sick betta :(

[LuVaLLcreatureS]

Hi all,

I dont post on this forum often, but rather am an avid reader..I am having a problem w/ my female betta and am looking for any advice/suggestions/information

She was living happily in a 20 gal. community tank w/ some small danios, rasboras, platties, loaches, etc. and over the last week or so I have noticed shes been acting strange. She was not coming up to the top for food immediately as she usually does and was hanging out at the bottom more (she generally liked to stay towards the top) I bought some medication for her (BettaFix) but did not begin to treat her until this weekend when I noticed her laying on her side at the bottom and breathing very rapidly. I removed her from the 20 gal. and placed her in an isolation tank for treatment. It is the second day of the treatment and she seems about the same (shes also not eating :( ) Any ideas what could be wrong with her....I am stumped :confused:

[mr gerbil]

Is she dead yet? Laying over usually indicates that they've got under 12 hours to go.

Do you know what the water conditions are? Although as she's the only fish affected, it may be an infection or internal problem.
Are there any external symptoms? In the end, there isn't really a great deal of info to go on in this case, but I'd recommend treating her with antibiotics if she's still alive. Most meds will do this anyway- and as you've already started treatment, this should be ok.
You could also add some salt to the tank, as this tends to help relieve the fish. Check to see if salt's compatible with the meds.
Any external symptoms would really help- marks, lumps, gill activity/inflammation, etc.

[LuVaLLcreatureS]

Yes, my little girl passed on during the night, she was dead this morning when I turned on the light :( She really didnt have any external problems at all, there was no gill inflammation that I could distinguish...the only thing noticeably wrong was the rapid breathing, lethargy and lack of appetite, so I am baffled :confused:

Even though I was too late for her, I do appreciate your advice mr. gerbil :) thanx for the input

[LuVaLLcreatureS]

oh, and btw, I was using aquarium salt in her treatment tank...I use it in all my tanks anyway ;-)

[Tattoo]

fish are complicated, my beta died about a week ago, she kept jumping out of the water and i put a lid on her tank, she kept jumping and jumping till she kicked the bucket. funny thing is that she was with my male in the same tank with the same water, (with a glass seperator in between them of course) and he's still alive and well.

[Shrelana]

I had a similar instance with my 2nd betta....he actually went about 48 hours, but finally passed...if anyone ever finds out what's wrong with them when they do that, maybe we can figure out a way to fight it....

[dog mad]

I'm sorry for you'r loss.

[mr gerbil]

Fish laying over and respiring rapidly is a general reaction to extreme stress/pain. It's not so much a symptom of a specific problem- once the fish is on its side, death usually occurs within 12 hours (unless it's a water quality problem that's fixed quickly).
After hours of research, I found little to nothing on treatments after the reaction's started. I'm working on possibilities, but nobody seems to have written down guidelines on what to do in that situation.

In the end, euthanasia's probably the best option once the fish has reached such a bad state.