Betta help?!

Dec 14, 2017
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#1
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went to feed my betta two days ago and he was having a difficult time trying to grasp onto any of his food, he ended up darting around the bowl and then floated to the surface flavoring his gills. It seems like he can't breathe, he was in a bowl so we put him in a new clean bowl thinking it's ammonia poisoning. He's still not doing good after adding the aquarium salt and doing 25% water change. We've also noticed a small lump just under his gills. He has a little hut in the new bowl and lays on the roof to be closer to the surface. We tried food again and still he can't seem to grab ahold of anything. Can anyone help? We are going to be getting a new tank with filter and heater but what can we do in the mean time to help him?
 

FreshyFresh

Superstar Fish
Jan 11, 2013
1,337
23
38
East Aurora, NY
#2
Was this betta just purchased? The poor buggers are usually very unhealthy when you buy them due to being kept in cups, etc.

Are you using a quality water treatment/dechlorinator such as Seachem Prime? There's other good ones out there too.

I'd skip the salt and concentrate on keeping the water changed. You should have an API master test kit to allow you to measure for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in PPM. Test strips are OK as backup and a rough idea of what you've got going on.

Warmer water will help speed along bacterial or parasitic issues, but something viral or otherwise it won't help.
 

Dec 14, 2017
2
0
1
#3
We've had him for a few months now, he's been fine with our weekly water changes up until now. Our pet shop said to just keep changing the water and add in the salt. We just want to know what is actualy wrong with him as we haven't found anything that matches his symptoms. We're also worried about feedings, he hasn't eaten in almost a week and every day we try but he's just not able to get anything.
Was this betta just purchased? The poor buggers are usually very unhealthy when you buy them due to being kept in cups, etc.

Are you using a quality water treatment/dechlorinator such as Seachem Prime? There's other good ones out there too.

I'd skip the salt and concentrate on keeping the water changed. You should have an API master test kit to allow you to measure for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in PPM. Test strips are OK as backup and a rough idea of what you've got going on.

Warmer water will help speed along bacterial or parasitic issues, but something viral or otherwise it won't help.