Help!! Terrible Betta accident!

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kirys

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Apr 1, 2003
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Help! My poor Betta, Vern, had half a can of food dumped into his tank on Saturday (I was out of the building, and children were in it), and when I came in this morning his water was red, the floor of his tank was thick with sludge, and he was acting very sick. I tried to swap out most of his water this morning, but he slipped past the cup I was trying to catch him in and landed on the top of my desk! I was as gentle and quick as I could manage getting him back into the water, but he looks so sad! His fins are raggedy, and he just hangs there, except when he sinks to the bottom, and has to swim back up to the top.

He's such a sweet fish, and normally he's so lively! I've swapped out 90% of his water and gotten rid of as much of the sludge as I can, plus I've treated his water with a drop of MelaFix. Is there anything else I can do? Other than let him rest and hope that time will heal?

Any suggestions welcome. I am SO sick about this. I love the little guy!

Vern's Mom
 
hi

if i were you i would buy a small fish bowl for him and do a complete water changein the one you have him in now. i had an expierience just like yours and my betta is still living and happier than ever.

p.s. i hope this helps, and i hope he gets better:(
 
I'd would keep doing large scale water changes daily--50% at least, depending on the size and fitration of the setup. Cleaning as much of the excess food out will help, getting clean water in there will help. The fins and other issues are most likely related to the sudden ammonia spike, and should remmedy themselves without any treatment.

I might also suggest that you move the food to a place that is a bit more secure from casual visitors.
 
Re: hi

Originally posted by Rockin_Sunset
if i were you i would buy a small fish bowl for him and do a complete water changein the one you have him in now.
Click to expand...
NO SMALL BOWLS! i find that bettamax (not to be confused with the bottle of poo known as bettafix) solves most betta problems. and definately water changes every day.
bettas are tough little guys and like to jump. i have had several jump out of my hands (or out of their tanks) and be absolutely fine. when you pick up a fish though, make sure your hands are wet. (i like to slather mine in novaqua or stresscoat).
im guessing you have bettamin flakes since you said the tank was a red sludge. i would recommend hikari bio-gold pellets. i have never dumped half of a package into a bowl and left it but im sure the effects wouldnt be as ill (if this were to happen again). your betta will probably like you a great deal more if you feed him bio-gold anyways:)
good luck!
 
^^ that sounded like an advertisement. haha.

About your betta though, I'd keep up the water changes. 50% daily is probably right, and remove as much sludge as possible with each one. good luck!
 
Couldnt the substrate, ormaments etc be removed and lightly rinsed in tank water that is syphoned off during water changes?
 
Fresh water is the best way to go. Just try and make it close to the same temp as you will be doing larger changes. Good luck
 
Thanks, everybody, for all your helpful comments. Vern (my betta) is doing better today -- he still doesn't look happy, but I think he's going to pull through. Mainly, I think he's feeling a little off balance, and he's favoring one fin.

I'm serious. He keeps holding one of his little side fins close to his body, except when he absolutely has to use it. I'm afraid it got hurt when he landed on the desk. It never occurred to me to wet my hands before scooping him up. I feel so stupid. :(

But thank you all! I'm going to keep swapping out his water, and I'm heading on over to the fish store during lunch to stock up on the food and meds and hand wetter that y'all mentioned. Thanks again!
 
Just a quick update -- Vern is doing SO much better! He's back to hanging up near the front of his tank, wiggling both fins (one has almost NO color left -- huh??) at me and giving me his, "I'm hungry. Feed me." stare. I gave him a tiny bit of betta pellets (the flakes are history!) and he scarfed them right down. I think he's gonna be fine!

Thanks again, everyone, for all of your support!

Vern's Mom
 
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