I Think There's Something Wrong With Him...

[vear]

Hello everyone, thanks in advance for reading. I have a male betta in a 5.5 gallon tank, heated and filtered. Everything was fine until two days ago when I saw him lying down at the bottom of the tank. I freaked out thinking he was dead, went and gently tapped on the glass and he started swimming around like nothing ever happened. After this I had to leave for work. When I got back in the afternoon he was his normal self, swimming normally. I fed him and he ate just fine. I checked the water stats and everything was fine, but I changed about 25% of his water anyway.

Today I've been watching him and he seemed alright, but a few minutes ago I noticed his belly is pretty bloated. Is he constipated?? Is he sick? What's going on, and how can I help? I have two little cories with him, should I take them out?

Another thing I noticed a long while back is the following. When I first bought him, his large anal fin ( I think that's the one below his body?) had a tiny hole right in the center of it, but where it attaches to his body. A few weeks back ( I didn't have the cories in there yet) the little hole seem to rip straight down and his fin is now split in half. So what was once ONE anal fin is now 2 anal fins! What's up with that? He was alone in there... plus it looks like it just ripped from where the hole was anyway. You can't tell his fin is not supposed to be that way. (I've attached a pic. of when he had the little hole)

Anyway, any help/comments would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks a lot.

 

[fry_forever!]

What are the water stats? Is your filter gentle?
Is the lump/bulge even when you look at him from the surface, or is it uneven? (ex. Only covers one side of his body)

If it is even, and he's bloated on both sides, it may be constipation or swim bladder disorder. Either way, you can boil a pea, pop it out of it's shell, cut it into smaller pieces, and feed it to him. This will pass through any food that's stuck, or remove any unwanted gas in the swim bladder.

If it's not even, it may be a tumor or cyst of some sort, which usually ends in tragedy.


Hope I helped a bit.
Good luck.

-f_f!

 

[vear]

Hi, thanks for the reply. The water stats are fine and the filter is very gentle, I made sure of that - he hates currents. The bulge is even - looking at him now it seems smaller than a few hours ago. I'll try the pea. Thank you.

 

[BethK]

Cut down what you feed him, chances are, he has benn eating the cory's food too (bettas are lil iggys).

That pin hole, then ripping, sounds like finrot. Has this happened to any of his other fins? do the ends turn red or black?

 

[vear]

I tried the pea. He's looking good as new and is very active again. Thank you!

About his fins, none of the other ones are ripped. Looking at him closely I see a bit of black at the edge of one of his fins. He's a red betta so i wouldnt be able to tell if his fins are red. Is that fin rot? He had the pinhole when i bought him but i've kept him in a nice tank with clean water since. I've had him for 6 months now. What should i do about this?

 

[BethK]

Can you post a pic of him?

 

[vear]

]

Can you post a pic of him?

It's hard to get a good picture since he moves so much. But, the first one, his fin is intact... except for that small hole. The second one, his fin is split. You can also see the very end of his ventral fins is white.

[attachment=60481:Johnny Cay2.JPG

 

[BethK]

Keep his water clean,change 30% of it a day for 7 days and see if you notice a difference. If not, buy intrepid anti fungus and finrot treatment and use that.

 

[vear]

Great thanks. Do you think his fin will stay that way? Will it be able to come back together?

Thanks a lot for your answers.

 

[BethK]

It should grow back eventually, he just needs some help. Brime shrimp in garlic will help boost his immune system, just ensure his water is clean and remove any fake plants or ornaments that might rip his fins x