Betta is alert and swimming, but---

[Nammish]

I feel a bit bad for only joining to ask this question, but I've used posts from this forum and others before to aid me in my betta-related health adventures, so maybe I can get some help again?

Warning....this will be....long.

Well, here's how it is: The betta I take care of (read as: do not own myself but I feed, clean, and all) Leonid is a naturally....I suppose the best word would be 'angry'...as he is forever flaring, attacking his food, and charging the glass and generally being a very manly man little fish. One of his favorite things to do (in order to give me a heart attack) is to refuse to let me remove him from dirty tank water so I can clean his tank, and then to jump out of any cup I might put him in to wait while I clean. I hate putting him in the cup (very small) but we're planning on getting him a nice one gallon bowl or mini tank to sit him in while his water clears after cleaning. Normally he's in a 1.5 gallon tank which I've read might be too small, but we have nothing larger and no where to put it if we did. College dorm rooms are small like that. He usually seems rather happy in the little tank, save for when it's cleaning time.

So I've cleaned his tank, put in his TetraAqua brand Aquasafe to kill left over chemicals and the aquarium salt's been added, and I'm waiting for his water to settle and be ready for him (usually I like to wait one to two hours, or more. The cup is twenty oz, and I don't like him being in there so long, but it's safer then putting him back in the water straight away, you know?)

About...forty-five to fifty minutes after I finish putting in the new water, Leonid charges the bit of carboard I put over the top of his cup and arches through the air to land less than a foot from my feet on the tile floor of our dorm room. And just lays there, as if he'd died.

Naturally, I yelped, manvuered myself out of my computer chair and around his fishy body, and picked the little guy right back up (after a horrifyingly extreme game of 'You'll Never Take Me Alive!') and put him into his cup, where I could look at him. He had hair caught in his fins (got that) and was shaking off quite a bit of dirt and what might have been bits of paper or something from the floor (now I'm worried his slime coat is deteriorating and gonna see about getting him some stress coat; suggestions?) but otherwise he seemed....well, alright, I think.

But now his cup's dirty and he's dirty and miserable and wants clean water, so I wait a bit longer and put him in the new water, far too early for my tastes, but he seemed alright. He immediately swims to his decorations and proceeds to scratch (I panic and think 'OMGVELVET D:' cept there's no gold dust involved but I did immediately remove all the dirt that settled at the top and lowered the level so his clumped fins wouldn't hinder his attempts to breathe). All looks well, and I proceed to put a towel over his tank and sit up with him until three in the morning when my sister gets home (overdone much, I know D: ).

Now it's morning, and I'm checking on him as critically as I can and here's what's worrying me: Last night his fins were clumped and I assumed that was because they were dirty. They're a bit ragged around the edges, possibly ripped from his adventure, and the big tail-end fin is a little...pinched looking. He is constantly waggling it and trying to flare it out fully, but I think it either got pinched in the fall or when I picked him up. I don't want to reach in and help him rub it apart (wouldn't let me anyway) because I'm already concerned about his slime coat. I had planned to fast him today before all this happened (found out he was being given far too much food, though there were no adverse signs as of yet; if anything he demanded more) but I gave him just three because he was very miserable about his fin and all. He's active for the most part, and he flares and chases my finger normally, but he still is rubbing and shaking his fins to try to clean them.

What should I do to help? D:

[BettaLu&Meg]

For his stress coat add 1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon. this will provide and produce a thicker coat for him. it might be ick or a parasite/protozoan infection or a fungal infection(but fungal infections will loose motivation in eating and everything else so i doubt it) especially now that it did fall on the dirty floor ICK:

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ichthyophthirius multifiliis

COMMON NAME(S): ick, white spot disease

SYMPTOMS: Large white spots on the fins and body of the infected fish.

ORGANISM: Ciliated protozoan

RECOMMENDED TREATMENT: .15 ppm malachite green. 3 treatments, two days apart

The aquarium salt is a must and if theres is just scartching involve there is a infection. but this is easily cured if caught quick. Do a 30 percent water change, there personally is no need to remove the betta, i don't in any of my water changes simply suck out the water. doing a complete water change is a no-no and will remove any beneficial bacteria thats in the tank to keep him healthy and to balance out his water. Refer to Fishmomma on info on that! she's very knowledgeable! But if it is ick a water change is a must if you already had done it and condition the water. i use Quick Cure and it works good when you catch those infection at a early stage.
refer to these links for further info [Registered users only can see links. ]
[Registered users only can see links. ]

[FishMomma]

In addition to the Aquarium Salt, I would also treat with API's Betafix or Melafix. Same med but the Betafix is dosed for smaller tanks. The Betafix will treat any bacterial infection as well as help your fella heal up his damaged lungs. (I must say that you should go into comedy! You are a great story teller and if the situation hadn't been so traumatic and serious, I would have burst out laughing just at the way you told things! Regardless of it all, I did have to chuckle just a little but then of course, I put on my serious face in order to help!)

