Advice needed for Betta..possible euthanasia advice!

[Odd Duck]

The pothos should be fine with this amount of salt.  They’re tough plants.  Water will tend to be warmer up top, but not likely to be a big difference in this size tank from top to bottom.  I think 83-84 range would be completely fine for him, but 82 is sufficient.  Steady temp would be more important than the actual number as long as he’s at least at 80 and I like 82 a bit better for him for now.  The spot definitely looks better for him without the pink streaking.  I’m glad he ate the medicated food well.  Keep up with the salt and tannins like discussed and keep us posted.  He does seem to be headed in the right direction overall.  I’m a little worried about how thick the skin looks around the affected area.  There’s an outside chance he could have a tumor at that spot that is causing the thickness and the sloughing of the fin bits.  I’d like to,see regrowth and I’m not really seeing it the way I’d like to.  Usually they’re will regrow at nearly a mm per day once the infection is cleared and no pink should mean infection is in the clearing stages.  I’m a bit worried there’s something else factoring in and complicating things.  Infection could still be the cause of the thickening, so don’t get too worried yet.  But I’m really hoping to see more progress on regrowth soon.

[A Moore]

On 7/1/2022 at 7:26 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

looks better from when you initially posted. He is headed in the right direction

You are so right! I get focused on the moment and forget how far he’s come in just a short while. 🥰 Thank you for redirecting my perspective 😊

[A Moore]

On 7/2/2022 at 6:44 AM, Odd Duck said:

Keep up with the salt and tannins like discussed and keep us posted.  He does seem to be headed in the right direction overall

Will do!! Thank you! 
 

On 7/2/2022 at 6:44 AM, Odd Duck said:

Infection could still be the cause of the thickening, so don’t get too worried yet.

Hoping this to be the case. When he turns as he’s swimming it almost looks painful. He has fast this jerking motion and gets tired and has to rest. 

[Odd Duck]

On 7/2/2022 at 7:46 AM, A Moore said:

Hoping this to be the case. When he turns as he’s swimming it almost looks painful. He has fast this jerking motion and gets tired and has to rest. 

I imagine that would be tender.  I don’t know of a good way to treat pain in such a small fish without having access to drugs that aren’t available over the counter.  Even with that, you’d have to do considerable dilutions.  Although, you might be able to take the tiniest dab of clove oil and apply to the lesion if he seems exceptionally painful, but I don’t think it would last long enough to be worth the stress to him of catching him and dabbing it on.

 This does bring to mind the possibility of dabbing a tiny dot of Betadyne directly on the wound, though.  This could interfere with visually assessing for redness.  But it could help clean up this wound and speed healing.  Do you happen to have any Betadyne solution (not scrub) for treating wounds?  Netting him and lifting him out of the water, then applying a tiny smear of Betadyne would likely be worth trying once just to see what happens with the wound.  That can sometimes go a long ways towards healing a wound.  A quick swirl with a cotton tipped swab (Q-tip) dipped in Betadyne solution and rubbed very gently all over and a little bit around the wound could help tip the balance in his favor.

[A Moore]

On 7/2/2022 at 7:55 AM, Odd Duck said:

Do you happen to have any Betadyne solution (not scrub) for treating wounds?

No never heard of it but looking it up now. I’m willing to try for sure! 
He hasn’t moved from the log since yesterday morning. 

[Goldie Blue]

Poor guy, he just looks so tired. I know it's hard to get caught up in the moment, and since we see our fish everyday and are looking so hard for signs of improvement it's sometimes hard to see if they are or if you're imagining it! I think he looks better than the pics from last week though. I imagine that Pinky will take a while to bounce back. This is super stressful, I am still waiting for things to go south again with Goldie Blue (thankfully they haven't) but he still looks beat up and his tail will take a while to grow. I like to think they know how much we love them though! I'm here anytime you need to talk/vent. 

[A Moore]

On 7/2/2022 at 11:30 AM, Goldie Blue said:

Poor guy, he just looks so tired. I know it's hard to get caught up in the moment, and since we see our fish everyday and are looking so hard for signs of improvement it's sometimes hard to see if they are or if you're imagining it! I think he looks better than the pics from last week though. I imagine that Pinky will take a while to bounce back. This is super stressful, I am still waiting for things to go south again with Goldie Blue (thankfully they haven't) but he still looks beat up and his tail will take a while to grow. I like to think they know how much we love them though! I'm here anytime you need to talk/vent. 

Thank you! I appreciate those kind words for sure! I’m trying to not overly stress anymore (trying!!!) but your right. Every day I’m all up in the glass half expecting to see tragedy. He actually stayed outside of his floating log all day long (ALL day!), leaning up against it for support. He came down earlier this morning and ate the medicated food. All good signs I think. I haven’t changed the water today but it looks like nice strong tea and the 3 tbsp of salt are no doubt an adjustment for him.  
I’m so glad Goldie Blue is doing well!! That’s awesome news!  You’re also right about expecting it to take time to heal up. It’s good not to overly stress and just trust their healing process and do the best we can. 😅🥲

[Goldie Blue]

On 7/2/2022 at 10:20 PM, A Moore said:

Every day I’m all up in the glass half expecting to see tragedy.

Same! I will take it one step further that I have been having both good dreams where everything is going great, and nightmares where I wake up and he is gone. Not gonna lie, every morning I wake up hoping I won't see him floating.

On 7/2/2022 at 10:20 PM, A Moore said:

He actually stayed outside of his floating log all day long (ALL day!), leaning up against it for support. He came down earlier this morning and ate the medicated food.

