Sick Betta, Please Help..

[Rockon1213]

Hi all.. I'm new to fishforums.net so forgive me if I've posted in the wrong section. My betta, Scrappy, appears to be sick. I have changed his water and put ick medicine in the water twice in the last three days. I'm trying to decide what is wrong with him. If he has a disease, then what kind might it be and how can I treat it? His symptoms are as follows.

1. Hasn't eaten in about 4 days.
2. Seems lethargic and rests either at bottom of tank or at top in plastic plant.
3. Scales apear slightly raised and pale in color.
4. Apears slightly bloated (not particularly in the stomach area but just in general.)
5. Feces is attached to him.

Attached is a picture of him, hope it will help. If you have an idea of how I can help him, please let me know. Thank you guys and gals.

 

[betta989]

Very sorry to say this he has bloat and most likley will not survive. Its not ich try using Un-frozen peas. Do a 50% change for a few days and see how that works out

 

[LadyDragon]

Bloating and raised scales are also signs of Dropsy... Which usually doesnt have a great outcome.

Feces attached is most often a sign of something else...


Google fish diseases and check the symptoms causes and treatments. And always remember to STAY POSITIVE! Sometimes they recover from things they shouldn't recover from. But educate yourself about the possibilities and hope for the best... Sometimes things go right, even if they shouldn't.

 

[phoneboi]

Yeah sorry to say he doesn't look great, but don't loose hope yet.

You may want to try cupping him and giving him twice-daily baths in an aquarium salt solution. Cupping him gets him out of the tank (which could have a bacterial bloom), and it makes it easier to manage bathing him. If you want to put something in the cup, keep it small and soft. I usually put a couple smooth, flat stones and a tiny plastic plant in to give some cover.

Prepare a gallon of water with 1 tsp of aquarium salt.
- Try to match water temperature or use room temperature water.
- I like using a plastic drink pitcher for easy pouring.

SLOWLY pour the pitcher of water into the cup to bathe him.
- DON'T do this over the sink, use a pail or something in case he decides to jump.
- Hold the cup slightly off-level and let it overflow into the pail as you pour.

I'd try this 2x a day for the first few days.
Give him 1-2 pellets after the bath and see how it goes.

 

[Liquid skills]

Yeh i agree with the point of sme times they recover from things they shouldnt be able to

Ive had an recent out burst of ich/ whitespot and i dnt have the money for treatment so ive left it and all fish have recovered and no spots on anyfish i was suprised but hay gd things happen sometime

DONT LOOSE FAITH !

 

[loraxchick]

he looks in a state doesnt he. It is one of two things. Either he is bloated from overfeeding or may have dropsy. Here is what I recommend:
Feed a cooked, deshelled pea mushed up into little pieces (that is if he is still eating). Then fast the fish, no feeding, for three days.
as for salt dips-DO NOT USE AQUARIUM SALT!!! You want to use Epsom Salts (all salt is not the same and aquarium salt will make it worse).
Epsom salt you can find in any pharmacy or other place they sell over the counter medication for people, and is very inexpensive. The ingredients are magnesuim sulfate. Epsom salts draw fluid out of the tissues, so will help if it is constipation or in some cases of dropsy (bear in mind dropsy is almost always fatal). Mix 1 tablespoon per gal as a dip (or 1 tablespoon per 5 gal if adding to the tank). If using a dip you can leave the fish in the dip for up to 30 mins up to 2x a day. If it is constipation you should see results in a day or so...if dropsy will help with the bloating but will not really treat the cause).
best of luck.
cheers

 

[Rockon1213]

Thank you all for your replies and uplifting words. I'm going to try the Epsom salt baths and see if eventually he will eat a pea. I'll keep you updated on his condition. Just curious but how does a betta get dropsy and is it possible to prevent it? Thanks.

 

[upngo]

I know there are 4 stages of dropsy.
You can save him if you are really early. After they are bloated they can not be saved.
I would try to starve him, and keep the water clean. 50 percent waterchanges every day. It might be something else aswell. If he still is like this and his behavior changes (can not swim properly, gasping for air) after some days, I would probably kill him.

The only treatment I know of are eSHa 2000

 

[Liquid skills]

Its normaly caused by the failer of the kidneys or/ and liver cant realy prevent the organs from failing but to keep the organs healthy low stress and feq water changes and a good diet i feed my betta on a natural diet of insects(bloodworm etc) and veg which my bettas more then will ing to eat also when i feed the bn algae wafers he like them too

 

[Rockon1213]

With much sadness I must report that Scrappy passed away yesterday... We tried what we could to help, but it was just his time. I do want to say thank you again to all of you nice people who gave me your advise to try to help him. So I'll leave you with a pic of him in his golden days Take care.

 

[HayzH]

Oh no! Bless him Scrappy xx

 

[the_lock_man]

Sorry to hear that he passed.

Just a little pointer for you, since the fish did not have whitespot (ich), adding the ich medicine may have made things worse. Most meds are harmful to fish - they are beneficial in that they are even more harmful to whatever you are trying to treat.

If you haven't got that benefit, all you've done is weaken the fish still further.

The point is don't add a medication unless you know that it treats whatever the problem is.