godliness"! One other thing I note is that he stays sort of curved...he isn't holding his body straight like normal...or maybe I want to figure out his problem soo bad I am nit-pickin'

 

[starrynightxxi]

well, it depends on what you're keeping him in. in your case, it's a good idea to keep things clean, because the bowl isn't cycling significantly. waste builds up too fast in those small bowls/tanks to let them cycle. If it were a big tank, you wouldn't want to do that, because you would be destroying and removing the beneficial bacteria that helps get rid of the ammonia, NO2 and NO3. when i had my fish in 2.5 and lower i would remove them and rinse the tanks well with hot water and salt or melafix, which pretty much destroyed any beneficial bacteria which may have been building up.

don't worry about him starving. i have a yellow betta right now who got sick and didn't eat for two months and he is still around, and is eating again. A week is nothing

 

[vancouver]

almost looks like its gills are a little swollen... not the piece sticking out, put the actual scaley part on top of whats sticking out..

could it have something wrong with its gills?

maybe get something like pimafix that treats bacterial and fungal infections.. or some sort of broad range med... gotta try something.. a betta thats fine wouldnt go 6 days without eating.

 

[starrynightxxi]

but wouldn't a swollen gill be red? I'll admit i've never had a fish with an infected gill, but i've had bettas get the gill flap caught in the gill and they were stuck out that way for a little while until they were able to get it unstuck on their own.

[edit] i may be wrong, i'm not disputing that, but he's already being treated for gill disease, if that's what it is, then that tri-sulfa ought to take care of it.

 

[janragan]

Maybe it is just stuck! I sure hope so... Maybe if he can start getting his food in his mouth he will be OK! I may discontinue the meds if it is just stuck???

 

[starrynightxxi]

i would suggest trying to get a closer look, and go with what you think is best. from the pictures it looks to ME like it's stuck, but obviously it looks like it may be swollen to someone else. since you've already starting medicating him, i would just complete it because if it turns out that he is infected, you won't kill off the infection by half dosing and may end up with a resistant (and much nastier) strain. if he isn't infected, you won't really hurt him as long as you don't over dose.