Pet
My baby girl betta seems to be I'll or starting to pass away. Just last night I removed her from her tank and put her in
Expert's Assistant chat
Customer: Hello! My baby girl betta seems to be I'll or starting to pass away
JA: Hi there. I'll do all I can to help. Can you tell me a little more about the betta fish's situation? How long has this been a concern?
Customer: Just last night I removed her from her tank and put her in a container with the water that was in her tank and I cleaned her tank and I put her back in and immediately she wasn't acting right And the water temperature has been perfect and hasn't changed
JA: Does the betta fish do this all the time or only sometimes?
Customer: This is the first time
JA: Have you tried anything so far that helps the betta fish with this behavior?
Customer: No this is the first time something like this has happened
JA: What's the betta fish's name?
Customer: All last night she kept sinking/swimming to the bottom of the tank and just laying there and when i gently tap the tank she moves to a different spot Pebble
JA: Is there anything else the Vet should know before I connect you? Rest assured that they'll be able to help you.
Customer: No. Thank you for your time!
JA: Hi there. I'll do all I can to help. Can you tell me a little more about the betta fish's situation? How long has this been a concern?
Customer: Just last night I removed her from her tank and put her in a container with the water that was in her tank and I cleaned her tank and I put her back in and immediately she wasn't acting right And the water temperature has been perfect and hasn't changed
JA: Does the betta fish do this all the time or only sometimes?
Customer: This is the first time
JA: Have you tried anything so far that helps the betta fish with this behavior?
Customer: No this is the first time something like this has happened
JA: What's the betta fish's name?
Customer: All last night she kept sinking/swimming to the bottom of the tank and just laying there and when i gently tap the tank she moves to a different spot Pebble
JA: Is there anything else the Vet should know before I connect you? Rest assured that they'll be able to help you.
Customer: No. Thank you for your time!
Answered by Anna in 4 hours 9 months ago
Anna
30+ years of experience
17,148 satisfied customers
Specialities include: Dog Veterinary, Cat Veterinary, Bird Veterinary, Reptile Veterinary, Exotic Animal Veterinary
Hello and welcome. My name is ***** ***** I’m a biologist with over 40 years of experience keeping fish. I’m sorry to hear about this problem with Pebble.
What water conditioner did you use when you filled the tank after cleaning it?
Can you send a couple of pictures of her so I can see her condition?
Thank you.
Customer
The water temperature is at 80 witch is pretty average. When she was still like that this morning I started Google what the issuse could be. I'm still not sure what caused it but from what Dr goofle said I'm thinking maybe fin rot? Many sites on Google recommend Bettafix by API do I got that and did what people were saying on Google. I put her into the small container and fed her and put in 9 drops of the Bettafix (the container is about a pint) she seems to swim around every now and then but her fins seem clamped down to her body witch isn't normal for her. As far as I can see they don't look ripped our torn in any way just clamped down to her body. She doesn't seem to have any other physical signs of sickness.
Customer
Shes just a baby so I hope she still has some time left.
Thank you. I’ll take a look and be back.
Has she always had that white area on her underside?
Did you use a water conditioner when you cleaned the tank? If so, which one?
Customer
The last photo is her tank she's normally in, she has 3 live plants and countless natural rocks and the substrate is natural too. To be honest I'm not sure about the white spot. Yes I did I used Topfin water conditioner and bacteria starter.
Customer
I ordered a bottle of Freeze dryed Daphnia by Bnyee off of Amazon, it will be here by tomorrow evening, Google said it would help because it's a good source of vitamins. I also ordered aquarium salt by API off of Amazon and it should be here by Sunday.
Thank you. I’m glad you used a conditioner. Google is not a good place to get information because at least half the results that come up will give you incorrect information. You have to know a lot before you even search so you can rule out the garbage. It does look in one of the photos that the edges of her fins are white. That is a first sign of fin rot before the fins start to fray. I’m concerned about the white area because areas fading to white can be a sign of columnaris, which is a nasty hard to treat disease. But we don’t know if the white area is new or has always been there so we can’t be sure.
I would never recommend Bettafix for fin rot, regardless of what the ads and Google say. First of all, it isn’t a true antibiotic and it’s not really strong enough to treat actual infections. Second, it is controversial. Many betta breeders and fanciers have lost fish after using it, and be,icee the oil damages the labyrinth organ. You can read that opinion here:
https://www.bettafish.com/threads/bettafix-is-it-worth-the-risk.96720/
Aquarium salt can be useful, but for fin rot ( and columnaris, if she happens to have it) Kanaplex is most effective, with Maracyn 2 being second best. You can also buy them on Amazon. My concern is that once a fish gets sick, they can deteriorate very quickly. If you can find Kanaplex or Maracyn 2 locally, I would treat with one of those. Some Walmarts carry Maracyn 2. You could give them a call and ask. Do a water change to get rid of the Bettafix, and then treat with one of the antibiotics.
Daphnia are a good food, but live or fresh frozen ones are more nutritious than freeze dried. Larger pet stores sell these foods. They are sometimes kept in the back, so you have to ask.
If you have more concerns, just let me know. I’m glad to help. I hope Pebble will be able to recover.
Customer
Okay thank you for all of that great information! I won't use anymore of the Bettafix and I won't use the aquarium salt. What about the Daphnia? I hope it isn't the columnairs. So if it is Fin rot what should I do?
Customer
Oops just saw the last part of your message sorry. Sounds good, again thank you for all of your help and advice. I will go try to find Maracyn 2 or Kanaplex. And do a water change to get rid of the Bettafix.
You’re welcome. I hope it’s not columnaris, too. It might just be her natural coloring. The daphnia is fine. When they are sick, it’s best to feed them foods that are nutritious and they will happily eat.
Customer
I got the Kanaplex!
Customer
Is this a good food, this is what I normally feed her
I’m glad you found the Kanaplex. Just follow the instructions. Yes, that food is fine.
Customer
Thank you!
You’re welcome.
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17,148 satisfied customers
30+ years of experience
Anna
+ years of experience
17148 satisfied customers
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