Sick Betta Buddy

[Plan-B]

I have a Betta in a 5.5 gallon, filtered tank. About 3 weeks ago I added a heater to the tank and over the space of a few days brought the temp up to 79*F / 26*C. The Betta loves the heater, only a little too much. I found him wrapped around it on occasion and then noticed discoloration on this anal fin. A small patch in the middle that has gone white, gray instead of its normal blue. I assumed this was caused by the heater and bought a cover for it. For the next 4 to 5 days the fish seemed fine and his fin looked like it was starting to heal. Then 2 days ago he stopped eating and being active like normal.
He’s been sitting in the bottom corner of the tank, behind a plant, only moving to surface for air.

He went in the tank straight from the pet store 2 months ago and is the only fish in there. I feed him Betta flakes with bloodworms once and awhile. Now that the tank is cycled I’m doing 10-20% water changes on it weekly. All my water tests seem ok.

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm
PH - 7.5

Any ideas on what’s wrong with him would be great.

 

[dwayne]

It's hard to tell... sometimes bettas just aren't healthy... I bought a betta once, had him in a hospital tank for 2 weeks then he died the day before I put him into my big tank. I'd be willing to bet that he got some kind of burn from being on the heater, but it's really too hard to tell. Your water seems perfect.

Maybe try adding a little bit of salt to the tank (hmmm, 5.5 gallons, maybe 1/2 teaspoon), and see if that helps him. Or you could try Melafix, if you can get to the lfs. That's a cure-all, imho!

Sorry I couldn't be of mroe help. Good luck!
~Tara

 

[Plan-B]

I started him on the recommended dosage of melafix yesterday and today he is active and seems his normal self. I’m not sure if he’ll eat yet as I’m going to wait till his normal feeding time tonight. Aquarium pharmaceuticals recommend adding 1 tsp. of melafix for every 10 gallons of water once a day for a week. Then do a 25% water change and continue treatment as necessary. I’m wondering how long I should treat for. Should I stop once he starts eating again? Should I stop once I notice the damage on his fin start to heal? Should I continue until the fin is completely healed?

Thanks for all the help,
Plan.

 

[dwayne]

Since he's in the tank alone, there's no harm in continuing treatment until his fin is almost all healed... maybe until it's completely healed. Not that there's any harm in using Melafix, I love the stuff... but if you were treating, say, a 30 gallon tank for 3 weeks or more, that would be a lot of melafix, and it's not cheap!

So yeah, I'd say treat him until his fin is pretty much all healed.

I'm glad he's doing better!

~Tara