how to cure sick betta fish?

Question

I have an adult male betta that I got about 5 months ago. I think he may be constipated and also have fin rot. Up until now, he has been doing great. About a week ago I noticed that his stomach was very bloated, so I haven't been feeding him very much, and he doesn't eat it anyways. I also noticed that he has a large tear in his tail and his other fins look ragged on the end. HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!! I have done some research, but every site tells me something different, so if someone can tell me what I need to do for my betta to get better, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

You didn't specify how you care for your betta, but I'm going to guess he's in a bowl of some sort.
That is what is making him sick.

I know petstores tell you that you can keep bettas in bowls with no heat, but you can't. And here's why:
Bettas are originally from Thailand. Their water there is 80F. They do NOT live in tiny muddy puddles ; actually, they live in wide expanses of warm, shallow, slow moving water. They CAN survive cold / dirty conditions for a while, because they are hardy and can breathe air, but they will not thrive.

So, you will need to upgrade your betta's living conditions if you want him to recover. The perfect home for a betta is a 5 gallon tank with a small heater and filter, that has 30% water changes every week.
If you keep him in a tank too cold, he will get sick. He will not be able to metabolize his food properly and will get bloated. Without a filter, the ammonia he produces just builds up in the water, causing fin rot.

You can likely get a nice 5 gal tank with all accessories for 30$ or less from a petstore, or even used (try craigslist.com). In the meantime, increase the air temperature of your house and move his bowl closer to a lamp. Note that his water temp without a heater will be about 10F less than the air temp.
You will have to do DAILY water changes. Get a clean turkey baster and, every day, remove 50% of the water along with any uneaten food and poop, and replace with fresh water.

You can also treat with Melafix, for the finrot.

To treat the bloat: for 2 days, do not feed him. Then offer him small pieces of shelled pea, for 3 days. Then do not feed him for another 2 days. Then you can resume feeding normally - 2-3 pellets, twice a day.

Answer 2

if he is bloated and wont eat it could be bad -- is he swimming regualarly? is he bloated everywhere or just is stomach? its a tough call. you can try epsom salt baths -- just google epsom salt and betta and you will get directions. its good for constipation and some swim bladder problems. you can also try feeding him frozen daphnea. it acts as a laxitive and most bettas will eat them no matter how sick they are.

for fin rot you need to separate fin loss from fin rot.


fin loss is bits of torn fin -- their fins are delicate and tear easily. for fin loss it helps to feed them more protien -- like frozen bloodworms for a few days a week. add some melafix to the water and his fins should be better in no time.

fin rot is completely different. his fins will flake off like you flake off dead skin when you are dry. sometimes it happens really quickly. and they can lose 1/2 their fin in a day or two. you need antibiotics for fit rot. use maracyn and maracyn2 in combination or ask for a gram negative and gram positive antibiotic.

Answer 3

If you think he is backed up (Bloat), then adding Epsom salt to the water will make him poop.

Add 1/8 teaspoon of Epsom salt for every 5 gallons of water and monitor for two weeks. Check for signs of bacterial infection or parasites for further treatment.