Is this gill flukes?

[IHaveADogToo]

This is one of my bettas. She’s laying on the bottom, breathing heavy. No pine coning. I have her in a breeder box right now.

Her scales have always been messed up. They’re actually better than they were when I got her.

This is the same one who recovered from tapeworm. She’s been through a lot.

Look closely at the gills. I see something inside them that doesn’t look like it belongs. It looks wormy.

She’s been Like this for a couple days. After recovering from tapeworm she was fine for 2 weeks, although a light eater, so I put her back in the sorority then she started hiding and when she finally did come out it was to pant on the substrate like this.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Sorry to double post but here’s another reason I think it’s gill flukes. Look at some of my other bettas gills.

Can anyone confirm?

 

[Colin_T]

What are your concerns about the fish in the pictures?

The Betta in the video is breathing pretty rapidly and might have gill flukes. It could also be water quality, stress, bacteria, fungus or protozoans. But most fish do carry some gill flukes. You could treat all the tanks at the same time with a gill fluke treatment and if it's still breathing heavily after that then look for another cause.
Be careful about what you use tho because a lot of medications to treat gill flukes no longer work and kill fish instead.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

The ones in the pictures, look at their gills. They all have the same two stripes down the gills. On some fish it’s red and on others it’s more silver, but it’s the same 2 stripes on all of them. I was wondering if that looks like gill flukes? They don’t appear to be breathing heavy like the one in the video but they didn’t all have those stripes on their gills like that when I got them. I’m wondering if I have a gill fluke outbreak in my tank.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Here’s another video of the fish that’s breathing heavy. It looks like something is sticking out of her gill.

 

[Colin_T]

gill flukes are tiny white worm like things that you can only see if you stick a piece of gill tissue under a microscope.

Gill covers are the hard bit that you see moving back and forth as the fish open & close their mouth. On the edge of the gill cover is a piece of skin that acts as a seal when the gills are closed. That can be any colour but is usually a similar colour to the gill cover.

The flap of skin can be seen in pics 88008 as a thin black line around the bottom of the gill under the neck and in pic 88010 as a black line around the outer edge of the gill cover starting at the pectoral (side) fin and going under the neck.

On a side note, if you turn your phone on its side so it is lengthwise (rather than vertical/ upright), the video should fill the entire screen and show more of the fish

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Hmm. What could be causing all of my bettas to have the same (what looks like irritation) markings on their gills? Only one of them had these markings at first and now most of them do. Strangely, the one who doesn’t have those markings is the one who looks like she can’t breathe. So I don’t know what to do there. It’s the same fish that had tapeworm and now again it’s been several days since she’s eaten. She just lays at the bottom breathing heavy. I hate to say it but she’s had a rough life and a lot of problems and every time she gets better she gets sick with something else almost immediately after so I’m starting to wonder if there’s nothing else I can do for her.

 

[Colin_T]

Wild female Bettas have lines on their body and face. I can't see any lines on the fish in the pictures but it's probably just natural colouration.

As for the Betta that keeps getting sick, it could be just a weak individual or it might have an underlying infection that isn't healing. I can't remember what you're feeding them but if you don't use much frozen food you could try adding more of that. And you can add a vitamin supplement to the food before you feed it. If you can't find a fish vitamin then use a bird or reptile one and try to find a powder form. If you get a liquid vitamin supplement make sure it is kept cool and hasn't expired. Give vitamins each day and feed the fish as much as it can eat. And I know Nick will say not too much food, but with sick fish you want to get them well fed so they have lots of nutrition from the food. When they are back to normal you can reduce the feeding.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

I very much doubt this is just natural coloration. Something is wrong with my bettas' gills. These (what look like irritation) markings were only on one betta when I bought them months ago, and now they are on all of my bettas. So whatever it is, it spread. The photos in post #2 don't really do these markings justice. They are very pronounced.

As for the obviously sick betta, she's stopped eating again. She does come up and examine food when I drop it into the water, but she loses interest real fast and swims back down to the bottom to do her heavy breathing thing. I don't know how old she is, but I think she was pre-owned when I got her, because all those missing and damaged scales were like that when I bought her. So I think she might have been returned or surrendered. I'm sad to even think it, let alone say it, but I'm starting to wonder if her fight is over.

 

[Colin_T]

If you can get a better picture showing the marks on the gills we can look at that

Once the fish stops eating then it's usually over but it still shows an interest in food even tho it doesn't take any.

The last thing to try with the Betta that isn't eating would be anti-biotics, assuming you haven't used any. But it might not make any difference and could end up spending a heap of money and still lose the fish. If you did want to try anti-biotics then use it in a bare hospital tank and follow the direction on the packaging. You normally treat every day for one or two weeks and see what happens. Change all the water and wipe out the container each time before retreating the fish.