Battered Betta

My lovely little male betta is a bit the worse for wear today. I have just gone up to feed him and couldn't see him anywhere. A good scout round of the tank, and I saw some red stuff billowing out of the holes in the spray bar -it was his fins!!

I have no idea how he got in there because one end of the spray bar us solid, and the other end was attached to the filter outlet, so the only holes that he could swim through were the ones where the water flow is supposed to come out, and they are way smaller than him! It really is a mystery.

Anyway, I had to shake the bar quite vigorously to get him out - he was stuck- and now he is looking decidedly ill. He has lost a lot of colour, obviously from the stress, and the fins are just shredded. He can swim, and has made it to the surface a couple of times for air which is a good sign, but the rest of the time he just sits on the bottom, which is not the best of signs.

I have added some Melafix for the finnage - anything else I should do? Needless to say the spray bar has been disconnected and thrown away!

Poor Betta. Leave him be for 24 hours and hopefully he'll recover...

Thanks Mary. I have just checked on him, and fortunately he has got his colour back. His body after I rescued him from the pipe was really pafe, just a sort of grey/pinky shade, but now he is all a lovely scarlet again, although his fins look like they have been through the wringer.

Hopefully he will recover, and I will do a water change tomorrow and add a bit more melafix for him. Fingers crossed!

Melafix and pimafix tbh - HALF doses tho as ive heard some people say bettas dont like melafix etc (others say they aint bothered - perhaps its dependant on the water chemistry)

secondary fungal infections are all too common after bacterial infection - Id also suggest small daily water changes as well.

I cant remember what sort of tank the betta is in off hand - but I personally think the best filter for bettas is a sponge air filter - failing that -I have found eheim aquaball internal filters to be fry safe so must be fine for bettas too.

He's just in a clearseal tank Rich, about 20litres or so - no lights or filter just a lid, so I have got a small fluval filter going. I might have a look at the aquaball filters and see what they are like. I want the little fella to be happy in his home

you should be happy he's still alive...

one of mine jumped out of his tank and god only knows what happened, i found him nearly six feet away from his home, under the sofa, and he looked more like a black rock than a blue fish. poor thing must have jumped in the middle of the night and i found him at ten in the morning.

Well I'm glad to hear he survived the night, Diana. That's a good sign.

in a 20liter with just a betta - an air driven sponge is more than enough in all honesty and possibly the easiest option all round - the only problem you have right now is that you cant exactly just put one in and remove the fluval so you may have to blast cycle the sponge elsewhere.

Aquaballs are very good, and very efficient and adjustable flow too - I had a betta in a tank with an aquaball and he was fine with the flow - they are a bit expensive but the cheapest source is charterhouse aquatics.

DONT get the smallest size - its not 'upgradable' get the next size up - the powerheads are in fact the same - its the economics of the extra baskets (addons) that makes the next size up the best price and value

Ive just been looking at filters Rich. I have looked at the sponge filters but think the air pump may be a bit noisy for a bedroom setting, although they do look ideal.

The aquabals - I have never tried them, but have been looking at them as a possibility for this tank.

id go with making an diy air filter for him mate as these are perfect for betta's here is a link to show how they are made...

http://livebearers.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=454

Thanks for the link, but as soon as I see a drill in the explaination I switch off these days. I am more into stuff I can just buy, unpack and stick in the tank!

other then that try and buy a discus sponge filter on ebay they are around 7 each but are well worth it

Thanks, I'll have a look at them, hadnt thought of ebay

hope your betta's better today diana must you wonder how they get onto these
place's


dekker

try and put a plant pot in and stand it sideways he might want to hide some where thats why he might of got into this place...

plant pot or coconut with a hole in

Thats a good idea, thanks for that. He has got some plants in there but nowhere he can really go and hide like a little cave etc. I'll have a look for a small one, thanks

yea there is alot on ebay at the min with coconuts etc so just have a look round mate somthing might of spooked him and made him go into this place they are spooked easily

Thanks matt, will do. I need to have a look round and find the best way to decorate his tank to keep him happy, loads of plants I believe are one way. Ive got some but maybe could do with a few more.

Hows things with you anyway?? Still getting loads of fish in???

ow yes mate had a whip out lost all my shrimps / corys / shell dwellers / BN plecs the bloody heater jammed !!!

but bought some new fish too :
breeding pair of angelfish collect sunday with 400 fry
8 breeding corys have around 400 eggs will be available on here soon for sale !
redhorn snails loads and loads of them lol
L213 wild caught bristlenose
and a massive 10" wild caught L330
and 4 wild redhead geos for breeding too

so been busy collecting fish really lol
i will be making more caves etc for cichlids / bettas but will be a few weeks
cheers for asking mate

I used to have a heap of plants (fakes) in one corner and a cave - all my bettas used to curl up wrapping themselves up intheir own tail and 'sleep' ontop of the plants.

If you want it - ive still got a good amount of 'betta' food I made up (all my smaller fish love it though) - if you want/need it - pm me your address.

pm on its way Riich

I agree that a hiding place is a good idea for a Betta. My fellow has a little rock cave that he "sleeps" in...

Make sure that whatever is in the tank - there are no sharp or even slightly rough edges - bearing in mind how much their finnage flows I feel its more important than with many other fish.

Id also suggest a fine substrate on the off chance your betta is a 'sleep onthe floor' type as one of my females was (the odd one out)

I might go for sand tbh Rich. I have been mullling over changing to sand in my main trop tank but can't face the hassle at thre mo. I'm also going to get some much better planting in there - fake of course.