Help!

[Viettxboii]

I woke up about 15 minutes ago, and when i went to check apon my betta, he seems even worse then he was ,
he has been laying down at hte bottom of hte tank alot for hte last week or so,
his current condition is that of laying down at hte bottom of hte tank on his side gasping(gill flares goign in and out..)
or with his head buried in the gravel(ive seen him put is head into it)
or just lay down.
Ive been doing daily treatment with melafix, to treat for the fin rot he has had for awhile.
Anything i can do to help out him out?

 

[knt5005]

Get a breeder net so he doesn't have to work as hard to get to the surface. If you have a filter, turn it down or off. I've had some bad experience with Pima/Melafix with my bettas. Are you doing full doses? If so, only do half the recommended dosage. Are there any other symptoms? When my females were ill, and I thought goners for sure, my boyfriend just changed there water every day. Lo and behold, they are healthy and happy as ever.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Viettxboii]

kk ill try half the dosage..
im using solely melafix, because i finished up my bettafix
its onnly a 2 gal hex tank, but ill lower the water level , and the filter in there..
after the 7 day treatment im gonna change hte water like crazy(tmrw is last day =D) so on saturday im gonna start doing daily 50% changes

 

[Viettxboii]

Ive started my 50% water changes lets hope he gets better soon....
im trying my best to help out, shoudl i lower hte water level?

 

[liz2]

when my bettas are ill I always lower the water level so they dont have so far to swim to breathe.

 

[Lynda B]

Melafix and BettaFix are made from the same thing, however, Melafix is 5 times stronger than BettaFix. I would suggest that you lessen the dosage of Melafix you're giving him, give him 100% water change, dechlorinate the water, add 1 tspn of aquarium salt per gallon and give him a few days rest from meds.

 

[Viettxboii]

ive stopped hte medicating, but yes ive been adding a slight bit of aquarium salt in his water...
Im starting to see a white edge on his tail fin, and somesort of white film on his body, hes still laying down breathign really hard...
as said ive reduced the water level.

 

[Lynda B]

When the finnage grows back, it's usually clear or whitish until the color comes back. Does he have a white film on him or he is just pale from being stressed?

Also, how much salt is "a slight bit". Aquarium salt and bettas go hand-in-hand. They benefit greatly from having the correct dosage of salt in their tanks.

Did you do a complete water change?

 

[Viettxboii]

i have about 1.5 teaspoons of salt in there...
um its kind of both ish, cant see to well right now since didnt have much sleep
but on closer inspection, it kidna resembles a vein buldging out of your body,

 

[Lynda B]

do you have any pictures you can post?

 

[Viettxboii]

not that i can upload in time
because i have ot go to summer school and my bus arrives in 5 minutes
oh by the way later inthe day m stopping at my lfs, walmart and petsmart, and thign i oughta pickup?

 

[Lynda B]

BettaFix Remedy.... and perhaps something called "General Cure".

 

[laurasbetta]

If you've been treating him with Bettafix/Melafix and he hasn't improved, you probably need to do a 100% water change and switch to a strong antibiotic like a combination of Maracyn and Maracyn 2 or Tetracycline which you can get from better fish stores. Lower his water level to help him out with breathing so he doesn't have to swim as far up.

 

[Viettxboii]

If you've been treating him with Bettafix/Melafix and he hasn't improved, you probably need to do a 100% water change and switch to a strong antibiotic like a combination of Maracyn and Maracyn 2 or Tetracycline which you can get from better fish stores. Lower his water level to help him out with breathing so he doesn't have to swim as far up.

im doing exactly that right now

 

[laurasbetta]

im doing exactly that right now

Good. Let's hope that you caught it in time. Sometimes fin rot doesn't respond to bettafix/melafix, especially if it a resistant strain of bacteria since bettafix is not a really strong antibiotic. Make sure you give him the proper dose of Maracyn and Maracyn 2 as printed on the box. Keep giving him doses every day for 5 days and then do a 100% water change and start the Maracyn treatment again unless he is much better.

Using the 2 Maracyns together should take care of most bacteria and fungus since they work on gram- AND gram+ bacteria.

Good luck with the little guy!