Possible diseased betta... help!

[tyrantt23]

Hi, I have a 12 gallon tank that is currently cycling, with a betta and a gold mystery snail. The snail itself, is a little weird ever since I got it, I've been meaning to ask about it here but always postponed... when I first got it, it was solid yellow all over, golden like. It has been getting black spots on its shell for the past 3 weeks since I got it... the smaller part of the shell (where the twist ends) is almost completely black, and the rest has black spots, as if it was rusted or something. Just thought I'd mention it in case it helps...

The betta always loved the tank and would swim up and down, from side to side, but since yesterday, he has been just sitting in one place, not even swimming. I just looked at him now, and he looks VERY bloated. The bloated part, is exactly on the part where it shows if the betta is fat or not, his stomach I guess, a little behind his gills. I haven't been overfeeding him, only 3 pellets a day, 4 at most. He would always swim happily to my finger when I opened the tank to try and follow the food, but he was reluctant to eat yesterday, and I'm afraid to actually feed him today because he looks so bloated... I'd say he's pregnant if it wasn't a male.

Also, if its of any help, the past week I was trying to teach him how to jump to eat his pellets. I'd put the pellet on my finger, a tiny bit above the water, and he would jump to catch it.

The water parameters are fine for a cycling tank. I checked it yesterday when I got my API Master Kit shipped, and pH is 6.4, Ammonia is 0.5, Nitrites and Nitrates are still 0. This is my first experience with a (possible) diseased fish, so I'm really worried. Any help is greatly appreciated... the betta looks really sad.

 

[tyrantt23]

Also, I've just been reading about Dropsy, and how that can be caused by stress. He has been flaring up his gills nonstop at the new blue background I had put in the tank a few days ago.

All of today he has been sitting on top of the heater or on top of a plant, near to the surface, only moving to grab some air on the surface. Also, he looks like he's having difficulty breathing from closer examination...

 

[ralpf]

As with most of the issues concerning sickness, we should always attempt to go with the least complicated type of ailment and work our way upwards. I do not know how large the pellets you use are because my Bettas eat everything possible and I never got around to them. So he might be gorging himself, anyways try the skinned pea treatment because your Betta might be constipated. Take a pea frozen or otherwise (some use canned peas) and if frozen, nuke it in the microwave for a couple of seconds, let cool, skin it (pea skin is non digestible for Bettas) and feed it to the little guy! If he eats it, wait one or two days, remember not to feed anything else and see if he improves. Let us know what happens!
As to the snail add a high calcium vegetable for him to munch on, too little calcium can cause shell decay. If your PH level is too low damage can occur to the shell, erosion marks and holes will be seen.

Good luck!!!!!

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

Hi, I have a 12 gallon tank that is currently cycling,

This is the most likely cause of the problems in your tank.

Algae on a snail means nothing, however snails poop alot and will contribute to poor water quality in an uncycled tank.

It is possible that your betta may just be old, but I am certain that it is external factors beyond just "old age".

Does your tank have a heater? What are you feeding Mr. Betta? How old is he? How often do you do a water change and how much?

 

[tyrantt23]

Take a pea frozen or otherwise (some use canned peas) and if frozen, nuke it in the microwave for a couple of seconds, let cool, skin it (pea skin is non digestible for Bettas) and feed it to the little guy! If he eats it, wait one or two days, remember not to feed anything else and see if he improves.

Thank you very much for the help!!!
Yesterday he didn't eat, and today I fed him two pellets right before I saw your post. I tried giving him some squished peas (without the skin) and he only took a couple of very tiny bites, then spit it out. I will let you guys know how my betta fares. Thank you for the help!

As to the snail add a high calcium vegetable for him to munch on, too little calcium can cause shell decay. If your PH level is too low damage can occur to the shell, erosion marks and holes will be seen.

Yeah, I've noticed a few erosion holes on the snail, so that's probably the problem. As for the black marks, I noticed yesterday that they easily come out when scratched, so its probably dirt/algae.

As far as the vegetables with high calcium, what's a good choice for a snail? Do I just try to put a small piece in front of the snail and see if it eats the vegetable? Also, I've read that putting a couple of drops of Kent Iodine on the aquarium and water changes helps with the calcium in the water (it recommended that for bamboo shrimp). Would something like that or Liquid Calcium work for healing the gold apple snail, or will the vegetable give a better result?

Once again, thank you very much for the help! I'll keep you guys updated, and hopefully for the better.

 

[tyrantt23]

This (tank cycling) is the most likely cause of the problems in your tank.
Algae on a snail means nothing, however snails poop alot and will contribute to poor water quality in an uncycled tank.

The ammonia level was only 0.25ppm to 0.5ppm (couldn't tell the difference in color) when I tested it though.

Does your tank have a heater? What are you feeding Mr. Betta? How old is he? How often do you do a water change and how much?

- Yes, the tank has a heater. Its set to 78 degrees, but last couple of days the weather was really hot, so temperature got up to 82.
- I've been feeding him Hikari Bio-Gold pellets, 3 to 4 a day, until I noticed he was sick. Didn't feed him yesterday, and today I fed him two pellets, then a little bit of sweet pea. which he spit out.
- I bought him at Petsmart about 2 or 3 months ago, but he was pretty big when I bought him, so I don't know, he could be as young as a few months or as old as a couple of years.
- I haven't done any water changes, I only set the tank up a week and half ago, and it has yet to go to the second part of the cycle (where ammonia drops, nitrites rise) so I think water changes would only hurt the cycle. Also, the ammonia reading was pretty low, along with 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites.

I don't want to sound redundant, but once again, thank you very much for the help guys!

 

[tyrantt23]

UPDATE:
I think my betta is doing fine now... he is no longer looking scarily bloated, right now he's only looking slightly fat. I fed him peas for about 3 days, and he would eat very little. On the fourth day, yesterday, he kept spitting out the peas, that day I fed him the Hikari Bio-Gold pellets, only two, and did the same today. He has been a lot more active in the past couple of days, so should I go back to his regular diet of about 3-4 pellets a day? I'm guessing he really was just constipated...

Thank you for the help guys! I got really afraid that it was his time to go, but I think he's doing a lot better.