Fish is not healthy and tail is shredding

[Dmc]

My fish does not look healthy and his tail is shredding.  He is in a five gallon tank that is heated with a sponge filter.  I feed him brine shrimp and pellets on different days.  He is two weeks old.  There are no plastic ornaments in his tank.  I use the api test and water test at 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate.  He eats well and swims well. What do I need to do to help him?  He had a really big flowing tail 

Edited January 28, 2022 by Dmc

[quikv6]

A little salt and good, clean water with a stress free environment usually does the trick for minor fin rot. Make sure you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite.

[Colu]

On 1/28/2022 at 10:38 AM, quikv6 said:

A little salt and good, clean water with a stress free environment usually does the trick for minor fin rot. Make sure you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite.

I agree I would also add some indian almond leaves as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties to help speed up the healing process

[Dmc]

Do I put the salt in the five gallon or do I put him in a smaller tank and then back to his tank.  Do I do small water changes each day? 

 

[quikv6]

DMC,

1) I would keep him in his tank, and add the salt there (provided you don't have plants), If you do, you could still do salt, but less. In general, I think you should start at 1 TBSP per 5 gallons. That is a very safe, lighter dose.

2) I see you have 0 nitrates. Is this a new tank? Has it been cycled? If not, that can be your problem, and you can be registering ammonia/nitrite. (I know you said it was 0, but don't know how often you test.)

 

 

[Dmc]

Yes it’s a new tank and because it is new I am testing every three days to watch for the ammonia.  It is not a planted tank.  

[quikv6]

Gotcha. To be honest, alot can change in 3 days. You can easily go from 0 ammonia to a dangrous level in that time, considering it's a new tank.

Since you're doing a "fish-in" cycle, I'd have some Seachem Prime on hand to detox any ammonia and nitrite, and keep a closer eye on parameters. If you are experiencing some mild fin rot, the salt will help, but it is most likely a consequence of the fish being exposed to the stress of the cycling process.

[Guppysnail]

If you do not want to go the planted route may I suggest some quick tube plants from a big box. Fast growing plants like hornwort or anacharis are better but I fully understand not wanting to deal with a planted tank. Anubias and Java fern are simple you just drop them in with a plant weight suction cup them to a wall or glue them on decor. Even some slow growers like those will take in ammonia and nitrite. Plant also filter out tons of things that are not great for fish that we don’t test for. The give comfort to fish and the anubias leaves are great resting spots for your betta. With fish in cycling you want to test daily if not twice a day. As mentioned it happens quick. Best of luck. 

[Torrey]

Everyone already covered the basics for your gorgeous boi.

1. Water quality and fish in cycle:

SeaChem Prime is going to be your bettas best friend. It uses salts to bind ammonia and nitrites into a less harmful form, for 48 hours. Dose 2 drops SeaChem Prime per gallon (10 drops for your 5 gallon tank).

1a. Water test, then if any ammonia or nitrites show up on the test

1b. Do the water change to lower ammonia/nitrites (1 to 2 gallons) and add 10 drops of SeaChem Prime to the new water *before* you put the new water in the tank.

1c. Make sure tap water/ new water is same pH and temperature as what is in the tank.

1d. Repeat every 24 to 48 hours.

2. Water temperature. Bettas heal fastest in water that is 80° F to 82° F. They have a labyrinth organ, and need to be able to breathe clean air at the surface of the tank, that is 85° F (or more), and 90% humidity. [So they need a lid]

3. Plants. Betta are used to lots of plants to use as a hammock, to keep water clean, and to hide in.

You can put a cutting of pothos in the tank, or put some floating plants like frogbit, to rapidly decrease the ammonia and nitrites in the water. 

4. Salt and Indian Almond Leaves. Bettas are used to Indian Almond leaves dropping off the trees and into their natural habitat. The IAL provide tannins that the betta depends on for good health. Think of vitamin C for people, that's IAL for bettas. 

Most plants can tolerate up to 1 tablespoon aquarium salt to 5 gallons of water. 

If you add a few Indian Almond leaves and don't see some noticeable improvement in a week, your betta may have come from a breeder overseas who used low amounts  of saltwater to breed the bettas. You can add 1 Tablespoon of *Aquarium salt* to your 5 gallon tank.

Each water change where you take out 2 gallons of water and then replace with 2 gallons of water, add a single *teaspoon* of aquarium  salt to make up for what you took out.

Once he is healed up, stop adding any salt. Each water change will slowly decrease the salt in the tank. 

Congratulations on your wet pet, and welcome to the forum!

[Dmc]

I need more help I have followed your tips and planted the tank did the water changes increased temperature added prime and salt. The fins appear better and are showing some sign of growing back but now he has spots and is not happy.  He is eating but does not swim much now what do I do?

[Torrey]

I'm going to tag @Odd Duck and @Colu to look at the top and bottom pictures here, and see if either can ID what has caused the sores with the missing scales.

Do you have a heater in the tank, and what is his temperature in the tank?

