# Epsom salt? Bath vs tank? End of life?



## BettaAK (Jan 7, 2021)

Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 6
Does it have a filter? Yes- HOB
Does it have a heater? Yes
What temperature is your tank? 79.3 degrees
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No, live plants.
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?
No
Food:
What food brand do you use? NLS, bug bites
Do you feed flakes or pellets? Pellets
Freeze-dried? Occasional bloodworms
How often do you feed your Betta? How much?
Twice a day - 3-4 bug bite pieces, maybe 6 tiny little NLS pellets
Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? 1/week before fin rot. He now gets daily 10-20 percent changes (with vacuum) while his tank is recycling and he’s recovering from the fin rot. I test his water before and after changes, keeping the ammonia at no more than .25 
What percentage of water did you change? Recently he gets 10-20 percent changes daily. 
What is the source of your water? Well
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? Vacuum
conditioner? What brand of conditioner?
Seachum Prime, API quickstart
Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water _before_ the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia: 0- 0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH:8.2
Hardness (GH): 75
Alkalinity (KH): 180
* I do know the PH is a bit high, this has been an issue but he has tolerated it well the 3 years I’ve owned him

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? 3 days
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? Bloated - NOT PINECONING
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? Lethargic, possibly breathing heavy
Is your Betta still eating? Yes
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? Daily water changes with prime
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? Yes, just treated with Kanaplex + Furan-2 for fin melt
How long have you owned your Betta? 3 years
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? Lethargic, fins not full.

okay, I will try to make a long story short. After treating with Kanaplex + Furan-2, Frankie has not been himself. I’m wondering if the stress did him in, or if he has some organ damage. I know it is unfortunate and not ideal, but his whole tank had to be treated so now I am stuck doing a fish in cycle. I’m doing water changes daily, water testing, and treating with Prime. His previous room mate has been removed due to Frankies new aggression issues.
He has been lethargic and seems a little bloated to me. Although, the bloating hasn’t necessarily gotten worse since I noticed 3 days ago. Just not better. He seems to be breathing a little heavy while on the bottom of the tank. He’s still more than willing to eat. He refuses peas and Daphnia though (he’s never been a huge fan)
My question today is... what next?
I know this could be shock related although with maintenance his water parameters aren’t much different than before.
I’ve read plenty on Epsom salts.. should I treat the whole tank? Or baths? Or, I HATE to say this, do I need to accept that more stress can make this worse and it could be the end of his days...I have had him for 3 years and I bought him as a pet store adult.


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## BettaAK (Jan 7, 2021)




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## Mbpoppy (Nov 3, 2019)

Hi!
I'm not an expert with the salt bath but you could in the meantime add some indian almond leaf or plain decaf rooibos tea. 
Each has antibacterial and antifungal properties and also ease stress. You can float either or brew a tea, condition and add to tank. The water should be at least this color.


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## BettaAK (Jan 7, 2021)

Mbpoppy said:


> Hi!
> I'm not an expert with the salt bath but you could in the meantime add some indian almond leaf or plain decaf rooibos tea.
> Each has antibacterial and antifungal properties and also ease stress. You can float either or brew a tea, condition and add to tank. The water should be at least this color.


Thank you! He does have a leaf in his tank, but with the cycling and water changes the water has cleared. Tea is a great idea!


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## Mbpoppy (Nov 3, 2019)

Hang in there, --let us know how things go !


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## TheRealAndreaPond (Nov 21, 2020)

If you don’t mind, I’d like to add that weekly water changes of 10% are not quite sufficient, especially for a 6g tank. I’d recommend a weekly vacuum and water change of closer to 50%. The small water changes and your ammonia would likely be causing fin rot.


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## BettaAK (Jan 7, 2021)

TheRealAndreaPond said:


> If you don’t mind, I’d like to add that weekly water changes of 10% are not quite sufficient, especially for a 6g tank. I’d recommend a weekly vacuum and water change of closer to 50%. The small water changes and your ammonia would likely be causing fin rot.


Thank you! I copy and pasted that from my notes and must’ve forgot to change that portion 🤦🏻‍♀️ 
that has sense been changed before treating the fin rot


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## BettaAK (Jan 7, 2021)

UPDATE: 
Feel free to offer suggestions. I gave Frankie some more time, daily water changes and tried to keep a stress free environment. But with time, he progressed to not eating, constantly hiding in his coconut, and breathing somewhat heavily at the bottom of the tank. 
Yesterday I slowly added Epsom salt to his tank. I started with about 1/2 tsp per gallon. I didn’t see him the rest of the day. Today is the first time I’ve gotten a good look at him in about 5 days. He finally came out of his coconut hide. There’s looks to be less bloating. His scales look slightly “rough” but I wouldn’t call it pineconing. He hasn’t eaten but I’ll take the small victory of him swimming. 
He does do some “darting” around. I don’t want him to be too stressed by the salt, which is why I started with 1/2 tsp per gallon. Is this common? Has anyone else seen darting with Epsom salt in tank?


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## KekeTheBettaDoc (Dec 3, 2020)

I would avoid using epsom salt in the tank as it can cause an overdose unless you are testing for salinity-an epsom salt bath is more concentrated and safer.


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