# Betta fish deteriorating



## McQueen (Jul 10, 2008)

Hi

I have had my Betta just two weeks, he was very active when i got him, in the last 24 hours he has completely changed. He is in a 7.1US Gallon tank with a filter and heater. He has two cave like houses, which he had hardly been in now he just sits in them moves occasionally from one to the other. Temp is near enough 78.
I can't work out if his beginning to fade in colour, scared its the start of ick, as around his face/mouth seems more white then before. 
Was not sure whether it maybe stress, how would i treat this? 
I have tested PH and Nitrate both are fine. He currently gets fed pellets 3 times a day, he still eats as normal. He seems to sit in either the caves or in the bottom corner of the tank, very still could be mistaken for dead. 
Im very nervous has i have become attachedvery quickly and dont want to kill him. Please send urgent help or suggestions.


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## ninjaish (Jul 10, 2008)

you could possibly be overfeeding. 
if your betta has ick then you will see white spots on his/her body and fins. you say that it has a white mouth, that could possibly be whats called mouth fungus. you can use Melifix to get rid of that and for the ick i would use ick guard by jungle. that is what works best for me


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

do you use a water dechlorinator when you change your water?


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Have you checked ammonia and nitrite? They are the most dangerous to fish. Did you cycle your tank?


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## McQueen (Jul 10, 2008)

Fish is still alive, Just. Went to my local pet shop and got some medicine Meth - blue. Has been in there since Friday evening. I am going to do a 30% water change tonight, i have been told i can then put the medicine in again.
Unfortunutly he has gone off his food now, last time he ate was saturday 1 pellet that day at approx 2pm. 
How long would he last without food?
I am also doing an ammonia check tonight. Is there anything else i can test for?
I am not sure whether to try blood worm as he does not seem 2 have the energy to eat the pellets.
The temp has remained the same throughout.
My fish has been appeared ill since Thursday night, horrible question but how long would he last if he has not picked up soon?


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. If you have not cycled your tank, this could be the result of an ammonia spike. Water changes help with this, and probably couldn't hurt anyway. Is the white on his face "fuzzy" looking? If so, try fungus eliminator by jungle labs. Has he pooped, and does he appear bloated? Could be he is constipated, in which case try a bit of freeze dried daphnia or a pea. Do you use tap water conditioner? If not it could be that there is something toxic in your water. If there are any other symptoms please post them because there is a number of things that it could be. I just wanted to hit on the major ones. Hope this helps.


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

you say you got him 2 weeks ago..he is in a 7.1 Gallon with heater and filter....how long did the tank run before you put him ? Did it ever get really cloudy for a while then clear?


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## McQueen (Jul 10, 2008)

*Betta fish deteriorating part 2*

My tank was up and working for 2 weeks i had been using a filter start product and had tested nitrate and ph, but it had not had any fish in it before.
He appears to be draining in colour particularly his under belly, i would not discribe as fuzzy though. 
He has not pooped for a couple of days but he has hardly eaten.
I have not tested nitrite, will do this ASAP.
If i were to feed him a pea would i need to mush it up, would it need to be cooked? 
Thanks you for your quick responses. Nice to know there are people out there that no specifically about betta's.


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

Does he look bloated? A pea in a pinch tehn after switch to Daphnia a more natural scource for Betta fish...Take a frozen pea ..thaw in warm water..squish it out of it's shell..take a tiny piece of it ..feed it to your Betta on the end of a toothpick......you said he is pale ..more so on the bottom..is there any decorations in the tank that you did not get at a pet store..pottery ..anything like that? Keep doing water changes ..daily for now


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## McQueen (Jul 10, 2008)

He does not appear bloated, looks same size as when i got him. 
Ive got two little house like caves in the tamk both were purchased from a pet shop and were washed throughly with water before putting in tank. 
I have done a 30% water change tonight and put in more meth - blue. Should i still do water changes every day, would i need to keep adding medicine?
At the moment he just sits in the dark corner of one of the caves, he is still breathing but has not hardly come up for air today, so i dont think theres any chance of feeding him a pea? 
He appears to be hiding in the cave/houses particularly in the dark areas, would this mean his tired? 
Still has not eaten anything, im starting to fear the worst is coming. 
What else can i do for him?
Temp is still the same. It says not to leave his pellets in the tank for longer than 5 minutes if he does not eat them, is there anything i can leave in the tank while im at work in case he is hungry?


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

Don't Feed him anything for now..he probebly wont eat..Stop the Methylene blue...It sounds like your fish has some kind of poisioning...do a water change to get out the methelene blue..and use dechlorinator for your tap water...check you amonia and nitrites..get all uneaten food out ( if there is any...do your water changes daily using Dechlorinator..you are not useing distilled ,deionized or bottled water..correct?


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

I really need to know what you are treating your water with. Like JMeenen said, it sounds like some sort of poisoning. I would stop the methelene blue. This is for bacteria, which it does not sound like your fish has, and may even be stressing him out further. I really hope your fish pulls out of this. Good luck.


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## McQueen (Jul 10, 2008)

I used a filter start to cycle the tank by inter-pet and have been using a fresh start also by interpet to add to the tap water for the water changes. These were supplied with the tank along with a ph and nitrate testing kit. Fish is still alive. i am going to do a 50% water change tonight to try and get a large amount of meth-blue out of the tank. If it is a type of poisoning is there anything i can give him to help him flush it out?
He is still holding on, i see why they are called fighting fish!


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

have you been using straight tap water with no water conditioner for water changes? If so that is why your fish is poisoned...it would be the chlorine...when you do your water change tonight ..be sure to use dechlorinater ( tap water conditioner)


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

go to the pet store and get a good water dechlorinater..like Topfin or Jungle and use it with every water change no matter how small the amout of water you change..you will see a big difference in your Betta Fish.. I hope this helps...


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## McQueen (Jul 10, 2008)

The fresh start product is the dechlorinatior and this has been used with every water change.
I have done a 30-40% water change tonight, he did appear to perk up for a tiny little while, approximately 10 minutes. He came out of his cave and swam up around the top of the tank. He has seen gone back to the cave.
He has still not eaten, im going to attempt the bloodworm tomorrow, fingers crossed.


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

did your tank look cloudy at some point since you put him in it?


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

How much dechlorinator do you use per amount of water in the tank?


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## McQueen (Jul 10, 2008)

Tank has never appeared cloudy.
I put in 1 pepette per 5 litres, it is mixed in with half a litre of warm water and then added to the tank.
Fish is still alive, still hiding in cave this morning.


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

is the temperature of the water you are adding the same( or close to ) the water temperature of the tank water?


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## McQueen (Jul 10, 2008)

Sorry its took so long to reply.
It was a miracle fish is all better! 
I started to take out the meth blue and gave him sum daphnia, he started to swim a little, then after about 48 hours he ate sum food.
Since this he has cum back to his normal self. including his colour.
Thank You so much for all ure help.


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