strange betta behavior

Question

My Betta   QUESTION: For the past week or so my male betta fish has been acting odd. He has been staying in corners and around rocks in his tank. His favorite spots are wedged up against a rock in the bottom left corner and against the heater in the top right corner. He became lethargic before he lost his appetite. He began by eating less than usual and today he did not eat at all. I attributed his odd behavior to poor conditions of the tank.

I have a 10 gallon tank with no other fish in it. It has fake plants and a few rocks as decorations. I do have a filter and i always keep it running, the filters are replaced regularly. The water, i am not always as good with. It evaporates quickly and i keep the tank filled to the top with fresh tap water. After adding the new water i use tap water conditioner according to the instructions. If there is any algae i will add an algae killer, check the pH and be done. I remove all decorations from the tank and clean them using warm water and a tooth brush about once a month and vacuum out the stones at the bottom. He began acting strangely a few weeks after the cleaning. The water leaves a white residue one the heater end edges. I don't know if that could be a factor or if it is completely pointless...more details are good right :) When he began acting odd i check the pH and adjusted it. His water seems fine.

The next day he was still acting odd so i checked him out. This was NOT easy because he has been hiding and refuses to move. When i did this i became quite nervous - he has a lump on each side of his body. I did my research and his underside is not bloated making me think it may not be constipation. It seems to be located more on the sides of his body closer to his head than tail. I also do not think it is dropsy, however there is a chance. His scales are sticking out only on the lumps and only at about 10 degrees. Nothing like the full body 90 degree scales seen in photos of dropsy. He does lean against the rocks, i thought that he might be itching his bumps. Hopefully, i can help him. I am beginning to worry about my poor little Betta :(

I worry that the problem is the food i am feeding him. I used to have multiple fish in the tank so i had a generic food i was told would be okay for all the fish. However, the other fish have long since died and now my Betta is alone. I did not, however, change the food to be Betta specific. He eats TetraMin tropical flakes and TetraColor tropical flakes. Typically he eats them up, lately he hasn't touched them.

I did recently increase the temperature of his water. It was originally at 76 degrees, however, it is winter here and i worried that the temperature was too cold so i raised it to 80 degrees. I recently read online that raising the temperature to about 86 can help them heal so i put it at 84. I also though that he might me staying close to the heater because he is cold.

I am very worried about the bulges on his sides. I have though about feeding him peas, giving him an Epsom salt bath, giving him some kind of medication, or doing a full out water change. If you have any advice i would GREATLY appreciate it. He is in such a pathetic little state, i really want him back to his happy self. :)

p.s. I'm sorry i don't have a picture of his bumps, he is hiding and it's an impossible angle. I do however have a picture of the Betta (he's so pretty :D) i don't think that will help, but oh well - what the heck. It can't hurt right? i will try to get a picture of the bumps in the morning - i have stayed up until 2am researching Betta illnesses.

ANSWER: Mackenzie,

 When you add water to his tank, always add the conditioner to that water before you add it to the tank. I would also get a water testing kit. Do not use the stripes because they are not accurate. Use a liquid testing kit. The ammonia and nitrites have to be at zero (0)at all times and the nitrates no more than 20ppm. I would also stop using the algae killer. There are ways to help prevent algae. Only use a light that is made for aquariums, do water changes regularly and only leave the light on for 8-9 hours. Since he has the "lumps" on both sides, I would think it is either constipation or a blockage. For that I would fast him for 2 days. On the third day, cook him a frozen pea. When the pea has been cooled, take the outer shell off and throw it away. DO NOT feed him the shell because he cannot digest it, then fast him again for 2 days. Do not rule out dropsy. The pictures you see online are of fish with the final stages. If you look at him from above and his scales are sticking out then is might be dropsy. I would change his food right away. Flake food fed to them too much can cause problems. Feed him pellets for Betta's, frozen and freeze dried blood worm and brine shrimp. Its good to change his diet around. I would also pick a day to fast him and then the next day feed him the pea. This will help prevent swim bladder disease and constipation. Keep his water at 82 degrees at all times. We only raise it higher when treating some diseases. When raising the water temperature always do it slowly. Never go up more than 2 degrees in one day. DO NOT give him any medication at this time. We only treat with meds when we know exactly what is wrong. Since you have the algae remover in the water we don't want any more chemicals for him to swim in.

If after you change his food, keep his water at 82 degrees, feed him the pea, and do regular water changes, he is not better or he gets worse let me know.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


My poor sick Betta   QUESTION: hello again,
i went to clean my Betta's tank today and when i took all of his decorations out i got a better look at him. I noticed that the bump was mainly on the right side and barely at all on the left. I also noticed a red-ish tint to him. I looked it up and it said that some illnesses such as Velvet can be detected when you shine a flashlight on the fish. When i did the i noticed that he was EXTREMELY red compared to his normal color. I am very worried. His bump is discolored and does not look good. He STILL will not eat and remains to lamely lay on the bottom of the tank, with the occasional movement. I attached a picture. On the left is what he looked like before the flashlight and on the right is what he looks like with the flashlight shined on him. All four images show his right side (the side with the bump).

Today i changed about 75% of his water. I worry that it was too drastic but i read online that i should change the water ASAP. I have yet to put the decorations back in and i have been letting the water filter. (i also replaced the filter) i went to the store and bought pellets and blood worms - he wont touch them. I also was sure to mix the water conditioner in before filling the tank like you said. I do have a test strip kit and not a liquid one. (only the pH is liquid - all the rest is strips) according to the kit the water was fine. It only said that it was  tad hard. We have well water and that is what i use to fill his tank. It can have minerals in it - could this be what is turning him the copper color? actual copper perhaps? or is it a parasite like Velvet?

Any advice would be appreciated at this point. I am trying to do anything i can to keep him alive.

Answer
Mackenzie,

 Wow, he has a few problems going on. 75% is a large volume of water. The most you ever want to change more that 50% at one time. I think he actually has a blockage. Might be due to the flake food he has been eating. If you are using a water conditioner I doubt its the well water. He also looks like he has velvet but I do not think he will survive the treatment. On top of all that he has a very bad case of fin rot. Looks like he has had this for awhile. Again I am not sure he will survive the treatment for that as well. What we can try is an Epson Salt bath. If the lump has liquid in it the Epson salts will draw it out. In a 1 gallon container dissolve 1 teaspoon of Epson salts in clean water the same temp as his tank and with a water conditioner. Once the salt has dissolved, let him swim in it for 15 mins. Stay with him the whole time so that if he starts to have a problem you can remove him right away. I would do this twice a day for a few days. Always make the salt water fresh and never reuse the salt water. I do not know if this will help him but it is worth a try. Do not feed him any fish food. You can try the pea again. I know he isn't eating but if you can try to get the food right to his mouth he might just eat some. The test strips are useless and should not be used. They give false readings. They might say tings are fine but they might not be the case. Make sure you keep his water perfect at all times. I am not optimistic on him surviving these problems, but Betta's have proven me wrong a few times. Try the salt water baths for a couple of day along with trying to feed him a pea and let me know how this go. Of course if he gets worse let me know as well. Good luck.