Ca22le
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Sorry for the bad pictures, he absolutely hates getting pictures
He’s alone in a 10 gallon tank.
Fish In need
- Thread starter Ca22le
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Sorry for the bad pictures, he absolutely hates getting pictures
He’s alone in a 10 gallon tank.
Hi and welcome to the forum 
The raised scales are normally caused by a bacterial infection. Try doing a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
The fish also looks really skinny. How often do you feed him and what are you feeding him?
How long has the tank been set up for?
What sort of filter do you have?
How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?
The raised scales are normally caused by a bacterial infection. Try doing a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
The fish also looks really skinny. How often do you feed him and what are you feeding him?
How long has the tank been set up for?
What sort of filter do you have?
How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?
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Ca22le
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Thanks! And I’ve had him since around May. I feed him two Aqueon brand dehydrated bloodworms a day. He’s a little odd and won’t go after food if It’s floating at the top of the tank so I usually hand feed him with a pair of extra long feeding tongs meant for reptiles. The filter is aqueon quietflow LED PRO. And I usually clean the filter once a month usually a week or two after a water change. And I usually just follow the steps of cleaning a filter from a page on the web. This is my first time having a tank that uses a filter like this so I follow the steps every time I clean it so I can get into the habit of doing it and not messing up. Here’s the link for the site I use.
http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-clean-an-aquarium-filter/#CleaningMechanicalFilters
http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-clean-an-aquarium-filter/#CleaningMechanicalFilters
FIshYFIsH263
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He looks like a cute fish good luck treating him and try to feed him more he is a little skinny for a crown tail.
He’s malnourished and needs more food. Dried bloodworms don’t have enough nutrition in them. Get him a Good sinking pelllet and feed him several pellets 3 times a day for a few weeks. Then twice a day. I recommend New Life Spectrum Betta Food (you have to order on line) or Omega One small sinking pellets. Get him some frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp too and alternate his food. Fluval Bug Bites are good too. Be sure to thaw frozen food in a little tank water before feeding. Three shrimp or worms per meal. Good luck!
Under normal conditions I would recommend doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate once a week. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Filters should be cleaned at least once a month and every 2 weeks is better. However, don't clean new filters until they are at least 6 weeks old or you can wash out the filter bacteria and mess up the cycling process. Filter media should be washed in a bucket of tank water and re-used.
You can clean your filter on the same day you do a water change. It is fine to do and most people do it.
--------------------------
Due to the fish's skinny condition, I would feed him 3-5 times per day, and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for at least a couple of weeks (preferably one month). Post another picture after 2 weeks so we can check his condition. Chances are you will need to keep feeding him 3-5 times a day for at least a month before he will look normal again.
One of the best foods for conditioning fish is raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp. You can buy these from a fishing store (in the bait freezer), or from a supermarket. Buy them frozen and keep them in the freezer. Each day take out one prawn and remove the head, shell and gut (long thin tube in body), and throw these bits away. Use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into small bite size pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time. Let the fish eat as much as possible and then stop feeding and remove uneaten food. The left over prawn can be put in the fridge and used a few hours later. Use a new prawn each day.
-----------
You can buy a variety of frozen foods from most pet shops and some of the more popular choices include brineshrimp, bloodworms, marine mix. These are kept in the freezer and you take out one block and defrost it in a small bowl. Then offer a few bloodworms or brineshrimp and let him eat them. When he has eaten them, offer a few more. Feed until he is full and remove uneaten food.
Some brands of frozen bloodworm have been known to cause problems for fish and some of the members here try to avoid using them. The biggest issue with frozen or live bloodworms is the head. It is very hard and cannot be digested. If a small fish eats too many bloodworms, the heads sometimes block up the digestive tract and the fish can develop an internal infection and die.
You can use a pr of scissors to cut the head off the bloodworms and discard the head. The rest of the bloodworms body is easily digested. The head is the smooth round bit at one end of the bloodworm. If you have any concerns about them, don't bother about frozen bloodworms.
-----------
Marine mix is made up with prawn, fish, squid and sometimes plant matter (spinach or algae). It can be defrosted and cut up into small pieces with a pr of scissors. Feed until the fish is full and then remove uneaten food.
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If you can find live mozzie larvae or live brineshrimp, he should eat them. Mozzie larvae are regularly found in buckets of water outside in the garden. They are the little black wrigglers you sometimes see on the surface of the water. Use a fine mesh fish net to scoop them out, rinse them under tap water and then add them to the tank. Don't add too many because any that don't get eaten will hatch and turn into adult mosquitoes.
Live brineshrimp live in salt water and you can buy small bags of them from most pet shops. Pour them into a bowl and put them in the fridge. Use a teaspoon or turkey baster to take some of the live brineshrimp and put them in his tank. Let him eat them all before offering more. The brineshrimp will swim around for an hour or so but eventually die in freshwater.
