poorly female betta

[RescueFishy]

Ok total newbie here ! !

Yesterday i went to a friends house for a catch up and he had the most lovely fish tank with huge fish of some sort. Whilst sitting drinking coffee his fish seemed to be chasing something around the tank when i asked what they were doing he explained that the tank used to hold loads of female bettas but he got a problem with the tank and he lost all but a few of them. The new big fish were "playing" with the one remaining betta. After going totaly loopy at him (not sure why just knew it must be wrong) I demanded that he gave me the fish which he agreed to and also a small tank and some of his water. I got the poor thing home and quite honestly didn't expect her to live the night as she is in such a state. She has virtualy been eaten allive to the point where you can see the bones where her tailfin used to be. And has chunks missing out of her top fin too.

I added a little salt and some clean treated water (thank goodness for 24 hour tesco) to her tank last night after searching the web but just wondered if there was anything else i could do for her ?? I think she may survive with the right care but she will only swim for food at the moment as it is obviously hard with hardly any fins.

Any advice would be really appreciated

 

[mrplaty]

I think that is disgusting!!!!!!

However you have done a good thing rescuefishie!!!!

What size tank have you got??

Have you got a filter or heater??

You could try using some melafix From the lfs on her!!1 that might help her tail and fin!!! good luck with her!!!!
Do you know what the other fish in there with her was


MrP

 

[RescueFishy]

No at the moment she is in a bowl like you get at the fair but i have a little bubble thing in there so she has moving water and i have changed a little of the water again. Am popping out to the pet shop in a bit to get another tank and some bits what do you recommend i get her ??

I dont know what they were but i can find out.

 

[mrplaty]

I thinkyou should try some melafix but apart from that it should be OK now it is in peace!!!

Bettamomma on this forum bought a betta without a tail and the tail has started to grow more and more each day!!! Lets hope this poor female will be the same!!!

Good Luck!!!!!!!!

 

[RescueFishy]

will pop to my local fish shop and get some Melafix for her as she is such a little sweetie !

I hope in time she will come right keep your fingers crossed for her

 

[BettaMomma]

STOP!
If you haven't gone yet, skip the MelaFix.
I have determined that using MelaFix on severely ailing fish will do more harm than good. Please don't use it on her!

I'll be back in a couple of hours to give you some more advice but what you have done this far is VERY good for her.

And thank you for rescuing her.
We would like to include this story on our betta rescue site.

And tell your friend that if I were to meet him in person, I'd drag him around by the ears for a while.

 

[Kiarra]

First of all, may good things happen to you for rescuing her. May she live a good, long life and be your good friend for a long while to come.

Second, your friend should be chased around by a larger, hungry predator for a while, and nibbled at. It's only fair.

Now to fix the fish...

If you can get your hands on something called Blackwater Extract or Indian Almond Leaves, I cannot recommend them strongly enough. They are essentially the same product. They carry anti-bacterial agents, greatly aid in calming the fish, and aid in fin regrowth. If not, there are ways to handle this.

It's an extremely good sign that she is eating. She looks horrible, absolutely horrible, but, if she's eating, then she can't be quite as bad as she looks.

Most important is clean water and aquarium salt right now. Siphon up poop and uneaten food, and change out the whole amount of water once daily if you can manage it, using a system that both works for you and causes as little stress to her as possible.

 

[RescueFishy]

I brought the Melafix but after reading your posting bettamom havn't given it to her.

I asked in my shop about indian almond leaves but unfortunatly they are very hard to get around our way so if anyone can tell me where i might be able to get them it would be great.


I brought her a new tank today but am in two minds on weather or not to put her in it, it is a lot bigger BUT i dont want to stress her out so will leave it a week or so and see how she gets on.

Anyone else know how i can help her on her way to recovery i really am a very very newbie to fish )

 

[Kiarra]

That's okay. Everyone's new at this at some point. Kudos to you in a big way for trying so hard already.

You're more likely to find Blackwater Extract than Indian Almond Leaves in a petstore. Blackwater Extract is distributed by Tetra Aqua (at least, mine is!). You can order Indian Almond Leaves off the internet. Sites like ebay and Aquabid carry them.

In the off chance you're in Utah, I know where to find some Blackwater Extract, but it seems that no one is in Utah but me, so I'm not counting on that.

 

[BettaMomma]

Hi.
Back again.
Yeah, hold off on the MelaFix.
I have really mixed feelings on that stuff with bettas. I have 2 betta boys that were OD'd on that stuff and they haven't been right since. And I'm pretty convinced that is what finished my little Amos off when he was very, very sick.

Anyway....
on to some encouragement...
My little Liza had her fins pretty badly ripped up when I had to remove her from the nasty female tank she was in. I put her immediately into a 1/2 G tank all by herself with a teeny pinch of salt. She was pretty ripped up - I gave her daily water changes and lots of TLC, and here's a picture I took of her just last night:

As you can see, her fins have grown back nicely with some TLC, clean water and some salt. SO there is probably pretty good hope for your little girl here.

I'd do as Kiarra has already told you - I do have some indian almond leaf here I could ship to you with instructions on how to use it. I am going to try some this weekend to see how it goes.

 

[Kiarra]

Oooh. She looks gorgeous today, BM! Let me know how it goes with the Indian Almond Leaf tests. All I've ever used is the Blackwater Extract.

Bettas can come back from pretty amazing things, though, with the right treatment.

When I found that little boy, he had no tail beyond two or three little rays sticking out and a grand total of half a ventral. His dorsal and anal fins looked wretched, too. He had been fighting with his brother, and they were both left in shreds. Now...he's gorgeous, and he knows it. I used no medicines on him. Just clean water, aquarium salt, and Blackwater Extract.

If it were finrot, you'd need more than that, but since these are injuries, just these things are the best you can really do for him (unless somebody else has any ideas).

 

[RescueFishy]

im in London so if you let me know how much it will cost that would be great betta momma.

Kiarra will try and keep an eye out for the blackwater extract she is a bit perkier today and settling in different places aound the tank and not just lying on the bottom. She is still very touch and go but is more go today

Will keep you posted and feel free to use t story if you wish bettamomma

 

[minnieandpearl]

Before people run off and never use melafix because of what bettamomma said, I just want to say melafix is a WONDERFUL thing for my 2 male bettas and girls. It brought back their finnage beautifully, they perked up almost instantly when they were rescued and I put it in. I've used it since then and have had positively no OD problems here, but then I used the correct betta dosage. Possibly you used wrong amounts. If thats the case you shouldn't knock something that can work because of your mistake. If not, any fish expert will tell you that just because one thing worked for one person doesn't mean it will work for another. There are many variances such as water quality, water amounts, alkalinity, heated, filtered, the genetics fo the fish that can affect the way something works. If one medicine always worked that's all there would have to be. What you're using is obviously working. My point is just if you try something and it doesn't seem to help try something else and keep trying. One answer or one persons experience is never law just a suggestion.

 

[Joby]

Good to hear she is settling in and a bit perkier today.

I would also comment that I've used Melafix on bettas and at the normal dosage stated on the bottle and never had any OD problems. I find it excellent for promoting fin problems

 

[RescueFishy]

I have been speaking on other forums about my little Lealou (what i named her)
and they have agreed with what bettamomma has said that when they are as bad as lealou is melafix isn't best used until she was a bit more stable.

I understand what your saying mandp but in this case she seems to be doing ok without it for the moment so will see how it goes.

Will keep you all updated with lealou's progress so lets all keep our fingers crossed that she makes it.