I am so excited to hear this! I am cheering Pinky on!

[A Moore]

On 7/3/2022 at 2:36 AM, Goldie Blue said:

good dreams where everything is going great, and nightmares

I’m so sorry 😣  I had a dream not long ago where I was moving my cichlids for some reason .. they were in buckets.. and I couldn’t get the water temperature right, buckets were tipping over, the ground was dry dirt and they all died in the end! Terrible! What’s up with our brains? 😥

 

On 7/3/2022 at 2:36 AM, Goldie Blue said:

Not gonna lie, every morning I wake up hoping I won't see him floating

Worst case scenario for sure! I love how you love your animals though and appreciate all those who care so much and love these little amazing creations! It’s amazing how they get to us looking so beautiful to begin with. Thank you for the cheering for Pinky!! It’s helps a lot!! Here he is in his prime ..

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/3/2022 at 9:29 AM, A Moore said:

I had a dream not long ago where I was moving my cichlids for some reason .. they were in buckets..

I had a dream where I was moving fish too!  I remember making sure they had the battery operated air pump and stuff. I don’t know what happened after that, I think the dream changed and I was somewhere else completely. 🤷🏻‍♀️
 

Pinky is such a pretty fish.

[A Moore]

On 7/3/2022 at 9:06 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Pinky is such a pretty fish.

Thank you .. I honestly don’t think I’ve seen an ugly betta 😍

[A Moore]

Not looking so good here. The wound area that looked “thick” seems like it ruptured. Tissue is coming out and appears to be gray.  Pinky is laying on the floating log. Here are pictures. 
 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Hang in there, Pinky! @Colu do you have any ideas?

[A Moore]

I ordered Betadyne but it came in with the seal broken and spilled out everywhere in the delivery packaging. I didn’t use it. I went to two places yesterday and couldn’t find just that type of medication without other additives.. I will be out today most of the day but will see what I can locate if you think this is still what he needs. Maybe getting the infection out is what needed to happen and the salt drew it out .. hoping 

[Colu]

It a difficult one at this point as the lump appears to have ruptured it could have been an abscess or possible tumor has ruptured  all you can do is supportive care keep giving him the antibiotic treatment to help provent secondary infection and you add some stress coat to help the wound and add some aquarium salt and monitor him 

Edited July 5, 2022 by Colu

[A Moore]

Okay so the antibiotic in his food still? He didn’t eat yesterday. Should I dose the tank or increase the salt from 3 tbsp in 9 gallons?

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Check this out @A Moore:

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish

[Colu]

On 7/5/2022 at 5:45 PM, A Moore said:

Okay so the antibiotic in his food still? He didn’t eat yesterday. Should I dose the tank or increase the salt from 3 tbsp in 9 gallons?

If he's not eating I would dose the tank 

[Odd Duck]

On 7/5/2022 at 8:34 AM, A Moore said:

Not looking so good here. The wound area that looked “thick” seems like it ruptured. Tissue is coming out and appears to be gray.  Pinky is laying on the floating log. Here are pictures. 
 

Oh, no!  I’ve been getting worried that it was a mass and that’s why it was so thick and wasn’t healing like expected despite looking less red.  This is making me even more suspicious for that.  Unfortunately there isn’t much that can be done for a mass other than try to keep him as comfortable as possible until he isn’t any more.  If he won’t eat there’s not much more that you can do to keep him comfortable if it’s a mass.  Try the Kanaplex in the water and see what he does.

[A Moore]

Okay .. I will be home soon and try KanaPlex in the water. Will try to see if he eats and see how it goes. 😥 I have never euthanized a fish before but reading the benefits for his sake. He is exhausted, and can’t really move his tail when he tries to swim. He moves in short bursts of energy although I haven’t seen him move today after the mass ruptured. I haven’t been home to watch though. Will keep everyone posted and again appreciate all the help! 

[A Moore]

Yesterday I siphoned out some of the waste and added fresh water with KanaPlex and Stress Coat.  Tested for ammonia and nitrates (both at 0).  Pinky wanted to go after his Repashy and  launched forward couldn’t get himself turned around and stopped. 😞He was lying on the heater guard for a while until he slid down and now he’s just occasionally scooting around the bottom. The wound seems better than yesterday because it appears to be closed. I don’t see matter coming out. Is it cruel to keep waiting and watching? 

[Goldie Blue]

On 7/6/2022 at 3:45 PM, A Moore said:

Pinky wanted to go after his Repashy and  launched forward couldn’t get himself turned around and stopped

Do you feed him by dropping food in? Have you ever tried feeding him with a pipette? That is how I feed my brine shrimp to Goldie Blue, he takes the food right from the pipette. Maybe you could help him eat that way if you have not tried. 

I am so sorry to hear he isn't really moving in the right direction. These pics made me tear up. I hate that you're in this position, possibly having to make a heartbreaking choice 😞 

[A Moore]

Thank you. I may try the pipette tomorrow. I do drop the Repashy right next to him as close as possible. We will see what tomorrow brings… 🥺 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/6/2022 at 4:45 PM, A Moore said:

Is it cruel to keep waiting and watching? 

I don’t believe so. You’re the nurse monitoring the health of the patient in the hospital. None of us know what is truly going on with his condition and we are all trying to learn as you care for him and love him.

[A Moore]

Thank you for that. This morning he is worse. It’s time. I appreciate so much help and support! I don’t feel right about his suffering. I’m surprised he made it through the night.  💔 If I didn’t have other fish I would be so discouraged. These little guys are so beautiful but makes me want to search outside of big box stores.