Odis the Beta fish....

Question
QUESTION: I too am desperate. We have had Odis ,the male Beta ,since February. He was thriving, until we added Opal to his tank, a girl. Stupidly we thought a female would be ok. Now, we know of course! Opal was attacking his fins to the point in which they became very ragged and short ...so we separated them...Now, 6 weeks later he has a white dot on his head and has been slowly declining. I changed and sanitized the water about 2 weeks ago, did some algae prevention drops and conditioner as recommended. No improvement at all,in fact he has become worse. Now he is not eating and isn't swimming. He lays on the bottom of the tank on his side sometimes. I am treating him with the Beta Fix drops. This is only his first day. He is in an airfilter tank , 2.5 gallons. We are desperately trying to save him, but it looks grim. We have never owned a fish and don't know what to do beyond this. Is there any chance of survival?

ANSWER: Hi Patty;

Poor guy. Males and females can't be kept together unless it's time to spawn. Usually it's the male that beats up the female but some females are pretty aggressive, as you now know. It sounds like he has developed swim bladder failure as a result of his recent trauma. It may be also from dirty water too. Change his water at least once a week. All Bettas need their water changed at least once a week, even with good filtration. It will help his immune system too and hopefully he can recover from this. Just be sure the new water is the same temperature as his old water.  

Here is a link to an article on swim bladder issues;

http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/31/338/

I hope he feels better soon...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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

QUESTION: Chris,
 Thank you for your quick response. So, we put him in clean water with conditioner and Beta Fix in it. It is a much smaller bowl for now. Just a pint and a half. He is NOT going up for air...He is breating still, and not listing as far over but I NEVER see him go to the top for air. How is this possible? How long can this go on for him?
 Also, I read your link to swim bladder issues. It didn't seem that there was any medicine to give him...? Is that right? If he is going to make it, how soon will he recover? 2 days? 2 weeks?
Many thanks
Patty

Answer
Hi Patty;

Look under the "bacterial infections" section of that page. There are antibiotics you can try. I really can't say how long or if he is going to heal. There are several possible causes but only a couple are treatable. (Constipation and bacterial infection). This makes it a difficult problem to fix.

Since his container is so small, change his water every day. It would be better if you could put him in a shallow container so that he doesn't have to make an effort to get the top. Something wide that's glass, glazed ceramic or a brand new plastic box. Don't use metal or unglazed ceramic because they can leach out harmful things into his water. Also avoid "used" plastic containers because they could have toxins that you don't know were in there and could hurt your fish. I use pyrex or corning ware type dishes for such things. Rinse well, add water conditioner and put water in. Just put enough water to barely cover him. Here also is a link to an article with photos about a cool system set up by the owner of a "swim bladder disabled" betta that might give you some ideas;

http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/12/155/

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins