Hugo the Betta | The Betta Tank

[FrozenFins]

@Hobbit Yeah, I replaced the airstone for a sponge filter (figured it does the same thing it just adds some filtration) and then turned off the internal filter because I thought that the flow may be to much for him because he still kind of weak.

I did a waterchange today to remove the salt, I want to plant the plants soon. The Salvania I got has started growing like CRAZY! I moved one leaf over to my community tank, and now theres two leaves! I moved the leaf over a day ago! This will be PERFECT for outdoor tubbing. 

I am also leaving the towel on for the next few days, he seemed a bit stressed (the waterchange probably didn't help with his stress, but I was also starting to test for amonia, so I had to do it regardless)

 

[Anita]

51 minutes ago, Hobbit said:

I’m glad he’s hanging in there. I would give him at least a week, maybe more, before trying anything else on his fins. The stress coat should be fine—though keep the air stone in there because it can make the water thicker and harder to “breathe.” Who knows—maybe the fin rot will start healing in the meantime. Poor little guy. Kudos to you for hanging in there too!

I second this recommendation! 🥰 Come on Hugo! 🐟

[FrozenFins]

Hugo has been more active, less lazy and is no longer gulping at the water surface. I added an airstone, put a towel over the aquarium and left it like that for a few days, with the every so often peak. A few days ago I removed the towel because I wanted to see my beatiful boy again. His fins have probably gotten worse, but his overall health is a bit better. I bought him a sinking betta log for him, I will ocaisnally see him there.

I usaully have the lights off, but for the purposes of this picture, I turned them on.

I won't be treating with salt anymore. So now its time for other medications you all might reccemend, I live in Canada so not everything is availble to me. I will probably be getting some API Stress coat tommorow.

The plan is to plant the plants tommorow, CANT WAIT.

@Anita its been about a week with no food, should I start feeding again?

Edited March 15, 2021 by JamesB

[Anita]

@JamesB My apologies, it has been a hectic weekend! Haha, the pressure is on for me to provide something useful! 😎 No worries!

Seems like you could try giving Hugo some food. I might suggest you do it when you can watch how he behaves. Observation is your #1 tool for diagnosing animal problems, because as you know, Hugo cannot tell you how he's feeling. I would also suggest you not worry about filming and focus all your attention on just watching him. Take notes, if it helps you remember small details.

Pick a time when you can watch him during and for at least 20 minutes after feeding. Remove the blanket at least 30 minutes before feeding, so he doesn't spazz out with all movement he isn't used to seeing. Imagine Hugo is in one of those prison films, where the guy comes out of "the hole" (solitary confinement) after 10 days. 😵Let Hugo settle down and then give him a very light meal, 1/3-1/2 of what he usually gets. Feed him a couple bits and then watch him. When he finishes, feed him a bit more. And so on...

I think at this point, you might want to leave the blanket off. After all, your plants won't like being in the dark! 

If he doesn't have any problems with the small meal, slowly start increasing the amount of food until if seems like he is back to a full meal. You will have to figure out how much more to give him at a time as you go. That is why it is so important that you watch him!

Treating Hugo's Fin Rot

Hmm, I think you should hold off on adding anything to the water, including API Stress Coat (see my note below). For now, let's gradually get Hugo back to eating full meals again. 

OK, I did some digging into what medications are available in Canada. Again, big disclaimer that I AM NOT A VETERINARIAN.

But I think we can agree that you are feeling a bit cornered by your lack of options. I am going a little overboard with the geek-speak because I think, if you can follow me, it will help you figure out some options. Also, the links provide the references I used to come up with these three points. So bear with me here...

Point #1: I found two medications specifically used to treat bacterial and/or fungal infections in aquarium fish. I believe you can purchase either of them in Canada. One is kanamycin sulfate (an aminoglycoside antibiotic), which is sold as Seachem Kanaplex. The other is sulfathiazole (a sulfa drug*), which is sold as Seachem Sulfaplex. The bad news is it also seems like these two medications are hard to find and incredibly expensive. Perhaps another supply chain shortage caused by the pandemic?

Point #2: I looked at API Stress Coat and geez, I am not impressed. The only active ingredient listed aloe vera, so I have no idea how API gets away with the claim that it "Removes chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals." Uh, as far as I know, aloe vera cannot do any of those things. It may have mild antiviral, antibacterial properties. 

Point #3: I also looked at a few other medications and unfortunately, most of them look like homemade remedies bottled up and packaged with a pretty label. $22 CDN for a 4 oz bottle of 1% cajuput essential oil?  😣 Ouch! You Canadian aquarists have it rough! 

Hey, so it is 1 am my time, haha! I am off to slumber land. 😴 Use the links to do some research of your own and let me know if anything is confusing. 

*Historical side note: Sulfa drugs were used to treat bacterial infections in humans prior to the discovery of antibiotics. 

[FrozenFins]

Thanks for all the help @Anita

After looking for a solid hour or two I really only found one somewhat cheap way of treating this finrot, and I have my doubts of this method.

I read that using garlic can be used for bacterial infections, I knew it could treat parasites but not bacterial infections. So because I do have some garlic in the fridge I will be trying some of that and soaking some of his food in it.

I will be in the area of a big box petstore today, so I will look for some API Melafix. Anita, the bottle you showed was a bigger bottle, hence why its so expenive. Unforatnely thats the only size that Amazon sells. And I beleive that most big box stores have discontinued melafix. I have also read it doesn't do much  for extreme finrot cases. 

As of right now it seems that unless I wanna blow $50-$100 CAD, I won't be able to find any anti-bacterial infection treatments. Which is really too bad, poor hugo 😞. I have read that sometimes the fish will die, and other times their fins will just be permanently ragged. With the severe case this finrot is, I think there a chance he will die. But none the less I am determined to save this fish. 

As always you have any experaince with treating finrot with meds that can be found in canada, LET ME KNOW!!! Or if you have any words of encourgement. 

I don't really know where to go from here, except to leave it and make him the most comfortable that he can be.

Hugo can is pretty frantic, kinda like when you bring home a new fish. I have been relunctent to wipe the glass as that scares the crap out of him.

But I caught this video of Hugo playing with a lazer pointer 🤣. He's the only fish that reacted to it like that.

 

Hugo has quickly become one of my favorite, if not my favorite fish that I own currently. I just cant wait till his fins are normal again.

I was surprised that Hugo wasn't scared of this lazer pointer.

I fed him some of his northfin betta pellets soaked in garlic juice today to see if that has any effect on his fins, I doubt it will (but at this point, anything is worth trying. Especially when its free). But he sure did LOVE it!

I am almost finished his rescape, I just have to glue the anubius to the betta log. I will post a picture of the final scape when its all done!

 

Edited March 15, 2021 by JamesB

[Anita]

1 hour ago, JamesB said:

...I caught this video of Hugo playing with a lazer pointer 🤣. He's the only fish that reacted to it like that.

Hugo has quickly become one of my favorite, if not my favorite fish that I own currently. I just cant wait till his fins are normal again.

I was surprised that Hugo wasn't scared of this lazer pointer.

I can see why you love him so much. What a character!🥰

[Hobbit]

Aww he’s looking very healthy other than his fins!

Have you thought any more about the hydrogen peroxide swab? I’m not necessarily saying you should do it, but I just wanted to throw it out there again.

Here’s a small bottle of 12% H2O2 for sale:

https://www.amazon.com/Pet-Hair-Remover-Laundry-Non-Toxic/dp/B01IC083R6/ref=sr_1_15?dchild=1&keywords=12%+hydrogen+peroxide&qid=1615846675&sr=8-15

Edited March 15, 2021 by Hobbit

[Lifeisgood]

I imagine that it will take some time for his fins to grow back.  Maybe the salt already killed the bacteria?  Hugo’s behavior is an encouraging sign.😊

[FrozenFins]

@Hobbit I actually forgot about the hydrogen peroxide, I found some bottles on amazon.ca for like $10, figured I might give it a try. I don't so much wanna do the swab (I don't really like touching my fish, so I may try a dip. But in the end if the dip doesn't work, I am totally doing the swab)

@Lifeisgood Yeah, his fins haven't been getting any worse, but also not any better. So I hope your right.

 

I went to the petstore today to look for some melafix, or litterly any other antibiotic, and as I was expecting they didn't have any. I did make the mistake and looked at the bettas. I felt bad for them being in the cups and all. Some didn't look the best, but OH MY THE COLORS! I almost took one home, but then I would be cheating on Hugo. At least for @Betsy she wont need to be worried about spritz being jealous about her future betta in the birthday tank😆

Once Hugos finrot is gone, I want to add some neon tetras. For now though I will wait, I don't want him to be stressed out.

Edited March 16, 2021 by JamesB

[Betsy]

😂!!  I feel like there are only two ways I can offend Spritz: 1. Take Sig or Figgy home with me OR 2. Stop feeding him blood worms.

Bettas are the best!!!  I LOVED your video of Hugo chasing the laser pointer!!

[FrozenFins]

Hahaha @Betsy I assume Spritz goes without food on the weekends, you could probably add that to the list🤣

 

The Rescape is DONE (well kinda, we just have to wait for the plants to grow in)

I put the red melon sword and hyrgrophillia to the left corner, and then glued the Anubius Barteri var Nanna to the betta log. 

I can't wait for the sword to become big an monsterus, it will really fill in the tank. 

Heres the final scape:

The Betta Hamock keeps falling, ugh!

I glued the anubius to the betta log. It had CRAZY roots, so I couldn't take all the rock wool off, but thats fine. I did a timelapse of me glueing the anubius to the wood:

 

Theres still pleanty of room for Hugo to rest in the log, infact he may enjoy it more because of the roots:

Floating Plants are now a MUST have for me for betta tanks, I didn't relize how much they decrease the flow of the tank.

I put a aquarium co-op logo on the side of the tank to make it Aquarium Co-Op approved!

You can see that as soon as Hugo saw me on the other side of the tank he came swimming over! 😆

[Hobbit]

Aww very nice scape! I love little Hugo zipping over to say hi! He really does look so much better, except for the fins.

I wouldn’t advise you to do a hydrogen peroxide dip if it would mean putting the whole fish in. I don’t know what would happen but I’m afraid it might make him go blind. ☹️ Definitely see if anyone else has tried it first. Help us internet!!!

[Lifeisgood]

Right.  If you find that the bacteria is still active and you decide to do a dip, just dip the end of his tail.

But hopefully you are done with all of that and he is on the mend!😊

Oh and James, I attached a larger Anubias to a suction cup from one of my derelict heaters and stuck it higher on the inside wall of the aquarium as an elaborate natural Betta hammock and a local LFS had the floating log on sale so I moored it to the corner with the less flow with fishing line and electricians tape.   I was afraid the log was just a gimmicky product but he definitely likes being in it.  
Surprisingly I frequently find a Panda Garra in it too! (The betta wouldn’t stand to get in it with the garra—he knows how to tell the freeloader to hit the road!).  He sleeps in it at night and often surveys the country that he rules from above.😉

[OceanTruth]

8 hours ago, JamesB said:

The Betta Hamock keeps falling, ugh!

I really HATE suction cups!!!

What kind of floating plants are you using?

[H.K.Luterman]

My betta hammock doesn't slide down like that but every two weeks or so I do find it's fallen off the glass overnight. I wonder if really scrubbing at the glass with a magic eraser would help the suction. 

I'm so glad Hugo is feeling better. I hope the infection goes away soon. The laser pointer video was so cute.

[FrozenFins]

@Lifeisgood Thats Genuis!!! Well of to the fish store I go to look for some anubius

@OceanTruth Its Salvania (giant duckweed), I wanted amazon frogbit but they were all out, so I opted for the salvania

@Hobbit After doing further research some people on different forums said that they have dips with H2O2 but that there could be so many unkown side effects because its very experimental. We'll see, I don't think the fins are getting any worse, I think the salt killed the bacteria and now I just have to wait for the fins to grow back themselves. We'll see.

@H.K.Luterman I did it once before the video, and he went CRAZY. After I knew I had to get my phone to share it. Who needs a betta mirror when you have a laser pointer!?

 

Edited March 16, 2021 by JamesB

[Lifeisgood]

Love the laser pointer idea!

[Anita]

I keep forgetting to ask→ Have you thought of testing Hugo's tank water? I managed to narrowly avert Snailageddon (one casualty) with water testing and 50% water changes every 12 hours for two days—4 changes total. The new water was carbon filtered and treated with Seachem Prime. Then, warmed to 77-78 degrees with boiling water (old school).