As for the anal/tail fin, I might add that one of my Bettas drags his tail around all day and doesn't flare it out much. There's nothing wrong with him; he just enjoys letting it hang there. Personally, at this point I wouldn't treat for the Ick unless you see small sugar granule type white spots on his fins or body. Treating Ick with meds can be quite stressful for fish so don't do it until your absolutely sure he has it! One thing you might check is the temp of your tank's water. Bettas like their water around 78-82 degrees F. If you need to heat the tank up a bit (and since you have a small tank), I would recommend using Hydor Mini Heater 7.5Watt. It doesn't have a dial on it to control the temp but it is made for small tanks. It will heat your tank up about 2-5 degrees more than it normally runs and seems to do a nice job in my 2.5 gallon tanks. I fianally had to put my heaters back in for the winter since it's gotten chilly here just this week and my water temps were dropping into the mid to low 70s at night. It is about 1/8-1/4 inch thick, about 2 inches wide, and about 4 inches long. Fits quite nicely in small tanks. Having said all that, Ick doesn't do well in tanks that are around 82-85 degrees F. Increasing the water temp will speed up the ick's life cycle allowing you to treat it more quickly if you actually have it.

Hope this helps! Please, let me know if you have any other questions (or stories) and I'll be happy to listen/read. Here is a link to a good website on Ick if you need it: [Registered users only can see links. ]. Let me know how things are going! Good luck!

[BettaLu&Meg]

You are taking care of by the best, Fishmomma and I, and we will try to help all! in a good mood today i don't know! lol

[Nammish]

Thanks so much for your advice. 8D

Leonid is doing better now I think, trying to sleep a little more than usual (and there is lots of glaring involve if I so much as breathe too loudly), but nowhere near as often as he was when he first got back into clean water. His color's improved and he's a little more active since he got a bit of pea through his system and the stress coat medicine, and since we've balanced his diet out a little like some of your guys' posts said we should. I don't see anything that looks like Ich, but he's not scratching or anything anymore, so I'm not so worried (still doting on him like mad though and hoping he doesn't get something else).

That heater sounds like a good idea. It gets cold here quick, being college and all. Do you think WalMart would carry that one? Yeah, bad place to buy pet stuff from, I know, but until we head home for break, it's all that I've got, and I don't want Leonid to suffer from the cold if he doesn't have to. D: At least until we get him his ten gallon. There's a big sale on pet items coming soon at WalMart and the ten gallon tanks will be like, five bucks. We'll have to get heaters and such separate, but still, Leonid will adore the space.

It'll probably help him shake this off better too. >>
(You'd think with all the worry and spoiling I do, he'd like me a little more by now, but noooooo, he's still all too happy to let me know every morning just how badly he wants to chew my face off.)

But I think he'll be okay. -deep sigh of relief-

[BettaLu&Meg]

Yeah i recommend a heater! they are tropical fish and need to be warm constantly! also cold water makes them less active and more prone to sicknesses. plus imagine being a cold water constantly.... just got a chill! lol. but a heater is deffinitly needed. i'm sure they sell it at a local petstore! try that, walmart should be your last option. Also i know at petco, and petsmart they have deals on starter tank setups! its where i bought both of mine! it comes with a 10gallon tank, fishnet(which i don't use for bettas, i scoop them up with a deep soup spoon to lesssen the stress of a net, and it keeps them in water not like the net does!), gravel, fish conditioner, food and cover with lights! for only $30USD. its a good deal and all you need then is a heater for 10 bucks that heats up a 10-15 gallon tank! LOL and yeah stubborn fish we do have, but thats the best part of it, bettas will let you know how they feel in a wierd way!! lol glad to hear that he's doin a lot better!! check out my tank, bettas and fry collection [Registered users only can see links. ]

[FishMomma]

The recommendation for heaters is to have 5 watts per gallon so if you get a 10 gallon tank, then your heater should be around 50 watts. I got the Hydor Mini at Petsma*t and when I was there yesterday, they still carry them. It does a great job for my 2.5 gallon tanks. While they normally stay around 78-80 degrees F, in the winter they'll drop down to 74 which is just too chilly for them I think. This heater will heat the tank to around 80 and it constantly stays there. When you first put a heater in the tank, slowly heat the tank up a degree or so every 2 hoursand that will give you fish time to adjust to temp changes.

Glad to hear about Leonid! I actually was wondering about him this morning so I'm glad to hear that he is returning to his normal self . . . bad personality and all! LOL!

Let me know if you have any other questions!