Gideyon Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 I was shocked to see my betta tonight like this. He wasn't like this last night. Is it bloat or is it early stages of pineconing? Unfortunately I only noticed this after I dropped the food in. I'll be fasting him for a few days at least. Anything else I should do? Things I have at my disposal are IAL, stress guard, prime, and very old aquarium salt which I've never used with this fish. Temp is about 78. I'm going to try to raise it to 80. PH is 7-7.2 Ammonia is about 0.002ppm Nitrite is 0 Nitrate is hard for me to tell. 5 to 20ppm. I'm not good with colors. KH 40 Gh 180 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Oh crap, that looks like pineconing my friend. GTS and start treating ASAP. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 I really hope it isn't what I think it is, I'm not sure he needs to fast if it is, might help him to take food if he's willing. You can try feeding him a pea if it is bloat, but raised scales in my experience is a bad bad sign in Bettas. I regret delaying the treatment for mine when I thought at first he was just constipated, so I'm betting you could try doing both. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 (edited) That looks like dropsy with the pineconeing of the scales I would treat with salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons and kanaplex the salt will help reduce the fluid buildup Edited July 16, 2021 by Colu 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted July 16, 2021 Author Share Posted July 16, 2021 (edited) Not sure if he's the same or worse. He's still active. Edit: ordered kanaplex. Will get it tomorrow. I'll be doing a 50% water change in the afternoon and then add the salt. Add a new IAL incase the old one is too old. Not sure what caused this. So I'll try to make things as clean/new as possible without harming beneficial bacteria. I can only do any tank maintenance when when my kid is napping. So any feedback until then would be helpful. Edited July 16, 2021 by Gideyon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted July 16, 2021 Author Share Posted July 16, 2021 The last water change I did (maybe 2 weeks ago) was a bit stressful for him because he kept getting in the way. I made a possible bad decision and put it stress guard after that change. I've never used it before. Could that have any adverse effects on fish? It seemed harmless. Just trying to figure out possible causes. Other things I wonder about : biofilm, old IAL, sulfate build up in substrate, some foreign substance being introduced unknowingly, something growing in the sponge I keep behind the HOB. He likes to sleep right next to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoCinWB Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 I'm in a similar boat with my betta girl. We've been working to pull her through since Tuesday, I also cannot tell if she looks better or worse. I've used Stress Guard without any problems. I'm a fan of Seachem products in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Increase water changes keep a close eye on water parameters I would not feed for a couple of days to provent ammonia spikes during treatment 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted July 16, 2021 Author Share Posted July 16, 2021 On 7/16/2021 at 6:46 AM, Colu said: 1 table spoon for 2 gallons Are you suggesting this dose for a bath or in the tank? I was thinking 2 tbsp for 10 gallons. Not good enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 I would add 1 table spoon for 2 gallons in the tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 (edited) You could up that gradually to 1 table spoon for 1 gallon over couple days if you see no improvement Edited July 16, 2021 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted July 16, 2021 Author Share Posted July 16, 2021 I'm being overly cautious with the salt. I did a tad over 2 tbsp in a 10 gallon. 50% water change. New IAL. Boiled and put the boiled water in the new water to be added (along with the salt). Threw out the older one, vacuumed the substrate. Replaced the polypad. Increased the temp a little more. He's still active but not as active as he usually is. When I approach the tank he comes up and swims around. But when I leave, instead of hanging out by the heater or HOB, he rests on the gravel. I have an air stone coming in tomorrow to help with oxygenation when treating with kanaplex. Question: @Colu, when you say to increase, is that after a water change, or minus the amount you added? I'll add more tomorrow when I add the kanaplex to the rate you suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 Start by adding 1table spoon for 2 gallons after your Frist course of kanaplex if you see no improvement do a water change increase to 1 table spoon for 1 gallon after each water add 1table spoon for every gallon you add back in to gradually get it up to 1 table spoon per gallon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted July 18, 2021 Author Share Posted July 18, 2021 Do his scales look like it's not so raised anymore? Bloat is still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted July 18, 2021 Author Share Posted July 18, 2021 I added kanaplex for the first time. I expected it to float and then dissolve. It just sank to the bottom. Some I put on flakes for him to possibly ingest. But some 'dots' of the kanaplex stay floating. Should I dissolve before placing it in the tank next time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Yes his scales still look raised kanaplex will desolve it takes a few Minutes you can mix it in jug before putting it in the tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 If you want to treat his food you will need seachems focus it acts as a binding agent to mix with frozen and kanaplex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 I've heard kanaplex can be stressful on the kidneys. After the third dose, how long do I leave it before I remove it? Or has anyone gone beyond 3 doses? I've read that seachem was very conservative with their dosing. My betta hasn't improved much. But he hasn't gotten worse. I put the 3rd dose today. Just not sure how long to wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 48 after the last dose do a water change to remove the meds if you not seeing any improvement it could be caused by a gram positive bacterial infection and kanaplex treats gram negative so I would treat with maracyn what level of salt are you use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 (edited) Does this gray patch on his head narrow down what's happening? His bloat is all gone. Pineconing still happening. Noticed the Grey patch today. He used to have a darker almost blackish smaller patch there. Edited July 27, 2021 by Gideyon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 On 7/22/2021 at 2:15 PM, Colu said: what level of salt are you use I just noticed the last question... Currently I'm at around 5-6 tbsp. I only have 1 maybe 2 tbsps left. I may dump the rest in as a last ditch effort. It doesn't look like he's going to make it. I wasn't able to get maracyn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 I found out through Creative Pet Keeping that this patch is a result of an internal parasite spironucleus. I don't think it caused the bloat and pineconing, but perhaps the stress of being sick brought it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now