# Sick Betta



## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

I have a Betta in a 6 gallon tank with 2 albino dwarf frogs. He was originally in a Biorb but I moved him after reading that Bettas like still water.

He seemed fine yesterday, he has never been the most active of fish, but he was swimming around and eating. Today I have come home and he does not look good, he is sitting in the corner of the tank and just swimming up for air, and his fins are really clamped, they look stuck together.

I have tested the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and nothing has flagged up there.

Any ideas what may be up with him? I'll try to take a picture and post it later.

Thanks in advance


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

perhaps he was intoduced to an unfamiliar bacteria harmless to the frogs... if i where you i would put him back into the biorb and keep the water full so theres less currrent.. bettas do like slow to motionless water.. but there also very suseptable to infections of all sorts.. i think bettas are best kept alone simply because they are so delecate


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I am unable to move him back into the biorb as since it was free for a while someone is making use of it. 

I asked at my LFS and they said they would try and treat him if I wanted but I figure they would not be able to give him as much devoted time as me so thought I may try to do what I can. I bought some aquarium salt and added about a teaspoon to the tank (6 gallons). I was wondering should I raise the temperature slightly too? Its at 26 C at the moment.

Secondly, I have some melafix and although I know some people say not to use it on Bettas, I was wondering if it would be ok with a 1/4 dose seeing as Bettafix appears to just be weakened Melafix. My only issue with that is if the ADFs are ok with it.

I could move him into a gallon jar to treat him but I do not have a spare heater so would be relying on a warm room.

I have also heard of people giving sick fish salt baths for 5-10 mins, and wondered if this was a common thing to do?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I don't want to do anything that could make him worse


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

Just a bit of an update. I was having a good look around his tank tonight and noticed a layer of white film on a piece of wood that I put in his tank at the weekend. I have this wood in my other tanks and followed the same procedure for this piece (i.e. pre soaking), so not sure what this could be. Anyway I have removed the wood and have carried out a 50% water change.

Secondly I am starting to wonder if he has fin rot. Ever since I got him his fins have not been great at the ends, but I at first put it down to the fact that the LFS had him in with some tetras and they seemed to be nipping his fins. However, over the past two days his fins have started to look really ragged. I am going to post a pic tomorrow when I get hold of my camera. If it is finrot, how is this best treated?


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

if you can move him to a one gallon jar, do so.. before you treat him with meds i would move him and keep an eye on him do daily water changes for a couple of days and see if he perks up a bit... you dont ever really want to medicate.. only if quaritining and water changes havent helped.. then you medicate, in this case i dont think it's nessisary yet


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## fishyfreek (May 13, 2009)

*betta*



Pingu said:


> I have a Betta in a 6 gallon tank with 2 albino dwarf frogs. He was originally in a Biorb but I moved him after reading that Bettas like still water.
> 
> He seemed fine yesterday, he has never been the most active of fish, but he was swimming around and eating. Today I have come home and he does not look good, he is sitting in the corner of the tank and just swimming up for air, and his fins are really clamped, they look stuck together.
> 
> ...


 Hi, if I may help a little, that wood did'nt do anything to your betta. That white mossy stuff is a live bacteria that is really good for fish to eat, it's harmless and it will go away by itself, mine did. All my fish ate the devil out of that stuff. I would'nt give your betta a salt bath as you may injure its fins worst, but the aquarium salt will work and a little stress coat and change the water daily as to keep all old food out. That old food will make your betta grow a fungus fast, and then it will be a matter of two days before it ill die, I lost a proud daddy betta that way when his fry are only 2 weeks old.


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

Hey guys. Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate your help.

I've managed to take a couple of pics but they are really poor quality. The first two are when I first got him. You can just about make out that his fins are a bit ragged which I put down to being kept with tetras at the store.

The third pic is from today. He has really deteriorated, his fins have only become clamped and stringy like that in the last 3 days.

I am making sure I do regular water changes and adding salt to the tank (I'm only adding enough to replenish what is removed during the water change).


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

Update: I was trying to get my Betta to eat tonight - he has eaten 1 bloodworm and that is it, and I was checking out the frogs as well, and I think one of those is also really sick. He is floating on the top and hardly moving at all. On closer inspection he looks like he has a slight fungus coating his feet (the same white film that was on the wood I removed). He won't eat and I really don't think he is looking good. Is there anything you can suggest with which to treat the whole tank?


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## fishyfreek (May 13, 2009)

*your betta*



Pingu said:


> Hey guys. Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate your help.
> 
> I've managed to take a couple of pics but they are really poor quality. The first two are when I first got him. You can just about make out that his fins are a bit ragged which I put down to being kept with tetras at the store.
> 
> ...


Every time you do a water change that might be the problem, the water you are taking out but the salt does not evaporate so you are making the water more salty than ever. Just add water back, no salt.


