What Happened To This Betta?

[Rediahs]

I'm sorry I can't provide any pictures, but this is how it went:

I bought my parents a lovely butterfly halfmoon betta. He was really pretty and his fins were in perfect order. He never got sick or anything and didn't have any fin rot. My parents took really good care of him. They also have a female betta who is quite beautiful and always very healthy.

I wasn't around, but apparently, suddenly the butterfly halfmoon took a turn for the worse. He lost all his colour and his fins started rotting off. He got very sick and started sitting on the bottom of the tank.

Now apparently he is "better" (I never saw him when he was really sick) but he still has no colour. His body lacks colour and his fins half-lack colour and are half-black. Apparently they are growing back. Maybe the black is the parts that grew back.

He's not really acting sick anymore- his attitude is much better, but he still looks like a swimming rat. He does not nearly have the finnage that he used to - it used to be large and beautiful white and blue. Now it's short and most of it is black, some of it is transparent.

What happened to him? Is this a disease? I don't really think it's him getting old, because it happened very suddenly. The fish has been in our possession for about a year. So has the female, and she is still as healthy as ever- even moreso. She looks beautiful.

(Before I get flamed - no, they are not in the same tank. Two tanks.)

 

[jourdy288]

Hate to point fingers, but do you have a younger sibling? Also, have any of your fish ever been sick?

 

[Rediahs]

An 18 year old brother but that's all.

And yeah, there were a few fish here that got sick and died, but they all died from different causes. We've been having bettas for a few years now. And it's funny.. we got the female for free, and she's lasted so well and the rest seem to get sick and die.

But none of them quite like this, none lost their colour. One choked on a shrimp, and two simply got really lethargic and died.

 

[jourdy288]

One choked on a shrimp, and two simply got really lethargic and died.

Did the shrimp have a toothpick in it?

Anyhow, there is a disease that used to strike my fish, seemed like TB, but the fish would get skinnier and skinnier each week, till it lay on the bottom of the aquarium, gasping 'til it died. It has stopped striking, but was scary. So, it could be a new disease. I just heard a snap in my head. It could be neon tetra disease, even if you never owned one.

 

[girl4God81]

black fins, transparent fins, listless...sounds exactly like fin rot to me. i would go out and get a good fin rot med that's ok for bettas to consume. he should be fine if treated quickly but he may also have an underlying condition causing the fin rot. does he have any spotting or any other symptoms that you notice?

 

[Espyish]

If the meds do not work well you may want to consider this...

A Way I found on a site......seems kinda cruel though....


Betta Care - Fin Rot Surgery
Guest Author - Jill Florio and Eileen, AKA EmgBettaNut

Jill here: One of my forum helpers wrote her detailed notes on fin rot surgery in the forum. She gave me permission to reprint her fine advice here. Please do not attempt this kind of treatment unless you have steady hands and are an experienced betta owner. Here is the blog on her experience:

Day One

"Teal has been battling finrot for weeks now..probably almost a month running. I treated him with bettafix/salt for weeks and switched to the stronger meds when that didn't seem to be doing the trick. I was on my third dose of the anti-fungus med when I noticed even more red spots breaking out on his anal fin now!! I added the last dose of the meds and noticed he seemed to be struggling a bit....I decided right then and there I was going to snip off the tips of his fins.

I figured it this way...I could try a different med on him and stress him out even more..and it may not even work and would only serve to weaken him more....or...I could do something drastic, like cut off the finrot. (I read about this being done by some) I decided to try the surgery thing.

OK..here's how it went....


I prepared my stuff:


sanitized a pair of very sharp scissors in boiling water


got two bowls of fresh clean water ready,floated them in Teal's tank to get the temp right.


I added bettafix and extra salt to one bowl and just extra salt to the other.


got out some peroxide and a Q-tip


put a folded towl on the table with a folded clean paper towl on top of that.


OK...

I put the bowl with Teal on the table and also the other two bowls...pouring water from the bowl with the bettafix onto the towel and paper towl so it was good and wet.

I carefully cupped my hand around Teal and took him out of his bowl and put him on the wet paper towel folding it over the top of him leaving only the fins showing. (I'd like to say I managed this without him flopping around with me trying to get him under control...but I didn't). Anyway,I had to pour a bit more water over him so that his fins would spread out...didn't want to take off more than necessary. I quickly snipped off the tips of his tail and his anal fin...making sure I got it all but not taking too much off. I quickly wiped his fins with the peroxide Q-tip and put him in the bowl with salt and an extra drop of stress-coat. I put him in his bowl back in the tank and turned off the light.

Well, it went quickly..poor Teal is so stressed out he just hung head down in his bowl for a bit. He slowly seems to be coming out of it now, though his color is still a bit pale but not nearly as bad as just after the job.

I don't know if he will survive this or not, but the way I see it...I don't think he would have survived anymore medicating either...so if I was going to try this I wanted to do it when he was still fairly strong. I had been feeding him up good to try and keep him in condition during this whole process and also changing his water every day....adding the correct amount of meds to it each time. I'll let you all know how it turns out."

Day Two

"I checked him first thing this morning. He is back to his old self..(a bit short in the fin ) his color is looking good now. Only thing is, I see what looks like the start of some more finrot on his dorsel fin now.....dang! I knew I should have trimmed that one too, just to be safe...but, oh well. I'll leave it alone for now and see how it goes. I plan on changing his water every day and putting nothing but extra salt in it. Enough meds for this guy. Maybe the constant clean water will cause it to just...go away...lol..(always the optimist!)"


Day Three

"Teal seems to be doing rather well. I ended up trimming his dorsel fin too but I didn't take him out of his bowl to do it. Just gently cupped my hand around him and when I saw an opportunity...I snipped. I figure that was less stressful than taking him out of the water and having him flop around on the table till I could get a grip on him. Anyway, it worked.

I see no signs of fin rot at this time. I am keeping his bowl VERY clean. I transfer him between two bowls so that I can wipe out the one I take him out of. After cleaning the bowl I put fresh clean water with extra salt and bettafix in it, then float it in the tank so that it's ready for the next morning. I try to remember to feed him before changing his bowl...just to keep food stuff out of there, but I don't always. I do make sure to take out any cruds that show up.

Well, so far so good. It's hard to get a really good look at the tips of his fins as he is always moving around..but it looks like there may be some new growth starting already."


After a Week

"Teal's fins are looking Great! They are beginning to heal very well and there is no sign of finrot at all!

I'll just keep up the clean water each day with bettafix and extra salt..at least until the bettafix cycle is done. I may just keep him in that bowl and clean his water every day until his fins grow back completely..depends on how things look."


How to be sure it is fin rot

"A good indication is if the fin is slowly, or quickly disintegrating..or you see that the tail keeps getting shorter and shorter in that one spot where you notice the red or dark coloring.

They don't usually act sick, at least mine don't. Their tails just rot away....though if left untreated it will eventually get to their bodies and kill them."

© to http/www.bellaonline.com/site/fish

 

[starrynightxxi]

the above method can be used to prevent the spread of fin rot, or incourage proper regrowth afterwards. I wouldn't call it cruel, after all, you'd have your arm cut off if it were rotting regardless of treatment. Lucky for the fish, their fins grow back, your arms wouldn't

however it's best to treat the fin rot first, before resorting to cutting fins (easier, too!). "black" can also be ammonia burns, how often does his water get changed?