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Betta in trouble Are you there Mr Squiggle?


ineke

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One of my older female Bettas has had a squabble with a young one and the side of her face is swollen:sorrow:. I have taken her out of the tank and put her in my new cube set up alone with just plants and 1 shrimp hiding. I have added a bit of salt and an IAL and she is currently hiding under a piece of driftwood. I don't want to put any chemicals in if possible because I have some new shrimp coming next week for that tank.

Is there anything else I should do? don't know how old she is as she came as a breeder who's male had died, she is quite large and a bit ragged so guess she is not young. She's quite a bossy old girl even had my male worried!!! She has finally had her comeuppance but I don't want her to suffer too much.:)

Cheers

Ineke

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Looks liks you doing exactly what's needed without using any meds, you might want to make a tea out of a few IAL & give her a bit of a strong dose of that, make the water a nice light brown, the leaf won't release it's beneficial stuff quick enough just sitting there. Betta girls are tough little cookies & are built to handle a lot of damage as the courting process is very rough on them. Just keep an eye on her progress & if it gets any worse then you might have to put her in a quarantine tank by herself & medicate her that way. I'm pretty sure she will be ok but keep me updated on her progress :encouragement:

image-74_zpsd72ae4a5.jpg

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Hi Ineke,

Sounds like you've done the right thing putting her in a separate tank and adding some salt :) When you say her face is swollen, what exactly do you mean? Is it just a bit manky where she was bitten, or are her gills all puffy?

If it is just a little bit swollen where she was bitten then I would think the salt would be enough to help it heal and keep infection away, but if there is a lot of swelling and it is not going down, or if her gills are swollen swollen, it could be a bacterial infection or fungus. I'm by no means an expert at fish sicknesses, but from my own experience this seems to be the case.

As long as the water is kept clean, you add salt, and you betta doesn't stress out too much, she should hopefully be fine :)

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Beta squabbles do get nasty. Is the Sid elf the face just swollen or does it have open wounds ?

Hi BB from what I can see there are no open wounds as such just a few scales missing and side of face swollen. I will do as Squiggle says and make up a tea of IAL and dose her in that.

Cheers

Ineke

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Looks liks you doing exactly what's needed without using any meds' date=' you might want to make a tea out of a few IAL & give her a bit of a strong dose of that, make the water a nice light brown, the leaf won't release it's beneficial stuff quick enough just sitting there. Betta girls are tough little cookies & are built to handle a lot of damage as the courting process is very rough on them. Just keep an eye on her progress & if it gets any worse then you might have to put her in a quarantine tank by herself & medicate her that way. I'm pretty sure she will be ok but keep me updated on her progress :encouragement:

[img']http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a580/Betta_lover/image-74_zpsd72ae4a5.jpg

Thanks Squiggle will make up the tea and put her in a betta tank with it for an hours or so- I have a 2 litre tank she can go in and then I will add that water to the bigger tank and put her back in that and see how she goes. I don't want to stress her by catching her too much. I will let you know how she goes.

Cheers

Ineke

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Hi Ineke' date='

Sounds like you've done the right thing putting her in a separate tank and adding some salt :) When you say her face is swollen, what exactly do you mean? Is it just a bit manky where she was bitten, or are her gills all puffy?

If it is just a little bit swollen where she was bitten then I would think the salt would be enough to help it heal and keep infection away, but if there is a lot of swelling and it is not going down, or if her gills are swollen swollen, it could be a bacterial infection or fungus. I'm by no means an expert at fish sicknesses, but from my own experience this seems to be the case.

As long as the water is kept clean, you add salt, and you betta doesn't stress out too much, she should hopefully be fine :)[/quote']

Hi Jess

Thanks for your input. I will dose her with a tea of IAL in a smaller tank then put her back in the cube and see how she goes. Dont think gills and eyes are affected but will see better when I catch her out. This happened last night and she has been in the 20 litre cube since then but I haven't been able to get a look at her this morning so will know more once I catch her to dose her.

Cheers

Ineke

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I would reccomend leaving her in the hi strength IAL tea for a couple of days, the longer she's in that solution the better, just make sure she's on the mend before you put her back in the other tank. :encouragement:

image-74_zps10586453.jpg

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I would reccomend leaving her in the hi strength IAL tea for a couple of days' date=' the longer she's in that solution the better, just make sure she's on the mend before you put her back in the other tank. :encouragement:

[img']http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a580/Betta_lover/image-74_zps10586453.jpg

How strong should I make it? I've put 1 and a half leaves into about 2 litres of water and brought it to the boil now leaving it to steep. the cube holds 20 litres so instead of catching her I can put it straight into the cube for about 5 days as I need the cube.I can then gradually reduce the strength when I need the cube for the shrimp later next week. Hopefully by that time I will know how she is going. If she is really bad I will have to euthanise her but she was swimming yesterday in the aquarium I only noticed it when she didn't come to eat her worms that she usually eats out of my hand.

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to the best of my knowledge the IAL wont affect your shrimp anyway as they actually eat it and what not. The only issue is the browning of teh water that you may not like preventing you from viewing your new shrimp properly :)

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She should be fine, put her by herself, raise the temperature of the tank, do the IAL tea, but drip it in slowly, and just so the water is quite brown but not black.