--------------------------
Do big daily water changes to keep the water clean. Try to do the water change a few hours after feeding him. If you do a water change straight after feeding, some fish will regurgitate the food.
Make sure you don't have any creams, perfumes, residue from anti-bacterial soaps, grease or anything else on your hands when feeding him and working in his tank.
Filters should be cleaned at least once a month and every 2 weeks is better. However, don't clean new filters until they are at least 6 weeks old or you can wash out the filter bacteria and mess up the cycling process. Filter media should be washed in a bucket of tank water and re-used.
You can clean your filter on the same day you do a water change. It is fine to do and most people do it.
--------------------------
Due to the fish's skinny condition, I would feed him 3-5 times per day, and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for at least a couple of weeks (preferably one month). Post another picture after 2 weeks so we can check his condition. Chances are you will need to keep feeding him 3-5 times a day for at least a month before he will look normal again.
One of the best foods for conditioning fish is raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp. You can buy these from a fishing store (in the bait freezer), or from a supermarket. Buy them frozen and keep them in the freezer. Each day take out one prawn and remove the head, shell and gut (long thin tube in body), and throw these bits away. Use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into small bite size pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time. Let the fish eat as much as possible and then stop feeding and remove uneaten food. The left over prawn can be put in the fridge and used a few hours later. Use a new prawn each day.
-----------
You can buy a variety of frozen foods from most pet shops and some of the more popular choices include brineshrimp, bloodworms, marine mix. These are kept in the freezer and you take out one block and defrost it in a small bowl. Then offer a few bloodworms or brineshrimp and let him eat them. When he has eaten them, offer a few more. Feed until he is full and remove uneaten food.
Some brands of frozen bloodworm have been known to cause problems for fish and some of the members here try to avoid using them. The biggest issue with frozen or live bloodworms is the head. It is very hard and cannot be digested. If a small fish eats too many bloodworms, the heads sometimes block up the digestive tract and the fish can develop an internal infection and die.
You can use a pr of scissors to cut the head off the bloodworms and discard the head. The rest of the bloodworms body is easily digested. The head is the smooth round bit at one end of the bloodworm. If you have any concerns about them, don't bother about frozen bloodworms.
-----------
Marine mix is made up with prawn, fish, squid and sometimes plant matter (spinach or algae). It can be defrosted and cut up into small pieces with a pr of scissors. Feed until the fish is full and then remove uneaten food.
-----------
If you can find live mozzie larvae or live brineshrimp, he should eat them. Mozzie larvae are regularly found in buckets of water outside in the garden. They are the little black wrigglers you sometimes see on the surface of the water. Use a fine mesh fish net to scoop them out, rinse them under tap water and then add them to the tank. Don't add too many because any that don't get eaten will hatch and turn into adult mosquitoes.
Live brineshrimp live in salt water and you can buy small bags of them from most pet shops. Pour them into a bowl and put them in the fridge. Use a teaspoon or turkey baster to take some of the live brineshrimp and put them in his tank. Let him eat them all before offering more. The brineshrimp will swim around for an hour or so but eventually die in freshwater.
-----------
Offer him dry foods as well. Feed him lots of variety to maximise the nutrition he gets.--------------------------
Do big daily water changes to keep the water clean. Try to do the water change a few hours after feeding him. If you do a water change straight after feeding, some fish will regurgitate the food.
Make sure you don't have any creams, perfumes, residue from anti-bacterial soaps, grease or anything else on your hands when feeding him and working in his tank.
OP
OP
Ca22le
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I gave him his first batch of marine mix yesterday fed him multiple times as suggested. But when I got home after work (I work the graveyard shift) the raised scales on top of his head were gone. Any idea what’s going on?
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Possibly a stress factor. He’s getting more food and reducing stress. Good luck. Please keep us posted.
If the scales have fallen out then there is either a bacterial or fungal infection in the skin. Monitor it for a day or so and if it goes red and looks inflamed, then it has a bacterial infection that will need treating. If it doesn't change but he keeps eating well, then continue monitoring him over the next few weeks.
When you said the raised scales were gone did you mean the scales fell off or that they were no longer raised?
I noticed he's resting on the gravel, this may be unavoidable because he's sick. But does he have a leafy spot to rest? A betta hammock, a large leafed stem plant or floating plants? Something like that may be a comfort to him.
Good luck.
Good luck.
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Ca22le
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He has a betta hammock and a silk fake plant he likes to rest on but he’s refusing to use it right now, he use to always be on it. And to deanasue
A little bit of both. Half of them have peeled off from his head and the other half have finally laid down.
A little bit of both. Half of them have peeled off from his head and the other half have finally laid down.
Keep your water pristine with daily water changes for a week and let’s see how he does with the new diet.
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Ca22le
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Oh, I’m so very sorry! He could have had some slow developing genetic/internal issues that prevented him from absorbing his nutrition correctly. Take time to grieve but never give up! There’s another beautiful betta out there growing and waiting for you to love him.
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