I messed up, now my betta is in trouble

[GisheryGoodness]

Im.so upset with myself last Wednesday, my WC day my 6.5 betta tank heater didn't get plugged back in all the way or somehow got knocked out of the plug-in and I didn't notice until Friday because Gabriel,my betta, was lethargic. The temp got down to at least 72, idk if it was lower that's just what it was when I noticed it. He seemed to recover okay, or so I thought. He was swimming around happily, jumping a bit when greeting me at the top and eating fine. This Wednesday I noticed fraying on his fins. I tested the water immediately and everything was normal so I did a small WC to not stress him out. Tested the water again a few hours later with same parameters. Yesterday I noticed it seemed so much worse. I feel like maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention because it looks so bad. It couldn't get that bad in one day, I had to of just not noticed. I still tested and it was normal,  I did see that he seemed a little bloated and was lethargic, laying on the bottom only swimming around periodically. I added aquarium salt and turned the light off. It seemed to help some, he swam around more and wasn't just staying at the bottom. I feel like today he looks even worse and is again mostly staying at the bottom. He'll come to greet me if I get near the tank and is still swimming around occasionally but I'm so worried I'm going to lose him. I'm guessing it's fin rot so should I just go ahead and medicate on top of the salt or wait and see how it does. Also does it kinda looks like his mouth is stuck open or something? I feel so awful and near tears like because of the heater being off and then I wasn't paying enough attention now he's super sick and it's all my fault.

Oh and the testing today the ph and gh are high, did the salt cause that? And should I do something about it?

Parameters 

Ammonia  - 0

NitrIte - 0

NitrAte - 10

Ph 8.2 Yesterday/normal 7.6 😕

Gh - 8 Yesterday/normal 6

kh - 6

Water temp 79

i have a Indian almond leaf floating in the tank as well. 

I've included a picture of all the foods I have but he has refused to eat all of them except the betta pellets, this was before he became ill, I haven't fed him since Wed since he was looking a little bloated. 

side note there isn't stuff floating in the tank, the outside of the tank has stuff on it that won't come off. 

 

[Mike]

Sorry about your betta! Having a sick pet can be emotionally taxing. FWIW I highly doubt letting the tank drop to 72 degrees had anything to do with their poor health. So I wouldn't let that thought run rampant.

As for treatment, I recently treated a betta of mine for fin rot by making medicated food and feeding it to him directly via a small dropper. I find this to be far more effective than just dumping the antibiotics into the tank. As for making the medicated food, I use a Repashy gel to make up a couple tablespoons worth of food or so (it's a very small amount). I let it cool slightly, mix in a few pinches of erythromycin, and then set it in my fridge. I feed this to the fish daily for the next two weeks. This is how I deliver all internal fish medications, and my success rates for treatment have skyrocketed ever since starting to do it this way.

Best of luck to you and your betta, I hope it works out!

[Flumpweesel]

Can't offer much help with the medication but I'll second @Mike that temp drop won't have been the cause, they like it warmer but they can handle a bit a drop and it doesn't sound like it got crazy cold.

So don't beat yourself up just focus on keeping that water tip top clean to help the little guy get better.

 

[GisheryGoodness]

On 8/26/2022 at 5:12 PM, Mike said:

Sorry about your betta! Having a sick pet can be emotionally taxing. FWIW I highly doubt letting the tank drop to 72 degrees had anything to do with their poor health. So I wouldn't let that thought run rampant.

As for treatment, I recently treated a betta of mine for fin rot by making medicated food and feeding it to him directly via a small dropper. I find this to be far more effective than just dumping the antibiotics into the tank. As for making the medicated food, I use a Repashy gel to make up a couple tablespoons worth of food or so (it's a very small amount). I let it cool slightly, mix in a few pinches of erythromycin, and then set it in my fridge. I feed this to the fish daily for the next two weeks. This is how I deliver all internal fish medications, and my success rates for treatment have skyrocketed ever since starting to do it this way.

Best of luck to you and your betta, I hope it works out!

I have Kanaplex on hand would that work or do I need something different? I don't have any Repashy either but have some food I think it would mix well in or if theres something better med wise I can try amd get it. 