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

fishyfreek said:


> Every time you do a water change that might be the problem, the water you are taking out but the salt does not evaporate so you are making the water more salty than ever. Just add water back, no salt.


Well I have only done one water change in which I put more salt in and it wasn't much, but thanks for the advice - I won't do that again.

Unfortuantely one of my frogs has died, he looked really ill last night and wouldn't eat. He was just floating on the surface and this morning he had died. I have checked the other frog who looks ok, is moving about and looks better than the other one who was really skinny. I'm wondering if it is this fungus looking stuff that has affected him but I have since read that Mopani wood often gives out a harmless fungus so it could just be remnants of that floating around, and it seems there is a little bit on the other frog.

On a brighter note, I think my Betta may have perked up very slightly - at least he is spending a little more time swimming around and at the top than on the gravel. He still looks really ill but perhaps not quite as bad as he did.

I will keep up with the water changes and see how things progress.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

you said something about fins sticking together... you might want to look into medicating your tank with something.


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

Toshogu said:


> you said something about fins sticking together... you might want to look into medicating your tank with something.


Well I went to a store yesterday and the guy in there was really helpful and gave me something to put in my tank. I have no idea what it was - it was blue liquid-he was pretending like it was a trade secret or something however it seems to have perked him up a bit, he has been swimming around quite a lot today.

I also have some interpet fin rot and fungus medication and also melafix, however I don't want to put anything else in until I phone the store to find out what it was and how long I have to wait before putting anything else in the tank. But thanks for the advice-I'll keep you posted.


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

the blue stuff he had you put in the water is probably betta fix..( or something on the lines of that.. it's been awhile since my bettas) anyway.. lots of petstores keep them in it to ensure they stay healthy in such small quarters till they're adopted.. this will probably fix your problem.. if it does.. you know it was water quality and bettas especially need supurb water because they are so prone to diseases.. always keep your water quality at it's best... if you dont already have some.. i seguest you get some stress coat.. this helps your fish maintain it's slime coating.. which is like skin for them.. this will keep them from getting sick to begin with.. hope your betta pulls through alright


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

alliecat420 said:


> the blue stuff he had you put in the water is probably betta fix..( or something on the lines of that.. it's been awhile since my bettas) anyway.. lots of petstores keep them in it to ensure they stay healthy in such small quarters till they're adopted.. this will probably fix your problem.. if it does.. you know it was water quality and bettas especially need supurb water because they are so prone to diseases.. always keep your water quality at it's best... if you dont already have some.. i seguest you get some stress coat.. this helps your fish maintain it's slime coating.. which is like skin for them.. this will keep them from getting sick to begin with.. hope your betta pulls through alright


Thanks, I think he is looking a bit better than a few days ago. I am keeping on top of the water quality too, just hope its enough. He hasn't eaten in about 4 days though-he has always been a picky eater and will only occasionally eat a frozen bloodworm or two.


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## BlueMaxx (Jan 10, 2006)

he has clamped fin...very hard to recover from. you messing with the tank so much is stressing him out. update us on him please.
Also here is a bit of info for you...

Bettas will go into a clamped fin position for a couple of reasons: 

sickness. A sick betta may have clamped fins. This is especially true when the betta has velvet or other external parasites. This is also often true with bacterial outbreaks, but not always the case. Hence some sick fish may not exhibit clamped fins. Poor water quality or untreated tap water will cause bettas to clamp their fins. So check your water parameters and make sure they are OK!

fear. When being manipulated (netted, water changes, released in a new tank) bettas will clamp their fins temporarily. My feeling is that the manipulation makes them nervous and when bettas feel nervous their reaction is to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible. By clamping their fins, bettas look smaller and in a hostile environment, being smaller always works in your favor, because you are harder to spot, and may go unnoticed (hence not get eaten by a predator). 

Now if your betta has clamped fins AND is not eating, it is a sign that he is sick. Please see my disease page to try to determine what may be wrong with him. If he acts normal and just does not eat a lot from time to time I wouldn't worry too much about it. Some vitamins may be good for him, I recommend Vitamix by Aquatronics.

http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm
http://www.bettatalk.com/medication.htm


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

Hey guys.

Sorry it has been so long since an update - these past few weeks have been a little mad with work.

Thanks for all the help/advice you have given me, I'm pleased to report that my Betta is tons better now. I think whatever the blue liquid was the store gave me helped, I've made sure to do water changes often to keep the water as perfect as possible and he seems fine now - he even built his first bubble nest. He's swimming around more now than when I first got him and is eating ok. He is being picky and will only eat frozen bloodworm every other day but its more than he's ever eaten before.

I will try to post some pics soon.

Thanks again.

P.S I've also moved the frog into their own tank-since the Betta has improved he has been harassing it a bit and it had taken to hiding down the side of the filter.


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