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so, i work at petco. when we get a shipment of betta fish, theyre inspected for any health issues. one of our bettas came in with a huge external tumor, and as per protocol, he could not stay out on the sales floor.
he’d been in the “wellness” room essentially waiting to die. i couldnt watch it anymore, so i impulsively brought Lumps home on 11/8. i set up his tank on the 9th and put him in same day.
his tank was obviously not cycled when i put him in. i’ve been doing fish-in cycling with daily 25%-50% water changes. the parameters have remained the same since day one: ammonia .25, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, ph 8. to promote bb growth i swooshed around used filter media from work, i dosed with tss+, and ive been doing daily squirts of imagitarium bacterial startup.
the tank is 10 gallons, it is live planted with anubias and java ferns, its heated (80f rn), and its filtered with an ac20.
ive been treating the tap water with prime, and dosing imagitarium bacterial startup each water change for a boost, idk if it does much but i dont think it can harm anything ? ive been using flourish weekly, and i feed him fluval bug bite beta flakes daily, like 8 maybe cus theyre so tiny, and he’s skinny from the cup.
he’s been flashing a bit since i got him, but im not surprised as there will of course be trace ammonia while he’s being cycled. today he was a noticeably more lethargic, and staying hidden. he ate, but hes not his usual curious self. he usually follows me back and forth as i walk around my room.
today i noticed his dorsal fin and tail are red and seemingly rotted, with what looks like a little fuzz. that implies fin rot to me, but i did add some mopani wood that potentially has ripped his fins, because it doesnt seem like the lower fins are affected much if at all. he’s also white so it’s hard to see if there’s ich, paranoia tells me i can see it on his pectoral fins, but i really dont know.
ive been scouring the internet all day daily now, and its really upsetting me seeing him in subpar conditions. i knew what i was signing up for with the ammonia in fish-in cycling, and bringing home an already sick fish, but this is breaking my heart to watch. i just couldnt leave him like that, but i feel like ive done him a disservice and should have let them euthanize the poor guy.
to make matters worse, im a college student, and i will be going home for thanksgiving and christmas. i have someone from work coming to take care of him mwf of next week, but christmas ill need to bring him home and make him a temporary tank.
i have aquarium salt as i intended on doing a salt bath tomorrow. now i see theres conflict on that too. truly feels like theres no right answer to anything. please someone help !! am i doing something wrong ?? what would you guys recommend ?
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1p109pb
Posted by chickenbreast103
2 Comments
Not a fish expert whatsoever but I’ve heard feeding them that much daily can cause them to bloat and maybe some swimming issues. From what I see in the pictures his abdomen does look a little large so I’d recommend feeding him every other day or only giving him as many flakes as he can eat within 1 minute.
As for the supposed fin rot, i don’t know much about it enough to comment on it, but i do know that any amount of ammonia can cause it to worse. If he doesn’t eat some of the flakes take them out if possible as to not raise ammonia. I’d recommend an immediate 30-49% water change to bring the levels down. Either the wood or the rocks could’ve ripped the fins though. Good test for that is to run some pantyhose across it and if it snags / tears then your bettas fins will also be affected by it.
That’s about all I can help with, hopefully someone more experienced will also respond. Best of luck and thank you for rescuing him 🩷
It looks like you’re doing everything right, and salt baths can be beneficial but imo clean water is the best ally.
I would recommend fasting for a week, feed- you could soak his pellet/flake in garlic juice or garlicguard to help the immune system – and do the water change immediately after, then fast again. The less waste in there the faster the cycling, he will not starve.
If you don’t have one already, a thermostat for the heater will help maintain a constant temp, the warmer temps of 80-81°F can help with healing, just be mindful that warm water also invites parasites, so monitoring closely and keeping the water clean and moving is the key. I’m a big fan of sponge filters, they’re gentle on fins, keep the water oxygenated and the beneficial bacteria will build up in the sponge, which you can gently squeeze for water changes.
From my experience less is more, sticking to the basics with clean water, fasting, warmer temp, the imagitarium can only help.