Water parameters are still holding good today the ph is back to its normal 7.6, not sure why it skyrocketed to 8.2 yesterday especially with a good kh but I'll keep a close eye on it. 

Anything else I can do idk if the salt has done any good in not he's still mostly staying at the bottom but greeting me anytime I come near. I'm so scared of losing him. He's kinda my favorite... don't tell the others. 

[Mike]

Kanaplex should work since it’s a broad spectrum antibiotic. You don’t need repashy specifically, it’s just what I use because I find it easy to mix in. You may just need to make due with what you have for now. The goal is to make a paste like food that can easily hold the medication. I like to feed mine to the fish using a small one mil dropper (pipette). 

[GisheryGoodness]

How long should it be before his fins start looking better? It's been a crazy experiment of trying/mushing different foods that I have with the meds to get him to take it. I finally have gotten him to take a bit of Hikari spirula bribe shrimp paste but he won't eat much of it. He won't eat anything if it's bigger than a small pellet. He's always been this way even before he got sick, idk why so maybe he's not getting enough meds this way? He's much more active, still stays at the bottom some but not much, definitely not to the same level he used to be but his fins look worse not better. Should I just try and add the kanaplex to the water instead? Also I still don't know what originally caused this unless there was a random spike of ammonia ect that disappeared in a week span because that's how often I was testing. I test daily right now. 

[Flumpweesel]

Keep the water as clean as you can to melt it easier for him to heal.

Think of it like a burn, you have to stop the problem then keep it clean while the new skin grows and the dead skin falls away. That's very similar to what you fish needs to do. It's not quick but you help by keeping the tank is water nice. If he's eating just carry on.

I can't give any advice on meds but I'm sure someone will

[BAT]

@colu has a recipe to put mix kanaplex with food. I have attached the image.i agree @GisheryGoodnessvery unlikely to have been the heater. I don’t think this was your fault. I also have had good luck with aquarium salt. Aquarium coop has good salt directions https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish?_pos=1&_sid=dcc5936ed&_ss=r

I have found it makes the antibiotics even more effective. I now keep aquarium salt in my 10g betta tank at all times. I have no plants in it. Good luck!

[MommaOlenik]

How is he doing? I just went to the fish store to get the stuff y’all suggested because my fish is having similar symptoms  after some recent issues with my nitrogen filter. Anyway, I ended up having a 15 minute badgering session where the employees argued with me for wanting to feed my betta the kanaplex. They said fin rot is an external/cosmetic issue and needs to be treated externally by treating the tank. When I told them I didn’t want to do that after the recent nightmare I had when I crashed my good bacteria they laughed at me and said kanaplex won’t kill my bacteria. They also said that Focus was only for some other kind of meds and wouldn’t work with the kanaplex. So I’m just curious if this method is working for you. I hope your little guy is feeling better. He is beautiful!

Edited September 9, 2022 by MommaOlenik

[GisheryGoodness]

On 9/9/2022 at 4:33 PM, MommaOlenik said:

How is he doing? I just went to the fish store to get the stuff y’all suggested because my fish is having similar symptoms  after some recent issues with my nitrogen filter. Anyway, I ended up having a 15 minute badgering session where the employees argued with me for wanting to feed my betta the kanaplex. They said fin rot is an external/cosmetic issue and needs to be treated externally by treating the tank. When I told them I didn’t want to do that after the recent nightmare I had when I crashed my good bacteria they laughed at me and said kanaplex won’t kill my bacteria. They also said that Focus was only for some other kind of meds and wouldn’t work with the kanaplex. So I’m just curious if this method is working for you. I hope your little guy is feeling better. He is beautiful!

He's definitely feeling better, I haven't noticed new growth yet but it hasn't gotten worse either. He literally took food out of my hand the other day, scared me half to death, lol. But I think this route is a very trusted way of doing things. Many here have had luck with treating internally better than just in the water column. Sometimes pet store employees mean well but aren't always the most educated. 

