Sushi's in trouble, please help

Celura

Celura

Crazy Betta Lady
Jan 16, 2004
185
0
0
51
Austin, TX
www.celura.net
When I returned from vacation Monday night, I noticed Sushi was not doing well. His fins were all chewed up, and we determined it was fin rot. I went the next day and bought him some Bettafix, and did a complete water change and dosed him when I got home from work on Tuesday.

Last night I get home and go to give him the second dose, and notice he has cottony patches all over his abdomen and left gill. He could hardly swim. I referred to my Betta book and Jeremy did some online research, which said to add salt and keep using the Bettafix. So I added some salt and dosed him again.

Last night before bed I checked on him, and he was floating on his side with his left cottony gill upright. He can't swim normal at all, and is struggling to breathe. He was the same this morning.

Is there any hope? Anything I'm not doing that I should be?

Please help. :sad
 
Doesn't sound good. I would keep medicating, and make sure the temp is stable and warm--but that's about it. I wouldn't try changing meds--that can be traumatic, and cause more problems than is would solve.
 
OG is right ... keep on doing what you have been and keep the temp in the 80-85 degree range. The only thing I can add is that daily water 50% changes with redosing may help.

Any idea what caused this? Did his heater fail? How long were you gone on vacation?

You probably already know this, but make sure you don't use the same net in your other bettas tank and wash your hands thoroughly after working with Sushi.

Good Luck!
 
The heater is on order, and won't arrive for over a week. His tank is currently a 2g and is about 74 degrees usually.

I've read on some Betta forums that the Bettafix is an irritant and shouldn't be used. This explains a lot of his behaviour after I dosed him, and the subsequent effects. I've been advised on those forums to use anti-fungals instead.

Overfeeding caused it. I was away on vacation for 6 days, and my mother was feeding him for me. :(
 
Celura, I'm really sorry to hear about your pet's demise. My wife and I are very fond of our fish and we know how you must feel.

For future reference, I've heard that Jungle Fungus Eliminator is good for bettas that need to be medicated for fungus but have never used it.

Also, overfeeding may have been a problem but lack of water changes may have contributed if your mother didn't do them.

One last tip, I think that small aquariums are really hard to keep healthy unless you are absolutely religious about water changes. You might want to think 5+ gallons for any future aquariums.

Hang in there.
 
Bloodworms are not what made your fish sick (unless they were live?). IF they weren't frozen, they were almost certainly sanitized to get rid of any bacteria or parasites. They are a good nutritional supplement. Perhaps though, with the new food you weren't sure how much to use and inadvertently overfed?

I suspect it was in part because the tank wasn't heated and because the tank was small.

However, I do not think Bettamax was a problem either. All meds are bound to be an irritant to "some" degree. While some have said Melafix can be bad for bettas (though I don't agree), even those people suggest that Bettamax is okay to use because its concentration is like .2% teatree oil down from 1%.

I think he just died from the fungus. Also, Im gonna agree with shewlett on the Jungle Fungus Eliminator. Ive had success with it and it is more suited to "curing" a disease than something like melafix or bettamax which is meant to help soothe or ward off secondary infections.

Sorry to hear about your fish. I just lost my favorite one a couple of weeks ago (he's my avatar).
 
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Perhaps you mother didn't keep up with the water changes or she neglected the water conditioner to treat the tap water. Live foods are a mixed blessing ... the fish love them but they can carry disease.
 
My mother didn't do any water changes when I was gone. I keep pre-treated water for him under the counter to top off with, which she did use.

He's also never been in a heated tank. I'm not sure why that would cause him to get sick so quick and sudden like he did, when he's been healthy for 3+ years. :confused:

I know he was overfed. I may have done it or she may have, but I'm not doing it again. He was going through a phase when he wouldn't eat after I changed his bowl, and he finally started to after I got the bloodworms. I'm sure I probably just gave him too much.
 
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