Sudden lethargy in Betta Fish

[wmcl22]

Hello! My male Betta Fish that I've had for just over a year went from swimming and eating normally one day, to being very lethargic and not eating the next. I'm not sure what's wrong, whether it's some sort of disease or just old age, although I thought signs of old age would come on slower and not so suddenly. I purchased him from Petco.

I just did a water change and cleaned the tank/filter, but the levels before the water change were:

0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites, 300 hardness, 80 buffer, 6.8 ph, and 0 chlorine.

Typically I haven't had high nitrates in the tank for the year it's been set up, I think because there's a good amount of plants/algae and only one fish.

I have on hand Maracyn, Paracleanse, and Ich-X, and was thinking of using Maracyn and Paracleanse in combination, but wanted to get some opinions from here first.

The only thing different I've noticed about him appearance wise is he seems a little lighter around his head. The colors aren't as vibrant and the silver color below his mouth is stronger. His scales also look like they could be sticking out/pineconing, but I'm not sure if that's a normal appearance or not. I've attached pictures of the tank and the fish.

[Keeg]

He looks like he's showing signs of dropsy in the first pic. If you dont know what that is, it is basically a symptom of usually an internal bacterial infection that causes the internal organs to swell and thus leading to the scales to "pine cone" your fish appears to have very early stages of pine coning, telling me there may be a chance to save him with treatment. You need a good antibiotic such as maracyn. 

[wmcl22]

I have maracyn, I can treat him with it. Would treating using the instructions on the container be good, or is there a different way that I should use? I also have indian almond leaves, would those be any help?

Thank you for the quick response.

[Keeg]

On 5/19/2022 at 10:03 AM, wmcl22 said:

I have maracyn, I can treat him with it. Would treating using the instructions on the container be good, or is there a different way that I should use? I also have indian almond leaves, would those be any help?

Thank you for the quick response.

Im in the middle of class so sorry for the delayed response. The instructions should be good. I usually use Indian almond leaves for getting the fish in the mood to breed so I dont know how much help they would be. 

You can also try adding salt, some advocate for them, others say theres no effect. I personally dont find that much of an effect but it doesnt hurt I guess. 

[wmcl22]

On 5/19/2022 at 1:20 PM, Keeg said:

Im in the middle of class so sorry for the delayed response. The instructions should be good. I usually use Indian almond leaves for getting the fish in the mood to breed so I dont know how much help they would be. 

You can also try adding salt, some advocate for them, others say theres no effect. I personally dont find that much of an effect but it doesnt hurt I guess. 

It's okay! That makes sense, thank you! I'll try just treating with maracyn for now. I thought I had heard somewhere that indian almond leaves can be good for healing minor ailments in betta fish. 

[Keeg]

On 5/19/2022 at 10:24 AM, wmcl22 said:

It's okay! That makes sense, thank you! I'll try just treating with maracyn for now. I thought I had heard somewhere that indian almond leaves can be good for healing minor ailments in betta fish. 

There is some truth to that, the leaves leach out a sort of tea that turns the water brown. This makes the water softer, which bettas enjoy and thus allows them to feel better to fight off minor damage or infection with their immune system

[Colu]

The most effective treatment for Dropsy is a combination of Aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 5 gallons that will help reduce the fluid buildup and won't harm your plants at that level an antibiotic in food I use kanaplex you can use maracyn to treat any possible internal bacterial infections and metroplex to treat the water column as it treats aeromonas bacteria a common cause of Dropsy

[wmcl22]

On 5/19/2022 at 1:27 PM, Colu said:

The most effective treatment for Dropsy is a combination of Aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 5 gallons that will help reduce the fluid buildup and won't harm your plants at that level an antibiotic in food I use kanaplex you can use maracyn to treat any possible internal bacterial infections and metroplex to treat the water column as it treats aeromonas bacteria a common cause of Dropsy

I've added the maracyn to the water already, would adding one tablespoon of aquarium salt alongside it be safe?

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 5/19/2022 at 10:36 AM, wmcl22 said:

I've added the maracyn to the water already, would adding one tablespoon of aquarium salt alongside it be safe?

Fish don’t drink the water, the medicine has to be in the food. I like to soak freeze dried blood worms in a pinch of meds in water for food. I’ve done this with flake too but it’s harder because it has to be dried after the soaking. If he eats it might help. I have read that once they pinecone it’s not likely they survive. Good luck  

[Colu]

On 5/19/2022 at 6:36 PM, wmcl22 said:

I've added the maracyn to the water already, would adding one tablespoon of aquarium salt alongside it be safe?

Depending of how big his tank the minimum amount of salt I would add is one table spoon for 5 gallons maracyn added directly to the water column will only treat external infection so it won't be effective at treating the possible internal bacterial infection your fish has 

[BAT]

Yes you can combine salt and meds. In fact I think it can be synergistic because it can affect the salt channels for ion channels that help bacteria survive.