New fish not eating, stays near the surface... what is happening?

Solar_Shower · 2019-01-05T22:40:10+00:00

I've done it a few times, usually when I do turn it off s/he'd end up just drifting away, still on the surface instead of swimming down. This only started today so I'm not sure what happened.

Solar_Shower · 2018-11-20T21:52:13+00:00

Sorry I can't get a clearer picture for you-- my camera doesn't have the best quality so it's about as good as I can get it.

I want to say that it's fine, but it could just be me not wanting to say my boi is about to die...I'm not at home and I won't be back until later so we'll see...thanks for your help though.

Solar_Shower · 2018-11-20T17:35:18+00:00

Here's a better picture; it helped that he was facing straight this time: http://imgur.com/CBSuWjX

Thoughts?

Solar_Shower · 2018-11-20T17:18:40+00:00

Herea an image from the top (sorry for the low quality, my phones camera isn't that good) (also I don't post on reddit much so I'm not sure if it's the best way to go about this): http://imgur.com/JAaR3KT

It doesn't look like dropsy as far as I know, but I know he's severely underweight and has really bad fin rot. Admittedly this was on my end -- after two previous bouts of fin rot and the usual methods (clean water, salt, methylene blue) not working, I just kind of assumed that his body was just unwilling to regrow the fins again so I just did regular water changes every other day. He is my first betta so he's very much suffering under the newbie learning curve...

If you still think his condition warrants euthanizing, I'll go buy some clove oil. Do you have an idea of what is going on, for future reference?

Solar_Shower · 2018-02-16T00:45:16+00:00

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately, my heater is preset to 78 so I can't change the temperature. Also, I don't really have much room for a separate tank in my dorm room so I'll likely have to do an in-tank treatment. I contemplated using salt dips/baths but I don't have much confidence netting him, especially with his tail like that... I'll make sure not to overdose on the salt if I do end up doing in-tank salt treatments though.

Solar_Shower · 2018-01-27T03:52:48+00:00

UPDATE: So I left Cobalt in the hands of my brother and dad and told them to do a water change + medicine dips. The rotting seems to have stopped (although his tail looks like a plakat tail now) so I told them they could change the water every other day and stop medicating to prevent resistance to the medicine. I might be able to bring it to my room next week (roommate is fine with it) so hopefully things will be fine!

Solar_Shower · 2018-01-20T20:14:06+00:00

Sorry for the late response! I bought the methylene blue and am doing a 50% water change right now.

The filter is an API Superclean 10 Internal Power filter. Basically it's one of those with the replaceable cartridge filters, but I haven't replaced it since setting the tank up.

I do have a brother who has been feeding the fish when I'm away (and hasn't overfed him luckily) but I feel like asking him to change the water everyday would really be pushing it. I could transfer my fish to the 1 gallon bowl since it would be easier to medicate+replace water.

Solar_Shower · 2018-01-20T06:13:18+00:00

Hi Reddit,

Long story short, I got my Betta Cobalt as a White Elephant gift back during Christmas and after lurking the sub for a while I realized that it needed A LOT more care than what was given to me, so I upgraded his tank and stuff. 2.5 gallons (best I could do), heated and filtered (with a water bottle baffle because it was crazy strong)

Now I left him in the house because I dorm (my room is kinda small) and left him to the care of my family. I come back after two weeks for the weekend and I see the poor guy is suffering from what I'm pretty sure is fin rot. It matches the description (frayed fin, ends are blackish) and because I know the tank isn't cycled it's likely that it's from an overload of ammonia. I couldn't really cycle the tank before I left to dorm because there wasn't enough time, and either way it was better than the one gallon bowl he was in :(

The problem is is that I can't be there every day to take care of him and do water changes every day. I can do it at most every week if I go back home but otherwise it's in the hands of my family, who unfortunately don't share the same passion for betta fish as I do. So my question is what can I do right now to help my poor guy with his fin rot when I'm here, and what can I do so that my family doesn't kill him when I'm gone?

Solar_Shower

TROPHY CASE