Betta having trouble staying upright?

[Miranda Marie]

Tank parameters:

pH: between 7.2 and 7.8

Nitrates: 0 ppms

Nitrite 0 ppms.

Ammonia 0 ppms

KH/Buffer: 80 ppms

Water Temperature: 78

Size: 7 gallons

How long it's been set up: 2 years.

Filter: Aquarium Co-Op sponge filter

 

Hello, everyone! I'd really like some help. My betta fish, Romi, suddenly seems to be doing poorly and I'm not sure why. The last week or so, she's been unsteady when she swims (keeps almost "tipping over" as she moves). She's a galaxy koi betta and has always swam very well until now. She's about a year old. Her finns also seem to be getting a little raggedy on the edges, which hasn't been the case before, and she seems a little... "thin" to me? I can't tell if anything is wrong with her coloring because she's so blotchy in color (reds and blues and whites and orange).

Her only tankmates are a nerite snail and a single lucky dream blue neocardina shrimp who she somehow hasn't killed. They've been in there longer than she has.

I'm not sure what to do to help her, because I can't see any obvious signs of illness. No white specks, nothing that looks like parasites, no stringy poop. She is still excited to eat, but she also seems to be having trouble seeing the food unless I drop it right in front of her face (she'll be begging at the corner but it starts floating away and she thinks there's none there).

Her food is the nano extreme stuff.

Should I just increase water changes and watch her? Does this sound like an illness anyone can give me pointers on? I don't want to make things worse by medicating when I can't tell what's wrong.

Thanks!

Edited July 11, 2023 by Miranda Marie

[FrozenFins]

The raggedy fins seems like finrot to me. Finrot is a bacterial infection thats quite common to bettas. Id suggest an antibiotic such as API Melafix to fight that. Follow the dosing instructions on the back of the bottle. Its worked wonders for me. Could you send us a picture of your betta?

Here is a picture of one of my past bettas named Hugo. He dealt with finrot for the majority of his life. I fought the first infection with Melafix, but the infection came back a year later and nothing seemed to work... he eventually died because of finrot.  

The picture shows finrot in its late stages.

This was what very beginning stages looked like:

You can see the small tears and nothces in the beginnings of his long flowy fins. 

Edited July 12, 2023 by FrozenFins