Betta Boy Blues

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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PuffTheMagicFishy
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Betta Boy Blues

Post by PuffTheMagicFishy »

Our male betta, known as Betta Boy or Darth Betta, just got half his fins torn off by his girlfriend. They were doing great, then next morning, when he tried to display for her, I saw he was in smithereens. He's in quarantine and I'm dosing with Melafix and Pimafix every day, and giving him an extra Hikari Betta Gold pellet or two at mealtimes to bring his strength up. Is there anything else I can do for the poor guy? He seems to be doing awfully well, eating and cruising around his tank, just having a bit of trouble swimming (quite understandable).
Tanks:
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails

Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
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Boxermom
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Post by Boxermom »

I've been told that a little salt in the water aids in healing but I have no idea if that's true or not.
Tina

Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Hachi
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Post by Hachi »

Boxermom wrote:I've been told that a little salt in the water aids in healing but I have no idea if that's true or not.
I've heard that too.
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PuffTheMagicFishy
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Post by PuffTheMagicFishy »

Thanks! Would rock salt do? I've got a sack around here somewhere. About how much per gallon do you think?
Tanks:
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails

Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
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Boxermom
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Post by Boxermom »

The usual 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. I believe rock salt is fine.
Tina

Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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strike2
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Post by strike2 »

Salt burns my wounds...but I think its good for fish.
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PuffTheMagicFishy
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Post by PuffTheMagicFishy »

OK, I'll go mix up some salt to pour in his tank. Thank you for the help, and I'll let you know how he does! :)
Tanks:
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails

Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
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