Swollen Gills on Beta?

Question

Alright so I bought a sick beta today,intentionally.Yes I know,how stupid of me but I felt horrible for him,all they did was keep him in a plastic bag with less than even ONE inch of water.Not to mention it was horribly dirty so.Anywho.He seems to have his gills extremly swollen (which I'm assuming is from the dirty water),and he seems to have trouble getting air,and hes pretty much as well..starving.He seems to swim on his side every now and then,then straighten back up.I put half of E.M. Tablet and two drops of this beta stuff that just helps him adjust to the water.Anyone have any sugguestions as to what it is,and how I can save this lil guy or at least let me know if theres anything else I can do for him.Lol i'm desperate sorta.

Answer 1

I commend you for caring for that poor fish, don't you just want to slap some people out there. I mean come on, my 7 year son would do better than that. I agree with a few of these people, since I bought my own Betta, (who cares how she spells beta, did you get the point?), I have researched the life and habitats of my fish. I think he is just oxygen starved. If you feel like it by a plant to stick in the water. It will do him allot of good. I think he should survive, but if not, I still commend you on your effort. My hat's off to you.

Answer 2

Betta Swollen Gills

Answer 3

It sounds to me like your Betta has gill flukes and has a infection in he's swimblater. Gill flukes are a type of parasite that infects the gills of fish. Your local pet shop should have medication for it. I would also add some aquarium salt to the tank. Add the salt slowly over a day or two. Do this until there is 1 teaspoon per gallon of water. The salt should help with your Betta's swimblater infection.
So you bought a sick fish. I think that we've all done that from time to time.

Answer 4

Just having clean water will probably help your betta if it's condition wasn't too bad. The rest of the symptoms indicate he'd had ammonia poisoning from being in the dirty water. Depending on how long he's been kept in poor conditions, he may make a full recovery, or not. Ammonia and nitrite bind with the oxygen carrying molecules in the blood, so this is actually a case of oxygen starvation - this can affect the brain and nervous system, which may be why his swimming isn't quite "normal". It can also affect their other organs, so he may very well not have been eating or digesting his food properly.

The best you can do for him now is to keep him in good water quality, at the right temperature (76-80o or so), and keep lights off to reduce activity.

The EM tablet may or may not have been a good idea - if his immune system isn't functioning, it could prevent secondary infections, but if the internal organs are affected, he may not be able to process the medication in his system and this could lead to dropsy. See info on dropsy and ammonia poisoning in this link: http://www.fish-disease.net/diseases.htm

Hope he recovers for you!

Answer 5

He still needs time to adjust, if you can't see any white fuzzy stuff or salt like spots on him that it may be internal. if that's the case then tetracycline or maracyn might help, follow direction carefully, meds can kill if missused. before you try all the crazy chems. try the simple and least stressful means of helping your little one heal.

if you can, monitor the temp of his bowl, you may want to place a desk lamp near it to warm the water, not bake it. ideally the temp should be around 82-86 F for a sick betta, as it helps them to heal faster. buy some epsom salts, it's cheap and you can get it at any pharmacy or grocer, disolve 1/4 tsp in some water and place about a tsp of that dilution into his bowl, it will not stress him out and it will discourage bacterial growth while he's weakened.

you can message me if you need further help. I'll get back to you fairly quickly and we can research this together.

Answer 6

Well it sounds like he is suffering from ammonia poisoning, and/or a bacterial infection. As a result he's also got a swim bladder disorder. You need to keep him in clean water, and keep him warm (75-85F). A course of antibiotics might also help. Ideally a borad spectrum one like trisulfa. (broad spectrum =~ treats both gram negative, and gram positive bacterial infections.)

PS- Honestly from your description he may very well not fully recover. Also he is very much at risk of dropsy at this point.

Answer 7

It may be too late. Not swimming upright is very bad. It sounds like you have done all you can. You may want to check with a fish specialty store (or look online for a betta website) that may be better able to help.

Answer 8

Hmm lets see you bought a poorly kept betta fish and his gills are swolen.
First let me ask, by trouble breeding, do you mean he is sticking his head out of the water and making big gulps, if so that is natural and that is what they do.
If by saying his gills are swolen, you mean they are flaring by sticking out and him staring at you, that is also natural. I dont exactly have a picture of the fish but if you can send one to my email i will be happy to assist you. Email is [e-mail]. Also if you have aim i can help through that too

But be aware that even if your betta was really sick, treatment is costly, and worth more then the fish itself. If the fish is sick and you dont want to cure it then i would suggest taking it out back and chopping the head off.

Answer 9

It feels like his gills are flaring, which they do evidently. you place him in a clean atmosphere which could in specific situations make the fish timid and conceal, or, he might desire to be seeing his mirrored photograph and getting aggressive. Do you glide the fish in a bag or bowl to synchronize the water temp beforehand you place him in there?

Answer 10

u shud go to a vet, theres not much u can du - its a fish.. u cant xactly operate on it! (btw, - ur username seems rascist, cus of the aryan race... nazis...bad..)neway, gd luk n how the litl fish survives :)