This is my baby, Cedar. Shes less than a year old and has been a trooper, fighting some type of infection back in January (through the help of my amazing girlfriend's care).
Within the last 3-ish weeks, she's been losing more of her fins. At first I suspected she was snagging herself on the driftwood in her tank (she likes to roll in the sand/substrate like a dog), but after it getting worse and trying a few days in the hospital tank (with Kanaplex/almond leaves), she seems to almost be doing worse.
As of writing this post, we have returned Cedar to her tank without the driftwood to hopefully reduce stress and be back with her plants + tankmates (2 shrimp and a corydalis fish). I'll answer the parameters in the comments but will briefly give pointers in the end of the post.
Is there anything else we can do to maximize her recovery / recovery potential? And how long should I wait to expect some visible recovery? I don't want to do too little or too much.
• Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrates were all 0's
• pH – ~7.6
• Water is cycled, 25% change
• Avg temp – 78-81°C
• 5 gal tank
• Sand and substrate base, variety of plants
• 2 Shrimp and Corydalis as tankmates
• Fed an alternating mix of pellets and bloodworms
• Receives lots of conversation (from myself)
All the help and insight is appreciated. Thank you.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1slx242
Posted by Infamous_Fan_2303
3 Comments
Im just going to rattle this off because I have some suggestions but I am going to bed and i want to help, so I apologize for keeping this short and blunt- I think its great that you are doing your best to help your friend.
First, ive never heard of the substrate rubbing. There may be a problem with your fish’s slime coat, but to me this sounds like he has a parasitic infection and is trying to itch himself on the substrate. Please look up videos online of betta fish “flashing” and determine if it seems like what your fish is doing. They can’t tell us what is wrong, so without an understanding of their behavior, something like flashing and rubbing against substrate and other items on the aquarium could look like he is having fun, but it sounds like he is extremely uncomfortable. I hope I am wrong, but this is what my immediate impression is. To me, it sounds like flakes.
Next thing is the coloring. I have never successfully seen a fish with horizontal red “stress stripes”, but i have read about it and seen alleged photos online. They all look so different from one another that without a before and after photo, im not sure what they look like.. but perhaps somebody else in the thread can let me know if tbis is what I am seeing on your fish.
It appears that your tank is overcrowded and bettas generally appreciate a place with no roommates but there are exceptions. I would be worried about ammonia and keeping your tank cycled properly but it seems that youve tested that already so im not sure what to say about it other than to keep testing it.
Now, fish dont have eyelids like we do, and being out in the open is scary for them. A frightened fish is a stressed fish, and stress is a killer. He needs LOTS of places to hide and swim through. You need SO MANY MORE PLANTS. Preferably real and some soft silk plants that won’t scratch him. Big and leafy. Maybe a floating log. And you need a dark background or even a background and one side covered. They need daytime light and nighttime darkness but they deserve to be able to hide somewhere and rest their eyes when they feel like it. A bare tank makes a sad betta. Plus the plants will help break up the motion from the filter so it wont feel like just a big open wave pool
So if I were you, I would probably look at his symptoms and compare them to symptoms of parasitic infection like flakes or icke.. I would simultaneously add lots of plants and a background to reduce stress a whole lot. It sounds like he is extremely stressed put and also super itchy and in pain. Again, you are trying your best and crazier things happen all the time so please understand that I am throwing my opinion in hopes that any of it can help. I mean no harm or negativity.
Good luck and please keep us updated!
I mean to add that i HIGHLY recommend a bigger tank. Even if all you can do for now is like a 20 gallon long, it is very important to upgrade as soon as possible
Are Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate all 0? Have you ever had Nitrates show up on a test?
What do you add to your water list everything. When you do water changes do you gravel vac? If so how much of the tank?
What was the illness you were treating before and what did you use?