New Betta Suddenly Very Ill

[katiefairyinnit]

I bought a Betta 2 days ago from my lfs and it looked fine. It settled in OK and I checked it this morning and it was active. Then i came home around 2pm and it was being very lethargic so I had a good look at him and noticed that his top fin has almost disintegrated?! The tail and other fins are totally intact but the top one is hardly there, with the odd straggle sticking out. I assume its fin rot but there's no fuzzy stuff that I've seen people mention. I put him into a hospital tank immediately and did full water checks with liquid kits and the water in the tank is fine. There's no other harmed fish either. He's been in the hospital tank for about 2 hours now and he's just laying on the bottom looking really bad I have no idea what could have happened in such a short space of time? There's no other marks on the body or fins but he honestly looks like he wont last much longer. He's been treated with Melafix and the water is clean. Please could anyone shed any light on what might have happened or what I should do now? I'm really worried for the little man! And also for my other fish as ive got newly hatched apistos. Thanks in advance!

Tank stats are as follows:


Tank size: 120l main, 10l hospital
pH: 6.9
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10
kH: 8d
gH: 10d
tank temp: 26 main, 28 hospital (I eased the temperature up gradually)




Please help!

 

[Salam]

Which other fish are in the main tank? Could be that someone nipped his fins? Maybe the apistos got too territorial due to the fry?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Sounds like the apistos got him to me!

Apistos are notoriously aggressive when they have fry

 

[katiefairyinnit]

No they've got their territory and he's taken to the opposite corner of the tank. The apistos are far too interested in their babies to bother anyone else (unless its a little chase if they come too close) His fins are literally disintegrating, they dont look bitten. This is really sudden the rest of his fins are looking like theyre becoming haggard too now. He's in isolation so no one has bitten him in there! Im desperately trying to save him but he's not even swimming.

The main tank has the apisto pair, 2 platies, 6 cardinal tetra, a gourami and a flying fox. Theyre all really peaceful. I'm worried there's a disease about to wipe everyone out. Could that be the case?

Any tips on what I should do now? Water changes etc.

Thanks!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Whatever you may think you're seeing his fins are not disintegrating that fast. Fit rot doesn't act that fast so unless he's been ill for some time it's not fin rot. The only other option is that it was the apistos or some other fish maybe?

All you can do is keep his water clean and treat with melafix. If you think he's lost more fins maybe it's because they were already tattered and the loose bits are falling off?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Also, the melafix might not even be worth it since there's no infection (yet) if he comes round clean water should sort him out. Do you have a heater and filter in the tank?

 

[katiefairyinnit]

When I bought him, I didnt notice any tattered fins, but he my have had an onset of it that escaped my attention? He's dramatically changed appeareance since I got him though. He's been in quarantine for hours now. When he went in he had a top fin disintegrated, looking exactly like the online photos of fin rot. Now his whole tail is looking similar. He's also gone from being active to sitting still and gasping at the bottom of the tank in a matter of about 30 mins, which is why I said it was so weird! I'm not a beginner so I know what nipped bits of fin look like and he deffo looks like he has a full blown case of fin rot. He looks like he might not make it much longer so I'm desperate to do something to help if I can. I always thought that fish disease took a while to materialise too but apparently his case has got serious very quickly. Is it likely he was diseased when I bought him or might this have been brought on by stress?

I'm at a loss really as most online stuff says its down to poor water quality which doesnt apply here.

Should I treat the main tank with anything or wait to see if anyone develops symptoms?

No other fish have been added recently so if there's an outbreak is it likely to be brought in by the betta?

Thank you!

 

[katiefairyinnit]

Update - I've found what looks like a symptom of fin rot on one platy. He's got half a pectoral fin on one side, which looks a bit fuzzy on the edge so deffo not a bite! Does this mean the rest may become ill too? I dont wanna medicate the main tank cuz of the babies! Can I avoid that?

Ive quarantined him with the fighter, but floating the fighter in a breeding trap so theyve got their own space.

Yes the tank is filtered and heated. Ive turned the filter off now though cuz it was blowing the fighter about!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I'm under the impression that fin rot is unlikely to be contagious unless the fish are in poor condition to start with.

Do his fins look shredded or eroded?

I think you've done what you can do

 

[katiefairyinnit]

The platy had a fight with the other platy and looked a bit shaken afterwards, so maybe thats why he's got it? It was definitely intact the last time I checked him, unless theyve had another fight that ive not seen.


And all i can think of is that the fighter was stressed from transit and just hid it very well! The water quality is good so I'm not sure if disease would be in the water? The best way I can describe him is he looked very similar to the betta in your picture but now looks like a crowntail...with quite a short tail! Its evenly spread really, so not in chunks, just shredded-looking all the way around and total loss of the top part of the fin apart from a few straggly bits. His scales are now looking a little pine-coney, which I guess is dropsy? I know thats kidney failure and is incurable Is it more likely he was ill before i got him or that there's something in my tank thats made him ill and might make others ill too?

I do weekly water changes of 3 buckets full in my main tank which is about 38 litres, and I only did the last change 2 days ago. Would it be worth doing another tonight in case of outbreak?

Thanks for all your help, me and the little guys are very grateful!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

It's very hard to say with a fish this new, he could have had parasites I suppose, if he's pineconing you can try a salt dip (I can't give you instructions though) as that can help to remove some excess fluids.

 

[katiefairyinnit]

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. I'll bathe them all in epsom salt and try that.

 

[katiefairyinnit]

Unfortunately the Betta passed away this evening So there's just the platies left for me to try and save. There's a platy with a cotton-like fungus on its side and the left side of its belly is swollen. And also the platy with the fin issue

 

[katiefairyinnit]

I've lost 2 more platies this morning! Please help! I don't know whats going on. They had a little fungus-like cotton growth on one of their fins, no other symptoms. They just seem to have gone from looking fine to dead in a matter of a few hours. I thought that infections tended to build up to this point? I've been treating them and the water is perfect. I work from home so i can tend to them constantly. So far there's not even been chance for meds to work as theyre dropping like flies I dont know what to do

 

[Nightstar99]

How is it going? Sounds a bit like ich.