M Betta got into another's "cell" overnight

[_fish_a_holic_]

Last night, before bed checked on my bettas. All OK. (Thank goodness I'm on medication that makes me insomniac so this was at about 4am)

This morning (10am), glanced in tank soon as I got up. Quickly noticed VT's cage was empty. Glanced over at DT's cage, OH **** THERE HE WAS!!! (both in same cage)

VT's fins very very torn up. DT's not damaged in any way whatsoever *phew*

What's best way to treat. Atm my options are:
1) Put VT in plastic bucket and treat that way.
2) Medicate whole tank (although others are perfectly OK physically)
3) Put VT in heated vase (max 2L) and treat that way.

... as hospital tank is being used to treat a bacterial infection in a non-betta fish atm DAMMIT!

What's my best option??? Please get back to me ASAP as even tho it's "JUST a veiltail" (according to some), my history with bettas my first fish makes me heartbroken to see him die/sick.

The vitals:
1. pH of the tank water, Temp of the water
**** pH=7, temp=26*C

2. Have you done any tests? If so, what were the results (eg. Nitrites, Nitrates, Ammonia)
**** All 0 or negligable; just did water change last night.

3. Size of tank, how often you change/d the water
**** Tank is 90L, 24USgal, 20UKgal. See Q.2 re water change.

4. What is your setup (if breeding tank)
**** Community betta tank. 2 males in separate net breeders, barracks, 4 females in main part.

5. What you have been feeding
**** Conditioning one male & 1 female to breed, but all been getting frozen bloodworms, live blackworms, peas.

6. Be descriptive as possible about what you see is wrong (cotton growths, white specks, red edged fins, ulcers etc)
**** Torn fins. Pretty bad. Not as bad as mommabetta's "Lucky" tho

7. How long have you had them, and has anything 'stressful' occured in the past week
**** Had DT for 10 dayss. VT for 8 days. Approx. Have been settling in very well prior to last night.

8. What medications (if any) do you have on hand
**** Betta-fix (actually Pond-Fix can do the maths to dose)
**** Multi-cure
**** Anything avail from fish shop as it's Mon and I can go get some other stuff if necessary. Altho I'm leaning towards the Bettafix.

 

[_fish_a_holic_]

Gee, thanks guys. Friendliest forum around huh?? I beg to differ...

I know I'm (edit: was) over-reacting (edit: in the original post), but I have my reasons to do so. Thanks for helping (NOT).

 

[Dart]

Well i wouldn't expect an answer in a hour!! especially at this time.

I would just medicate the injured VT, the whole tank doesnt need it.

You may also want to drop teh water level in your tank to prevent..escape artists from trying to escape

 

[SarahBravo]

Yes, if at all possible I would separate the injured fish, if the 2 litre vase is all you have free at the moment then use that. Bettafix and regular water changes along with aquarium salt should help heal the fins and stop bacterial infection. Keep an eye out for red streaks which would indicate septicaemia, and fungus. Both of these would require heavier hitting medication.

Hope he gets better soon! Keep us informed.

Sarah

 

[_fish_a_holic_]

Well i wouldn't expect an answer in a hour!! especially at this time.

Point taken. I forget that this is a majority-American/British forum. Don't worry, I had an Australian backup and they offered the same suggestion:

I would just medicate the injured VT, the whole tank doesnt need it.

You may also want to drop teh water level in your tank to prevent..escape artists from trying to escape

Also done. I was trying to maximise swimming space as people on the Betta part of this forum have been commenting that being in a net breeder is inadequate. Such as: this topic Look for BettaMomma's second post on that page:...

...Personally it's a tossup here, about which one is better for betta boy, because while the filtered, constant temperature is really great for them, having them in a little breeder net really isn't fair.

BTW, I have a cover glass to prevent tank-i-cides.

 

[_fish_a_holic_]

Sarah:
Thanks for the additional advice (ie. re salt). Would a clean, new bucket be not even better? Or would he stress out even more being not able to see? Or I couldn't monitor his progress.. Right! Vase it is (might just go buy a humungous square one just for times like these & transfer him when I get home).

Keep an eye out for red streaks which would indicate septicaemia, and fungus. Both of these would require heavier hitting medication.

Totally new info to me. I'll post again if the above occurs, as to which meds etc. Thanks again.

And to everyone, sorry I got stroppy earlier... there ARE reasons for it (both experience with bettas and medical/mental). If you're interested PM me. Thanks.

 

[Kiarra]

Another good trick for healing Betta fins is Blackwater Extract or Indian Almond Leaves. Can't recommend them enough for Bettas. They're hard to find, but worth it. I use Blackwater Extract at the first sign of any torn fins, and have noticed that it does increase healing time and reduce instances of complications. They're essentially the same thing, so either one would do. If you can find them, that is.

