breathing problems

[jade71301]

My betta seems to be having problems breathing, his gills are moving rapidly. Been like that for 2 weeks now. I put fungus eliminator in the water and now he seems better than befor and is actually eating now, but the breathing is still not normal. if his gills are inflamed what meds can i use to heal that??? he looks normal color and is swimming ok. Dunno what else to do. I am afraid he is suffering and wondering if i should put him down??? Not that I want to but dunno what else to do. My poor Betta Please help.

 

[AesSedai]

I think Nitrite poisoning can cause that (check on this maybe). Have you done a water change? What are your parameters?

 

[jade71301]

I read about that too on betta talk last night. However I started using the blue methaline for a week and it didn't work. Now its been 12 days I have been using the fungus eliminator and it has helped a bit he is eating now. The only thing is I can't keep adding meds in the water cause it can cause kidney problems. Don't know what to do anymore. Water is fine my bf checked it for me so its not the water.

 

[jade71301]

Yesterday, I Changed the water and put no more meds in my betta's tank. Anyway now he is really breathing heavy and is swimming almost on his back and standing up then falling on his back. He did a few other days ago too, but he was ok after I accidently dropped his light trying to open his lid. Today though I think he is dying. I want to put him out of his miserey but am not sure if that is a good idea so am asking for your opinions. What would you do. My poor aries my heart is breaking. I just checked the water since i finally gave in and bought a testing kit, and the nitrates are 0.0 or if you round 0.09 then it would be 0.1, so that is good I am gathering. HAve a question though I am wondering about with betta fish. The lady at the pet store told me that bettas can live 7-10 years and that only to change the water once a month not even, and she said you are only supposed to feed them once a week. Here is what i have been doing. Changing the water every two or three weeks, and feeding them every day 3 or 4 pellets a day. Wonder if that is why i am having bad luck with my betta fish? What is your take on this. Yet my bf has a betta and changes the water every week and feeds him 3 times a day 2 pelletes each feeding and his is still alive and we got them both the same day and use the same type of tank. DON"T KNOW ANYMORE !!!!!! Anyway, thanks for listening and for your responses.

 

[jade71301]

Well Aries has died. Found him lying on his side not moving my poor baby aries r.i.p little guy.

 

[homebunnyj]

I'm sorry to say you haven't been changing the water nearly enough. Is it a fish bowl or a filtered tank? You need to change about a fourth of the water in a filtered tank once a week. You need to change all the water in a bowl weekly or about half the water every three days or so.

Did you check for ammonia and nitrites? You only posted a result for nitrates. Whenever you have a sick fish you need to check for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Post these three results on the board. (You will get more responses and they will be more helpful if you do; many of us don't know what to say when a poster gives insufficient information.)

How about testing Spike's water right now, as well as your five gallon tank and post up the numbers just for practice and so you can get a good idea about the health of your other two tanks. Then you can get some good advice regarding your tank maintenance so that you will hopefully be able to avoid having other fish deaths.

The woman who told you that keeping a betta in dirty water will make it live for seven or more years is a fool. Bettas who live for four or more years are the ones that are well cared for, with frequent water changes and proper feeding. (Once a day is usually enough feeding.)

 

[jade71301]

Thank you for that nice statement Thats what I thought if you have a betta in a bowl, you should clean it every week and feed them once a day. In my opinion they have been kept in a little area all their life now its time they live the good life and get treated like kings I will post the results when i get around to checking the water maybe later tonight have lots to do and no time now.