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I have put the tea into the tank and made it quite dark, turned the light off and she has come out to have a look around which is better than hiding and I put a few blood worms in with her. She is quite a dark girl so can't get a good look with the light off and the water brown but she is swimming well. Will try the light on a bit later and feed her again to get a look.thanks for all the input.

Cheers

Ineke

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Sorry for the late reply, had to go to Physio. Looks like you're in safe hands with all the advice that's been given & it sounds like she's feeling better if she's swimming around. Just keep up the TLC & she should be fine, your nursing instincts are coming out & that's probably going to save her life. :encouragement:

image-74_zpsceba2fef.jpg

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Thanks Squiggle The tank she is in is sitting at 23.4c should I turn it up for her- it was all ready for some new shrimp.

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Try a quarter to half dose of Melafix (stronger than Bettafix) to help her speed up recovery, to my knowledge Melafix (or you can use Bettafix) does not affect the shrimp at all! I also breed Betta and find that Melafix (all natural) does help in recovery, but use in moderation (no more than half the rec dose, I'd use quarter)

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Try a quarter to half dose of Melafix (stronger than Bettafix) to help her speed up recovery' date=' to my knowledge Melafix (or you can use Bettafix) does not affect the shrimp at all! I also breed Betta and find that Melafix (all natural) does help in recovery, but use in moderation (no more than half the rec dose, I'd use quarter)[/quote']

Thanks CNgo I will see how she goes I haven't seen either Melafix or Bettafix here but I guess I probably haven't really looked for it. Might be an idea to get some for future use so will look at LFS to see if they have it otherwise I'll try ebay. She looked good when swimming but the water is a bit dark to see without the light. I don't want to try too many things at once as I won't know what helped her. At the moment it is salt and IAL.

Cheers

Ineke

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Funny enough, if your a fan of DIY, melafix is tea tree oil with an emulsifier.

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Funny enough' date=' if your a fan of DIY, melafix is tea tree oil with an emulsifier.[/quote']

Its strange how nature supplies the cures!!!!

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Melafix is a great product, most of the time natural products are much better than pharmaceutical meds, IAL & tea tree oil are great examples of this.

I don't want to try too many things at once as I won't know what helped her. At the moment it is salt and IAL.
This is a very good mentality to have as you might cause more damage than good with too many additives. It's only in very extreme or desperate cases that I bring out the nuclear weapons. Sounds like your on the right track & you're already getting positive results, keep us updated :encouragement:(not my usual style of pic but hope this helps you find some at your LFS :D)image-74_zpseb39ba18.jpg
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Melafix is a great product' date=' most of the time natural products are much better than pharmaceutical meds, IAL & tea tree oil are great examples of this.

This is a very good mentality to have as you might cause more damage than good with too many additives. It's only in very extreme or desperate cases that I bring out the nuclear weapons. Sounds like your on the right track & you're already getting positive results, keep us updated :encouragement:

(not my usual style of pic but hope this helps you find some at your LFS :D)

[img']http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a580/Betta_lover/image-74_zpseb39ba18.jpg

I've looked it up on eBay and if my LFS doesn't have it I will order some as a standby. She has gone back in hiding but pretty sure she ate a couple of worms and has been nosing around the moss in the tank. If she survives tonight I think she will make it. I'm pretty sure she is an old girl used for lots of breeding by previous owner I don't want to stress her too much and think this is a case of less is more. Will decide tomorrow what to do hopefully she will be better she is nicely nestled into a golden cane driftwood with moss on it.

cheers

ineke

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Sounds like a good idea, always good to have it in reserve. Really sounds like she's going to be all good, like I said before, Betta girls are tough as nails :encouragement:

image-74_zps7fcab810.jpg

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I was playing with some moss in the Betta's tank and she came out and swam around my fingers. Put a few more worms in for her. she actually doesn't look too bad the swelling has gone and I'm sure she is eating. Problem now is how will she be accepted back in the main tank? they were all put in together now she has been out I hope they don't pick on her. I will give her a few more days until the tank is needed for new shrimp but then she will have to go back and take her chances. I definitely have no more spare tanks nor cash to get any!!!

Cheers

Ineke

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Try placing the mean ones in breeder boxes first, place her in the tank, allow them to see each other but not touch for a week or so. This will help heaps, also ensure there is heaps of hiding spots and plants! If they get aggressive towards her after that week place them back in the breeder for another while.

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HOORAY!!! That's such good news, I'm glad she's doing better. It could go either way putting her back in the tank with the others, I'm leaning towards it being ok because there's a few girls in there & she will be able to get out of the way of any one particular girl giving her any grief.

image-74_zps340908b4.jpg

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i still don't know who caused the problem no one else has any new scars or torn fins and the tank is calm with her out. The boy is a quiet chappy I think he is hen pecked with so many females in there and stays in his own territory that no one else goes to. There is one that I could have sworn was a female and was sold as a female who is get nice fins that are growing a bit more than I expected on a girl. I'm sure I saw an egg duct on it before the fins started growing. I have a large net breeding box so if trouble starts again I will do as CNgo recommends and send the bossy one to the naughty corner for a while. I really don't have another tank except one of those tiny things they sell for males as pets but I wouldn't use one for more than a few days as I can't keep it warm. I don't think anyone would want the old girl so selling or giving her away isn't an option either. Me thinks we wait and see. She definitely cannot stay in with the shrimps!!!!!!

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