Fish Diseases

[artisebony]

Hello I have had a Betta fish for a few months now. In the beginning I kept him in a fluval chi with the light on the entire time. After doing some research I found this was not the proper habitat. My Betta now is having some problems his tail and large fins are in disfigurement and always falling off. I have a different tank he doesn't see his reflection with the blue light i have treated him 2x with an all in one 5 day treatment however I have not gotten him to the best looking fish I know he can be. What should I do? I have some moss balls, aquarium rocks, betta log, and a cave, and a bubbler, some tiny logs with (old snail eggshells on it) what is next? My next route is pima fix and melafix for specifically fin rot... am I incorrect?? I diagnosed him via youtube! Please Help

 

[Colin_T]

Pictures of the fish?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the tank water (in numbers)?

If the fins are rotting/ falling apart it is usually caused by poor water quality and or a dirty tank that damages the tissue and allows harmful disease organisms (bacteria and fungus) into the damaged areas.

-------------------
WHAT TO DO NOW
The best treatment for fin rot is clean water and salt. However, clear pictures of the fish are needed to confirm it is fin rot and not something else.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 2 weeks. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication you might need, can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

 

[artisebony]

Thanks I will send a photo soon

 

[artisebony]

Pictures of the fish?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the tank water (in numbers)?

If the fins are rotting/ falling apart it is usually caused by poor water quality and or a dirty tank that damages the tissue and allows harmful disease organisms (bacteria and fungus) into the damaged areas.

-------------------
WHAT TO DO NOW
The best treatment for fin rot is clean water and salt. However, clear pictures of the fish are needed to confirm it is fin rot and not something else.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 2 weeks. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication you might need, can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

Thanks!!

 

[artisebony]

Hello Collin?!


How do I know proper fish behavior, The betta fish has been laying out in the open more recently and positioned more or less in weird places. He may be an older fish I bought him at petsmart, However he was really a normal kinda fish. He really "lays" down so to speak. Is this an organ malfunction a water conditioning mistake or is this apart of his recovery process? I have already started the water changes. When should I expect to see a healthy fish


Thanks

 

[artisebony]

Hello Collin?!


How do I know proper fish behavior, The betta fish has been laying out in the open more recently and positioned more or less in weird places. He may be an older fish I bought him at petsmart, However he was really a normal kinda fish. He really "lays" down so to speak. Is this an organ malfunction a water conditioning mistake or is this apart of his recovery process? I have already started the water changes. When should I expect to see a healthy fish


Thanks

As well as how does potassium effect a fish does he need fish "fertilizer"

 

[artisebony]

Pictures of the fish?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the tank water (in numbers)?

If the fins are rotting/ falling apart it is usually caused by poor water quality and or a dirty tank that damages the tissue and allows harmful disease organisms (bacteria and fungus) into the damaged areas.

-------------------
WHAT TO DO NOW
The best treatment for fin rot is clean water and salt. However, clear pictures of the fish are needed to confirm it is fin rot and not something else.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 2 weeks. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication you might need, can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

So Colin this is my first forum I am not sure if i am doing the replies correctly well I have also notice my fish "laying down" does he need fish fertilizer? and also are some pictures from yesterday of his fins

 

[Colin_T]

Hello Collin?!
How do I know proper fish behavior, The betta fish has been laying out in the open more recently and positioned more or less in weird places. He may be an older fish I bought him at petsmart, However he was really a normal kinda fish. He really "lays" down so to speak. Is this an organ malfunction a water conditioning mistake or is this apart of his recovery process? I have already started the water changes. When should I expect to see a healthy fish

This can be old age, poor water quality or a disease. However, it is usually caused by poor water quality.

The fish has some damage to his tail and that appears to be the start of fin rot, which is caused by poor water quality that damages the tissue and lets harmful bacteria and fungus into the wound. Apart from that the fish looks fine.

Just do daily water changes and add some salt for a couple of weeks and see how he goes.

-------------------
There's no such thing as a fish fertiliser and fish do not need or like potassium.

There are aquarium plant fertilisers that help encourage aquatic plants to grow, but they should not be used in tanks if you have sick fish. The more chemicals in the water, the more stress on the fish, and the more likelyhood of the fish dying. Just clean water and a bit of salt should be enough.

If you get lots of live plants after he has recovered, you can look for an iron based aquarium plant fertiliser and add that once or twice a week. I used Sera Florena but there are others that do the same job.