Sometimes, the simplest solutions work the best. 😎

  

[Maggie]

I'm so happy Hugo is healing! If I understand, you're going to let him just chill out and heal for a while? I think that's the best option at this point. I can tell you that Anubias barteri leaves look very much like betta hammocks. There's something magical about bettas and anubias. Cosmo hasn't rested on it yet, but he does love to inspect and swim all around. He ignores the fake leaf. 

[Anita]

3 hours ago, Maggie said:

I'm so happy Hugo is healing! If I understand, you're going to let him just chill out and heal for a while? I think that's the best option at this point.

I second this suggestion. Yay Hugo! 

 

[FrozenFins]

I can't tell if Hugos fins are healing, or staying the same. He's been doing well without treatment, so for now no meds will be introduced into the water. 

I have put in a root tabs next to the sword so that it can start growing faster and bigger!

After seeing @Betsy first post about her feeding triangle I decided to make one too. This way there will always be a spot too feed him once the salvania takes over. I used the aquarium co-op black airline tubbing (25ft) and a check valve to attach it. I want to suction cup it to the glass, but I haven't figured out quite how to do it.

The floating plants have really minimized the flow to the point where there is this film on top of the water (I hate when this happends) so I will probably turn up the flow to see if that will get rid of the film.

I've been feeding Hugo northfin betta pellets and fluval bug bites. I lost my hikari betta bio gold. Anyways, the northfin stuff sinks now so I was wondering if anyone has any other suggestions. I may just have to buy more of the hikari stuff. I usually feed him frozen blood worms on friday, but... not this week. Bloodworms are very fatty and can be hard to digest, so instead I will be feeding him only pellets/ bug bites until he gets better.

I LOVE the light that comes with this tank, the blue on it makes the pictures look a lot better.

ooh! I also updated my profile picture on this to a picture of Hugo! 

[H.K.Luterman]

You can usually find these airline tubing suction cups at big box stores or Amazon. Just attach the tubing to the clip then stick.

[Lifeisgood]

7 hours ago, JamesB said:

I can't tell if Hugos fins are healing, or staying the same. He's been doing well without treatment, so for now no meds will be introduced into the water. 

I have put in a root tabs next to the sword so that it can start growing faster and bigger!

After seeing @Betsy first post about her feeding triangle I decided to make one too. This way there will always be a spot too feed him once the salvania takes over. I used the aquarium co-op black airline tubbing (25ft) and a check valve to attach it. I want to suction cup it to the glass, but I haven't figured out quite how to do it.

The floating plants have really minimized the flow to the point where there is this film on top of the water (I hate when this happends) so I will probably turn up the flow to see if that will get rid of the film.

I've been feeding Hugo northfin betta pellets and fluval bug bites. I lost my hikari betta bio gold. Anyways, the northfin stuff sinks now so I was wondering if anyone has any other suggestions. I may just have to buy more of the hikari stuff. I usually feed him frozen blood worms on friday, but... not this week. Bloodworms are very fatty and can be hard to digest, so instead I will be feeding him only pellets/ bug bites until he gets better.

I LOVE the light that comes with this tank, the blue on it makes the pictures look a lot better.

ooh! I also updated my profile picture on this to a picture of Hugo! 

Maybe see if you can get a good profile picture that you can compare fin growth to in a couple of weeks?  When I am looking everyday, it’s hard to see change happening.  I love it that Hugo seems to feel so much better!

[Daniel]

13 hours ago, H.K.Luterman said:

You can usually find these airline tubing suction cups at big box stores or Amazon. Just attach the tubing to the clip then stick.

The Co-Op sells these:

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/air-pumps/products/airline-holder

[FrozenFins]

Hugo officially has some freinds. Well future freinds, they have to go through quarintine for the next 3-4 weeks. I set up the QT tank yesterday and went shopping today. I went to the LFS today but they didn't have any of the neon tetras I was looking for, so I went to the local petsmart. They LOTS there. I saw a neon tetra in the tank that looks like had the mouth fungus the neon tetras are brutal for. So I bought some API Pimafix just in case it shows up in any of my neons. I bought 5 Neon Tetras. On April 23ish I will let the neons swim with Hugo.

I am hoping with in the 3-4 weeks Hugos fins will have been healed up, if not then the neons will have a extended QT until Hugos fins are better. 

I can see some new growth on Hugos finns too, HORRAY!!!

I couldn't get a clear shot of Hugo, he couldn't stop moving. I guess he was excited for his freinds to come out of QT.

 

I couldn't get a clear shot of the neons: