Emergency Help! (Gasping Betta)

[sandragonfly]

oh dear! now this is overwhelming! as I'm typing/reading all of these on my pager screen and it wouldn't allow more than one window so I go forth, back & forth......!

I just emailed you, sarah, hope you got it! I don't have msn but ...(yay I got your email just now! will get to you in a minute!)

for everyone, right now the tank he's in is really small. before that, he was in a half gallon tank with filtration. but honestly, I don't think this has do something with gravels. for one, I throw out old gravels every 3-4 months because you know how moldy they get!

thank everybody so much.

[sandragonfly]

lol... typing all posts by myself is weird!

okay, just read the other forum.. all is good now, I've got in touch by emails with betta expert, sarah.

next thing just now I've noticed his whole bottom body is whiter, lighter than the other parts.

I also just read throughout the symptoms from a link someone posted - "fin rot" is the only one that sounds right. drapples's fins is a little bit flakery too.

I'm going to grab maracyn from a store now.

thank you for bombing me with helps, god bless!

[Lexi_Lover]

is it fungus or slime. need pics of it

She has just e-mailed me to say that there is white stuff all over the bottom part of his body....... the underpart.
Can you describe them more Gina please?

[sandragonfly]

no fungus, no slime. his bottom part (from face to fin) is in a little lighter color (whiter than any others of his body). there is nothing on him.

[Lexi_Lover]

If it was internal parasites then you would see them wriggling outside its back end. Its getting too late to think properly.

If she can read this then we really need to know how much water he is in, and what the water stats are for ammonia, nitrite nitrate and ph.
Do 50% water changes every couple of days not 100%.

Is there a filter in the new tank?

[Lexi_Lover]

I'm thinking salt treatment and bacterial meds.

[sandragonfly]

oh, it's not internal parasite then. I thought we had an answer. well, I stick to water bacteria.

so what should I do now? besides change the water 50%ly every couple days & keep adding salts.

he is in a tank smaller than a half gallon just for now, less stress and it is just about a or a & half cup of water.

[Lexi_Lover]

It could still be an internal thing so try and get a wide-range anti-bacterial med. pima fix is very strong for bettas but it might work if diluted more than the average dosage, about half or what it recommends.
Keep adding salt, about half a teaspoon per gallon.
Keep him in the dark but keep the temp around 80f
try that and stay updating me/us!

I know you can get PimaFix at Wal-Mart by me! Good luck once again Gina!

[Lexi_Lover]

Hows Drapples doing today Gina?

[sandragonfly]

hi.

the same. I went to a pet store last night and they were out of maracyn..

but I'm going to wal-mart for pimafix today! I changed, added aquasalt. that's all I could do for now.

hugs,
..gina & drapples

[bckrazy]

hrm. I keep going back and fourth on what I think this is... a lot of his symptoms are kinda conflicting.

here's what I would do ~ move him back to the 1/2 gallon and keep it filled halfway with clean, dechlorinated, tested water. Add a clean, live java fern from a trusted source to help with cleaning the water. To me, a filter in a 1/2 gal is overkill. Filters shouldn't be in a Betta tank any less than 2-3g, because in a smaller tank the currect would throw them around. 1/2 gals need to be changed at least 2 times a week, filter or not, anyway. Keep him in a dark place with a very constant temp. Did you say he's in 1 cup of water? if so... waaay too little, that would stress him more, and its just about impossible to treat 1 cup of water. To me, it sounds like swim bladder problems ~ gasping and swollen abdomen. I dunno, though. Is he having any trouble swimming to the surface? Does he swim sideways or sink/float a lot?

[sandragonfly]

yay! about an hour ago, I got MelaFix from other pet store I forgot about and made a tiny drop into his bowl. melafix is more antibacterial and for fin/tail rot. pimafix's more likely for fish with fungus (antifungal fish remedy) and I see he needs melaleuca (1.0%) in methylene blue -- metabolic remedy.

and what I felt better from, I stopped by betta's aside, looked at those bettas so I could compare drapples's healthy. now I see, he has a bit imflamed gills coming out but closing/opening allright still. melafix treats that too & open wounds.

bckrazy, thank you for stopping by! you see, drapples can't have those ferns, he got allegric stress from them. and I do apologize about a half tank with filtration. I responded a lot in rush yesterday - I meant he was in six gallon with that! you can type out "drapples" in search forum along with "gina", I'm sure you'll find a few pictures of him in his half (second) tank without filtration. sorry! for the confusion. it's too small to have filtration thats why I change weekly. I also heard that aquasalt helps keeping his tank clean too. not mostly really.

about two cups, you know these "cups" the store have bettas in? that's about 3x of that size..isn't that about two cups? it's also more likely a vertical bowl, not too wide so the water is still pretty 'high'. I don't want to put him back in "large" (for him now for going through serve stress) half tank as it would stress him more as much water he has. again, I'm bad at the measures! by the way, it wasn't swollen abdomen.

yeah, he still swims up to the top frantically, breathing less harder now. his tummy colour looks a little bit normal'er' now.. prays!!

thank you everyone for your wonderful help!!
..gina & drapples

pssst, I got drapples a new friend! (of course not in the same bowl, etc..) I just like to think it as a spirit for drapples. his name is spirit and he's longeeest purple & white veiltail!

edit! wow, he's more aggressive now, keeps swimming up to the top to catch some air then floats back down to bottom and do it again, a lot! is that good signal?

[kittycats_delight]

Here is the thread Gina was talking about with the pics of Drapples and his tank.

[sandragonfly]

september 2004? I must have mixed up somehow but I know I got drapples sept/nov/oct 2003.

yes, that's the link, thank you! wow, miss that colorful tank he was in. excuse the date in thread, I used old pictures. he's always looking the same...handsome. lol -

anyway, here's upate and still waiting for the answer to above.. drapples's muccch calmer but completely laying on his side. he'd cock a little but all flat now. still swims up/around when I come closer.

I just began his medication/treatment recently so can't really say much right now, let's hope he'll be a bit better tomorrow!

ps; did I offensed anyone by getting spirit?

[sandragonfly]