Betta dying or other mystery illness?

[Yambino]

Hello all,

I am looking for some help with my Betta fish who is not doing well and my attempts to treat have not really worked so far.

 

When discovered: Friday 20th Sept

Fish age: Between 1 - 2 years old

Symptoms:

• Not moving around a whole lot
• Struggling to get to surface without exerting itself
• It will sink to the bottom of the tank when not trying to move
• Clamped fins
• Barely moving gills

Observations:

When this first was noticed the Betta was lying on top of my internal filter and looked to be resting, during feeding it would absolutely try to go for the food but would seem to struggle to catch falling pellets and like some of the pellets the fish too would sink to the bottom. There is not obvious signs of fin rot, ich or bloating (to indicate swim bladder issues). The betta looks on the thin side.

 

• pH = 7.8
• Nitrates = 0
• Hardness =unknown
• Nitrite = 0 - 0.5 ppm
• Ammonia = 0
• KH/Buffer = unknown
• Water Temperature = 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit)

Troubleshooting efforts:

• Reduced feeding
• Water change (2 * 5Litre bottles of store bought water with a PH 7.3
• Removed Algae
• Bought new food
• Put API Melafix and API Pimafix into the main aquarium and treated aquarium for 5 days
• Bought a hospital tank 10 L (clear plastic container from local shop)
• Used a sponge filter putting it into main aquarium for night to gain some bacteria overnight
• Bought 2 more bottles of 5L water and put that into hospital tank along side secondary heater set at 25 degree celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Put API water treatment to de-clorinate water into the hospital tank
• Put tonic salt into hospital tank( 1 tablespoon as recommended)
• Moved Betta fish into hospital tank yesterday (it seemed very lively when being moved in the net) but immediately rested at bottom and didn't really move
• Observed Betta over course of night, the fish is alive but remains at the bottom of the tank and requires close inspection to see that it has moved around over course of the night or its gills are moving

I have been feeding the fish with nothing but Hikari Tropical Micro pellets since I got the fish since the Betta seemed disinterested in the bloodworms. Unfortunately it seems that the Hikari food had gone off several weeks ago without realizing it so I initially thought that maybe this is not a swimbladder disease but food related so I quickly ran off and bought more and bought additional food types.

After 1 night in a hospital tank with Tonic salts it still does not seem to be moving around an awful lot and I am concerned about leaving a betta fish in salt water for long periods of time.

Can anyone offer me advice:

Should I increase the salt dosage to 2 tablespoons?

Should I leave Betta in hospital aquarium as is for another X number of days?

Should I include API Pimafix / Melafix to the salt treatment or just keep it at Tonic salts?

 

Just as a note: The hospital tank does not have any rocks, plants (would die anyways due to salt) or hiding places but the tank is kept out of most lights to avoid stressing fish out more

Additional note: The sponge filter I am using is barely submerged, it is on but the top part of the sponge filter is not submerged I am concerned if I turned the sponge filter on its side it would agitate the water too much and cause additional stress to the fish.

Thanks in advance

[Tony s]

sorry, this is going to be long.
 

What kind of salt is tonic salt? You really only want aquarium salt or marine salt. Things that have been specifically designed for aquarium use. Other kinds of salt can have additives. 
 

any nitrites at all can cause you problems. Water changes are in order when you see any. Then I would use Seachem prime to dechlorinate. It has the added benefit of turning nitrites and ammonia nontoxic for a few days. 
 

why are you not using your own water? Buying water is expensive and not usually worth it. If you have hard water, the betta will do just fine in it. Consistency is the key. Every water change the same is best. 

 

pimafix and melafix are not meds. More like herbal tea soaks. For broad spectrum medicine, you want either kanaplex or maracyn2 if you can get them. Kanaplex is not shrimp, snail, or plant safe. In a quarantine tank it’d be fine. 
 

and then age and genetics. All bettas are older than you think. They won’t sell them until they color up. Which can be close to a year. So a 2 year old betta for you is probably at least 3 years old. 3-5 years being the lifespan of a betta. The next thing, bettas right now don’t live as long as they should. All the line breeding for color has made them weak
 

 

[Yambino]

 

On 10/2/2024 at 12:08 PM, Tony s said:

sorry, this is going to be long.
 

What kind of salt is tonic salt? You really only want aquarium salt or marine salt. Things that have been specifically designed for aquarium use. Other kinds of salt can have additives. 
 

any nitrites at all can cause you problems. Water changes are in order when you see any. Then I would use Seachem prime to dechlorinate. It has the added benefit of turning nitrites and ammonia nontoxic for a few days. 
 

why are you not using your own water? Buying water is expensive and not usually worth it. If you have hard water, the betta will do just fine in it. Consistency is the key. Every water change the same is best. 

 

pimafix and melafix are not meds. More like herbal tea soaks. For broad spectrum medicine, you want either kanaplex or maracyn2 if you can get them. Kanaplex is not shrimp, snail, or plant safe. In a quarantine tank it’d be fine. 
 

and then age and genetics. All bettas are older than you think. They won’t sell them until they color up. Which can be close to a year. So a 2 year old betta for you is probably at least 3 years old. 3-5 years being the lifespan of a betta. The next thing, bettas right now don’t live as long as they should. All the line breeding for color has made them weak
 

 

Hi Tony,

 

Thanks for your reply back, the tonic salt is a fresh water aquarium salt.

In regards to the mentioned products,  kanaplex or maracyn2 I don't believe they are sold in Europe and certainly not in any of the local pet shops where I live as I have checked recently and in the past.

 

Relating to your query about water. I have ember Tetras in the aquarium and I found that my own tap water has a higher PH, combined with the rocks in the aquarium the PH gets a bit too high for what it should be, I found that the bottles of water had a lower PH and went for that.

[Tony s]

Great. That covers the questions nicely. Now we can ask @Colu for euro meds

[Colu]

Sera bactopur direct tablets active ingredient is nifurpirinol a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment should be ready available of Amazon eBay or local petrol shops 

[Yambino]

On 10/2/2024 at 1:29 PM, Colu said:

Sera bactopur direct tablets active ingredient is nifurpirinol a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment should be ready available of Amazon eBay or local petrol shops 

Thanks, i will check to see if this is sold locally. So far i've found no suppliers selling tablet form and none locally selling this particular Sera product online beyond amazon. I will check locally if they have it or can get it in store if needed

[Colu]

On 10/2/2024 at 2:55 PM, Yambino said:

Thanks, i will check to see if this is sold locally. So far i've found no suppliers selling tablet form and none locally selling this particular Sera product online beyond amazon. I will check locally if they have it or can get it in store if needed

If you can't get Sera I would use Esha 2000 and a higher level of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 1 if he gets worse

[Yambino]

On 10/2/2024 at 4:14 PM, Colu said:

If you can't get Sera I would use Esha 2000 and a higher level of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 1 if he gets worse

Thanks Colu, will certainly give this a try