# Two sick bettas...need some advice



## Epona (Feb 11, 2008)

Hi all.

*sigh* I have two sick bettas. 

Ill start with Chewy. Male crowntail. He was in a 10g community tank with a few tetras and a pleco. After some of the tetras died i replaced them, thanks to the lfs store, with Tetra Serpea. Unbenownst to me, these fish are very nippy. They literally tore my betta apart over night. When I caught them doing it, I hauled chewy out of that tank and isolated him in a 2.5 tank. Added Melafix to the water. Well...Chewy is eating fine, and making small bubble nests in the middle of his tank. but my problem lies in the fins that i am seeing at the bottom of the tank....his dorsal fins are pretty much gone, from what I can tell, he wont flare for me so i cant see the dorsal fins clearly, but they are in very very bad shape. I also added a few drops of stress coat.

Next is Imriel. After the whole debaucle with Chewy, I had to house 2 bettas together in a 2.5 gallon tank with a divider. Put lots of fake plants on either sides of the wall to shield them from one another...well as much as they could shield. The other betta that I put in is a very agressive betta...he flares at almost anything...so after a day of them flaring back and forth, thats when Imriel started to act weired. He lays at the bottom of the tank and refuses to eat his hakkari betta bites. I can get him to eat a few blood worms, only if I hand feed him. I removed the other betta yesterday morning so Imriels got the tank to himself again. But he still lays at the bottom of the tank, is not eating properly, and is almost sulking. He swims around a bit if I am around, otherwise he just chills on the gravel at the bottom. His tank also has Melafix in it, as he had a bit of torn fins, either from fin rot or he tore them on this plant that i used to have in his tank. Today I also added a few drops of stress coat.

I am very stressed at the moment. My boys are my babies and I want to get them healthy and strong again.

What should I be doing differently? Can someone please give me some advise on water changes, medicine, salt, whatever I could be doing to help my boys out?

Thanks in advance.


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## lili (Dec 15, 2007)

Epona said:


> Hi all.
> 
> *sigh* I have two sick bettas.
> 
> ...


Sorry to her that.
Test the water. If there is any amonia or nitrites things will not get better. Use Prime as the tap water has amonia in it (at least my Toronto tap water).
The medication that worked best on my bettas is Maracyn 2. This one won't ruin the biofilter which I hope you have in the 2.5 g. When you added the second betta in a 2.5 g .... my guess will be that the biofilter didn't keep up with 2 fishes for such a small tank. Buy another 2.5g for 11 $ and use some media from the big tank to help cycle it. I think with good water you should see improvement. After that IF it's a case of fin rot you may want to try Maracyn 2. If it's getting worse I have more ideas .... due to my experience with bettas rescued from PetsMart.
Buy the API liquid tester. If not just buy Prime and condition the water and change it daily.
Let me know.
L
PS:
I have 2 girls in a 2.5g with divider and it's working for a long time. But the tank is very old and is cycled .


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## lili (Dec 15, 2007)

Epona said:


> Added Melafix to the water. .


I read that MElafix is BAD for bettas without dilution. You can use bettafix if you want.
Anybody .... elaborate this ....
L


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

I usually try to stay away from medicine.

If you do a water change and add some dechlorinator and some salt, they should take care of themselves. It will be even better if you turn your heater up to 84 degrees fahrenheit if you have one but most new betta keepers don't.


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## Epona (Feb 11, 2008)

I dont use heaters as all my tanks are 2.5g and the lamp that is on the hood keeps their tanks stable at 78-82 degrees fahrenheit. I monitor the tank temps 2x a day and they stray here and there by a degree or two but never higher or lower the what they are at currently.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Epona said:


> I dont use heaters as all my tanks are 2.5g and the lamp that is on the hood keeps their tanks stable at 78-82 degrees fahrenheit. I monitor the tank temps 2x a day and they stray here and there by a degree or two but never higher or lower the what they are at currently.


But that lamp isn't on at night so how do you heat them then?

If you leave it on that's just as bad they need a dark cycle.

The injured fish can be cured very quickly by maintaining extremely clean water and using highly dilluted melafix while observing for negative reactions.

Feeding food heavy in keratin for the duration of the time will give the fish the building blocks it needs to make new fins.

A good example would be cichlid complete from Hikari which you may need to cut into quarters if u have a small beta


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## Epona (Feb 11, 2008)

Set up a hospital tank with a sponge filter, dechlorinated water, aquarium salt and methelyne blue. Seems to be working well...and he has perked up alot.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Good to hear! Keep us updated


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Epona said:


> Set up a hospital tank with a sponge filter, dechlorinated water, aquarium salt and methelyne blue. Seems to be working well...and he has perked up alot.


Methylene blue is an oxydiser as is sodium chloride.

Bettas can have negative reactions to sodium chloride but tolerate methylene blue to obscene levels.

The results of the two combined would be to increase oxydization thus speed healing and reduce infection in the wound but I would be careful with the salt


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## Epona (Feb 11, 2008)

Chewy is doing fantastic in his little Weired science tank...lol...had the whole top of the tank filled with bubble nest by the time I got home from work last night...

My other one - the one who i thought was just depressed...he still will not eat his pellets or the cichlid foods...I am going to try frozen foods such as krill, blood worms, or even daphnia tonight...the only thing he will eat is freeze-dried blood worms - but dont want to make that a stable diet for him.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Good to hear your bettas are doing better, but I will have to agree with Pablo that a heater is a must.

It allows for constant temperature, day or night, light or no light, but most of all many ailments can be cured or helped by a temporary increase in temperature which is really only possible with a heater.

Good luck.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

I am so relieved your Bettas are doing better too! When I saw your thread; Looking for Bettas, it thought your guys had taken a turn for the worse 

There was a really cute little nano tank at Big Al's with a nano filter going for $17.00 which would be perfect for a Betta, they also have nano heaters for $12.00


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Tabatha said:


> I am so relieved your Bettas are doing better too! When I saw your thread; Looking for Bettas, it thought your guys had taken a turn for the worse
> 
> There was a really cute little nano tank at Big Al's with a nano filter going for $17.00 which would be perfect for a Betta, they also have nano heaters for $12.00


I'd like to chime in and say that while those do work well in the right place, if you have a cold, or changing environment in the room where your fish are, like a draft, windows opening and closing, etc, a better idea is to get something like a 30 gallon long, divide it into ten parts and put your bettas in there, because its a much more stable system.

The downside of a connected system of course is that if you ever had a parasite etc it could transfer more easily, however the generally superior stability of this setup tends to negate that if you are a diligent fish keeper.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Great idea Pablo! 1 heater, 1 filter for all fish! Of course a UV sterilizer would also cut down on potential parasites ;D


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Tabatha said:


> Great idea Pablo! 1 heater, 1 filter for all fish! Of course a UV sterilizer would also cut down on potential parasites ;D


True.


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## Epona (Feb 11, 2008)

Thanks all for your conercen about my guys. 

I will probably never keep my male betta's housed together in a divided tank. I dont like the idea of having a divided tank. First of all all my boys have been living like bachelor kings in their 2.5gal tanks since I bought each of them. Housing them together will just create undue stress...as this has already happened to two of my boys. If I buy another 3 at a time then maybe I will divide a 10g. I have no room at the moment for a 30g and I love my mini-bows. They have all been very well cycled and for the most part my boys are doing well. I have seen some really nice divided tanks, so maybe one day when I get a bigger place...hehe

Tabatha - that nano you are talking about is it less then 1g? I have never seen those tanks before and I am there quite often. I just picked up another 2 1g mini bows as they were on sale for $19.99 and one is my sick tank now.


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## Epona (Feb 11, 2008)

I took pics last night of Chewy...hehe he has a little mohawk for a dorsal fin...but its growing back! weeee!


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## Epona (Feb 11, 2008)

lol sorry Tabatha - The reason I am looking for a betta breeder is that I am 1) loooking for a pineapple delta and 2) looking for 3 females to start my sorority. Not to replace my boys!


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Here's a number of links to Canadian sites here: http://www.freewebs.com/ontariobetta/links.htm

I saw the mini tank at Big Al's in Scarborough but I have to admit that yours sound nicer ;D


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