Waldo is sick

[crazy_cat]

I turned his light on this morning and no Waldo! He was laying at the bottom of the tank. So I opened the top to feed him and he didn't move. I thought ok he is sleeping but 4 hours later he has only moved a little and is laying on his plant. He looks really swelled and his eyes are swellled as well. His ph was fine monday and I checked it today and it was between 7.6 and 7.8 so I added decreaser to the tank to bring that down. His tank has problems with brown algae and I can't get rid of it. I have done water changes, cleaned his castle and plants even added the worthless algae tablet and every week it is full of brown algae. I am getting ready to move him to the betta bowl once the water heats up and break the tank down and scrub it and run boiling water over his castle and plants. I am just worried he is beyond help!! He won't even flare at himself now. The scales around his face are very light now. He is a dark red so they really stand out. What the heck happened to him over night? I have some meds that I can put in the tank once I clean the algae out for pop eye and such. Any suggestions or is Waldo on his way out?

 

[FishQueen]

Sounds like he's got a bad case of popeye and dropsy. I'd try hand feeding him part of a cooked pea and see if he'll eat it in case of constipation. Still, for the dropsy and popeye, treat the tank with Maracyn 2. That should help. Good luck with your guy.

 

[crazy_cat]

Thanks for the reply!! I moved him to his old betta bowl that has coppersafe in it. He ate two pellets and then sank to the bottom and has been there ever since.

I cleaned out his hex since the algae took it over again from last week!! I am going to put the meds in there and move him in the morning after his water warms up. If he makes it through this week and the meds I am getting a small Pl*co for his hex to hopefully keep the algae down. I only keep his lights on for 5-6 hours a day and he is not by a window or in direct sunlight now so I don't understand it. I am sure that is part of his problem. The hex stays so warm it is perfect for algae growth. With the lights off it is 80 degrees in there. I just hope he makes it. He is really swelled and his eyes are so swelled you can hardly see his eyeballs. He was fine last night so I don't understand it. Just have to hope he comes out of it.

 

[FishQueen]

I would stop feeding him until he gets better. While it's good that he still takes an interest in his food, it might make the dropsy worse. Plecos get really big. I'd go for an oto or two. They stay 1-2 inches and are usually compatable with bettas. They're great algae eaters, too. Good luck!