[Dmc]

Yes the temperature is at 82.9.  The white knob is the top of the heater.  I also added a air stone in addition to the sponge filter.  I have it low as not to create a lot of motion

[Minanora]

Coming in just to offer some support. You're doing great. Keep at it. Sometimes illness can be a real booger. Keep fighting the good fight.

[Colu]

Theirs a couple of thing it could be a tumor  viral or bacterial infection either way he's not looking good what I would do is   treat with kanaplex in food and keep adding  the salt and almond leaves  the antibiotic will help provent any secondary infection fight any possible bacterial infection 

[Odd Duck]

On 2/18/2022 at 6:41 AM, Colu said:

Theirs a couple of thing it could be a tumor  viral or bacterial infection either way he's not looking good what I would do is   treat with kanaplex in food and keep adding  the salt and almond leaves  the antibiotic will help provent any secondary infection fight any possible bacterial infection 

@Colu Is exactly right as usual with these recommendations.  Trust this advice.  Be careful not to overuse the Garlic Guard.

 @Dmc I read back through the whole post and noticed you said in your first post that he was 2 weeks old.  He’s clearly much older than that.  Did you mean the tank was 2 weeks old?  I have a couple questions for you:

1. What are your water parameters doing, now?

2. What re the results of your latest test?

3. What day was it done?

4. When in relation to the most recent water change?

5. How much water have you been changing and how often?

Bettas are typically between 6-12 months old when sold as adults (males usually at least 12 months to reach good fin development) and I would guess your boy is at least that and possibly much more.  Bettas on average live between 2-3 years (but can get up to 5 years or more).  Sometimes as geriatrics, they become much more prone to health issues and about 2 years old is where we start to consider them geriatric.  At this age, they become more prone to cancer.  Colu is correct in saying these lumps could be cancer, bacterial, or viral origin as my main rule outs.  Testing could be done by a vet comfortable treating fish, but they unfortunately can be difficult to find and testing can get pricey.  Doing the salt, IAL’s, and Kanaplex/kanamycin in the food is your best bet for what you can do at home.  Remember, pristinely clean water is always vital for any sick fish.

[Greg Stewart]

@Colu... Thanks for posting that medicated feeding recipe. For some reason, I'd never seen Focus before, and I've been trying all sorts of methods to get meds bound to food--mostly unsuccessfully. Gonna try this now 😉

 

[Colu]

On 2/19/2022 at 6:00 PM, Greg Stewart said:

@Colu... Thanks for posting that medicated feeding recipe. For some reason, I'd never seen Focus before, and I've been trying all sorts of methods to get meds bound to food--mostly unsuccessfully. Gonna try this now 😉

 

Seachems focus acts as a binding agent to bind the medication to food I use it with all my medicated foods recipes

[Greg Stewart]

@Colu Yeah, I I didn't realise Seachem made something like that. I've tried unflavoured gelatin, mixing in some repashy as a binder, just soaking food in a bit of water, dusting with meds, and waiting for it to dry... nothing's worked out well so far. Either the fish reject it outright, or it gets too heavy and sicks to the bottom and disappears faster than the fish can grab it.

[Dmc]

I need more help everyone I feel so bad this fish is trying so hard.  His tail is actually making progress at getting better but I have another issue these white things showed up all over my glass.  I have done two complete water changes and threw away all my silk plants.  I left the real plants.  I added some

floating plants and these showed up.  The spots on his head are not going away.  What is next?  I could not find the focus in the stores and I tried mixing the kanaplex with shrimp I am not sure he ate any so I added it to his water for two treatments.   I now have the focus I ordered it online

Edited February 26, 2022 by Dmc

[BAT]

What kind of floating plants did you get?

[Dmc]

I honestly don’t know they looked like small lily pads. I have removed them and have thrown them away.  Do you know what these are and are they hurting the fish?

Edited February 26, 2022 by Dmc

[Colu]

They look like detritus worm's nothing to worry about just do more gravel vaccing  to get rid of any leftover food or dead plant matter they feed off as you have focus i would treat with kanaplex in food for 7 days 

[BAT]

@Coluwas it caused by the plants or is that just a red herring?

[Colu]

On 2/27/2022 at 1:59 AM, BAT said:

@Coluwas it caused by the plants or is that just a red herring?

Detritus worm's are caused by over feeding or a buildup of waste in the gravel  

Edited March 7, 2022 by Colu

[Dmc]

I think we are making progress his fins are growing back I finished feeding him as you instructed and I am keeping his water clean with frequent small water changes.  I have not been replacing the salt when im doing the changes.  He is still not well.  I have not fed him since Saturday since I was away.  His stomach looks bloated to me.  I just fed him a small amount of daphnia from hikari the bio encapsulated kind.  What is next? I am including the water this time ignore the spots that is just water spots on the glass.  I am sorry to keep asking but I really want to do everything I can for him water order from the left is nitrite ammonia nitrate

Edited March 7, 2022 by Dmc