[MommaOlenik]

On 9/9/2022 at 8:00 PM, GisheryGoodness said:

He's definitely feeling better, I haven't noticed new growth yet but it hasn't gotten worse either. He literally took food out of my hand the other day, scared me half to death, lol. But I think this route is a very trusted way of doing things. Many here have had luck with treating internally better than just in the water column. Sometimes pet store employees mean well but aren't always the most educated. 

Oh good I’m so glad he is feeling better. I started giving mine that mixture yesterday so no improvement yet. But he is still eating well. He just has lost about half of his fins since what I thought was fin growth was actually the fin turning white before falling off 😢 How many times a day are you feeding?

Edited September 10, 2022 by MommaOlenik

[GisheryGoodness]

On 9/10/2022 at 1:53 PM, MommaOlenik said:

Oh good I’m so glad he is feeling better. I started giving mine that mixture yesterday so no improvement yet. But he is still eating well. He just has lost about half of his fins since what I thought was fin growth was actually the fin turning white before falling off 😢 How many times a day are you feeding?

Mine has also lost half his fin, it's very disconcerting to see isnt it. I'm just feeding once a day. That seems to work for all of mine, except the gluttonous platy tank, thinking about going to every other day or something with them, lol. 

[MommaOlenik]

On 9/10/2022 at 8:43 PM, GisheryGoodness said:

Mine has also lost half his fin, it's very disconcerting to see isnt it. I'm just feeding once a day. That seems to work for all of mine, except the gluttonous platy tank, thinking about going to every other day or something with them, lol. 

It is? I think mine is doing well. At least doesn’t seem to be getting worse 🫣 How is yours?

[GisheryGoodness]

On 9/16/2022 at 7:43 PM, MommaOlenik said:

It is? I think mine is doing well. At least doesn’t seem to be getting worse 🫣 How is yours?

Seems to be doing alright, fairly active at least, no further loss, still haven't seen any regrowth but I'm just keeping a close eye on him and keeping the water clean. Glad yours seems to be doing alright as well

[MommaOlenik]

On 9/17/2022 at 12:09 PM, GisheryGoodness said:

Seems to be doing alright, fairly active at least, no further loss, still haven't seen any regrowth but I'm just keeping a close eye on him and keeping the water clean. Glad yours seems to be doing alright as well

I don’t know that mine is. I’ve been giving it to him for a little over a week now and I think he is still losing fun. Maybe not as fast but it’s so hard to tell. He’s still eating and everything just lost over half his tail. 😢

[GisheryGoodness]

It is very hard to tell mine has definitely lost half of his beautiful tail but I think it has finally stopped, still not seeing regrowth though. Id just keep up what you're doing, keeping the water clean as you can. I'd say if he's eating at least that's a good sign. I'm not super experienced though. 

[MommaOlenik]

On 9/23/2022 at 10:19 AM, GisheryGoodness said:

It is very hard to tell mine has definitely lost half of his beautiful tail but I think it has finally stopped, still not seeing regrowth though. Id just keep up what you're doing, keeping the water clean as you can. I'd say if he's eating at least that's a good sign. I'm not super experienced though. 

I ended up feeding him the kanaplex Mix for two and a half weeks skipping about three feedings total here and there to not overload but wasn’t seeing much progress fin-wise. I stopped after that and just waited to see what happened and his energy level was about back to normal. Anyway… we have fin growth and bubble blowing!!! It worked! He’s even starting to get some blue back on his face ☺️How is your little guy doing?

Edited October 22, 2022 by MommaOlenik

[GisheryGoodness]

On 10/21/2022 at 10:16 PM, MommaOlenik said:

I ended up feeding him the kanaplex Mix for two and a half weeks skipping about three feedings total here and there to not overload but wasn’t seeing much progress fin-wise. I stopped after that and just waited to see what happened and his energy level was about back to normal. Anyway… we have fin growth and bubble blowing!!! It worked! He’s even starting to get some blue back on his face ☺️How is your little guy doing?

L

 

Sorry for the late reply, life has been crazy busy lately. My little Gabriel seems to be doing quite well, his tail isn't fully grown back but it's getting there I think. He's a happy boy, swimming to greet me and trying to launch out amd grab food out of my hand and dinner time, lol. He's quite the character.