 

[xanthianacid]

Poor little guy

If you have the money, a little cheapy betta tank/kit might be the way to go. I swear by melafix for fin damage, as it really fixed up a fully grown angels in about two weeks, we thought we were going to lose him but he's all grown back now. But that might be the same as your pond fix. Probably best for the little guy to be on his own, so I'd fix him up a little decorated tank just for him - I find it helps with stress and aids healing. If they are still stressed then they won't heal so fast.
I know you worry sick about them while they are sick like this...


Good luck and keep us all updated as his fins improve. Have u got a digital camera?

Cheers, Xanthia

 

[Dart]

Size of the betta tank is really what they like. Some do prefer smaller tanks, i had my big blue in a 5 gallon by himself and all he ever did was hide behind the filter, not he's in a half gallon tank and he bubblenest and swims around all the time

 

[BettaMomma]

Hi!
I, personally, would keep him in the nice clean bucket with some sparkly clean salt water. Try to keep him as warm as possible - some people use a heating pad on the lowest setting wedged between a towel. You don't need to medicate him, per say - either... I'd just go for some good clean water, get some stress coat if you don't already have some, and then put in some salt.

I have a 1 gallon ice cream bucket from eons ago that I ran thru my dishwasher to get fish-ready (withOUT any soap) probably 10 times or so. Now, I have a ritual - I always have it filled up with room temp dechlorinated water ready for anything. Lately I have had to do daily water changes on my little Liza because she was voted out of her 10G tank. But... in the case when you need that water warmed up a bit, you could fill up your kitchen sink with some hot water, then set the bucket into the sink until it's up to the temp that matches what your sicky is coming out of. Then , take him out and place him in the bucket. Make sure you keep the lid, poked with LOTS of holes, and put that on.

You'll of course, need to monitor the temp, or if your tank isn't all that much warmer than room temp, I'd go ahead and just let it go at room temp. That's waht I do w/Liza.

Best of luck to you!!

 

[abstract]

Gee, thanks guys. Friendliest forum around huh?? I beg to differ...

I know I'm (edit: was) over-reacting (edit: in the original post), but I have my reasons to do so. Thanks for helping (NOT).

god i'm getting sick of these posts

 

[_fish_a_holic_]

Well, here's an update with a few pics. Xan I will consider adding a little betta kit to my collection tomorrow.

Well, this may not be the best thing for him, but, I've put his vase in the "courting"/"breeding" tank. Like so:pic here

(except that I've removed the water sprite that was floating in the vase in order to help get a pic of this active little boy!)

Do you guys reckon that it's a bad idea? I just thought that the heated water in the breeding tank would help stabilize the temp. I do have a spare 25W heater I could use though, if you reckon the stress of flaring and courting the ladies is hindering his healing. But he looks like he's having fun!

I have a pinch of salt in the vase, along with Bettafix (it's all tea tree oil, Betta,Mela,Pond-Fix just in differing concentrations. I make my own)

He actually looks a lot better than he did yesterday! Here's the best pic I could manage. I really want to brush up on my fish photographing...(edit: and my photo editing I don't know how to get rid of all that wasted white space...)

More feedback re current treatment is quite welcome. To remove that vase from the breeding tank or not?

Edit: I saw some blackwater extract in the LFS. I always thought that was used for tetras to replicate natural environment? Good for betta healing too huh? Neat.

***meditating to lower blood pressure***..... ohhhhmmmmmmm

 

[_fish_a_holic_]

god i'm getting sick of these posts

OK. You are entitled to your feelings.
And, I do believe I apologized later. In red.

 

[xanthianacid]

It does look significant fin damage, but he seems healthy. He looks like he'll heal fine in your good hands fish-a-holic. Is it getting colder in Perth now? It's still quite warm up here in Brissie right now...so temperature is no problem for us but might be for you. A heater might be important, I'm not sure. He looks happy in the breeding/courting tank. I'd be inclined to leave him there for a while until he grows some tailage back

He's still a Pretty Boy, Cheers, Xan

 

[Kiarra]

They market Blackwater Extract to replicate the natural environment of fish like Discus, Tetras, and who knows what else (I don't!). I just use it for Bettas. They LOVE it. It replicates THEIR natural environment, too, which is why it's so good to use during healing (and other times, too, but I generally don't because it's so expensive). It contains anti-bacterial properties, and all kinds of things that calm the fish, help with healing, etc. Can't say enough good things about this stuff. (Now that I sound like a Blackwater Extract saleswoman....)