# One Gill Cover stick out



## Song (Mar 23, 2015)

*One Gill Cover sticks out*

So a few nights ago I looked in on my Betta, Stormy, and noticed one gill cover was sticking out unusually. Unsure of what might be wrong, I did some research and found information relating to possible gill disease related to ammonia. I do regular water changes, but until I could test my water I was cautious and went ahead and did a 70% water change and began treating with Aquarium salt and Betta fix. 

He is still acting exactly the same with no changes in behavior, and as far as I can tell there is no signs of any other issues such as fungus or parasites that I can see, and no significant signs of redness, and no labored breathing. He has continued to act normal over the past 3 days. 

I have debated on treating with tetracycline or possibly try the Tetra Lifeguard (but I also don't want to stress him or the mystery snail out if it's unnecessary). Is is possible that it could be a trauma related injury? Would I be better served to just discontinue the treatment and wait and see if Stormy's behavior changes? Any thoughts as to why he suddenly might have this issue?

I included the best picture I could get.

Housing 
What size is your tank? 5 Gallon
What temperature is your tank? 74 to 76
Does your tank have a filter? Yes. It's a corner filter powered with an airstone containing media along with sponge filters - no carbon.
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? See above
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Black Mystery Snail

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? TopFin Betta Bits and Bloodworms
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day, 2 pellets. Bloodworms in place of a normal meal once a week.

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 20 to 25% on a weekly change. I do a 60 to 70% change once a month.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Stress Coat

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
I do not have a test kit, but have had it tested at a local pet store with the test strips (yes, I understand they aren't that accurate)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: it shows very slightly pink - it's not 0 but it's not dark enough to match the first reading - I would guess around 5, maybe 10
pH: 7.2
Hardness: Slightly Hard 
Alkalinity: between 120 and 180

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? His one gill cover has been sticking out
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? No changes in behavior. He's still very active with an excellent appetite. Does not appear to be in distress or having difficulties breathing. Everything is normal except for the gill cover sticking out.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Approx 4 days ago - Thurs the 19th
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I started with a 70% water change and added 1 Tablespoon of Aquarium Salt and 2 teaspoons of Bettafix. I have been doing daily 25% water changes, adding a teaspoon of Aquarium Salt and continuing the Bettafix.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not since I've had him
How old is your fish (approximately)? I purchased my Betta about 2 months ago.


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## Ekoyuhale (Jan 14, 2015)

He looks fine to me. It is all the time? He might just be breathing a little hard and it looks funny to you. I see my guy like that sometimes, usually after he's been flaring.

If nothing else seems wrong, I'm not sure you should be medicating him. If it is ammonia related, clean water should be all he needs. Don't want to stress him out needlessly! 

The only thing I see is maybe you aren't doing quite enough by way of water change. I change my 5G 50% twice a week, though I've heard once a week is fine. If you can get a test kit asap, it'll be easy to know if your changes are doing their job and if ammonia is a problem or not.

If your heater is adjustable, then you could bump it up to 78-80 F, but if not it's not a huge deal. Maybe switch conditioner to Seachem Prime... but that's just me being nitpicky xD

Good luck!


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## Song (Mar 23, 2015)

Ekoyuhale said:


> He looks fine to me. It is all the time? He might just be breathing a little hard and it looks funny to you. I see my guy like that sometimes, usually after he's been flaring.


It's not just breathing. When you look at him straight on or from overhead you can see the gill cover sticking out to the side while the other one is fine. I had some more time this morning to wait out my fish and I got a better picture of him straight on.



Ekoyuhale said:


> If nothing else seems wrong, I'm not sure you should be medicating him. If it is ammonia related, clean water should be all he needs. Don't want to stress him out needlessly!


My concern that promted me to add the bettafix is that it could have been a bacterial infection causing inflammed gills and was trying to be proactive before he started showing signs of breathing issues until I could do more adequate research on the issue. I did not add any bettafix yesterday as his issue appears to be harmless to wait and and see how he does.



Ekoyuhale said:


> The only thing I see is maybe you aren't doing quite enough by way of water change. I change my 5G 50% twice a week, though I've heard once a week is fine. If you can get a test kit asap, it'll be easy to know if your changes are doing their job and if ammonia is a problem or not.


One of the reasons I don't do twice a week water changes is because I have both a moss ball and some java ferns as well to help with the water quality. 



Ekoyuhale said:


> If your heater is adjustable, then you could bump it up to 78-80 F, but if not it's not a huge deal. Maybe switch conditioner to Seachem Prime... but that's just me being nitpicky xD
> 
> Good luck!


Out of curiosity, why do you recommend Prime over Stresscoat?


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## Ekoyuhale (Jan 14, 2015)

Ah yeah, I see what you mean. Straight on, that really doesn't look normal. Huh.

Prime detoxes ammonia for a time, which I don't believe stress coat does. I've heard plenty of good things about stress coat though, Prime is just my preference. ...looks like I was feeling nitpicky last night xD sorry about that

hopefully someone that knows more about gill issues will pop in soon

Out of curiosity, can he flare normally?


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## Song (Mar 23, 2015)

No worries about being nitpicky. I was just wondering why the preference. It's always good to learn new things.

I've never really seen him flare since I've had him, and I don't want to add stress to him by trying to get him to flare. I do know the other gill cover moves with normal breathing habits, just never seen a full flare.


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## Ekoyuhale (Jan 14, 2015)

Hmm. Until someone who knows better can pop in, I think all I can suggest in good faith is possibly daily water changes. A lot of the time, clean water goes a long way.

I found an older thread that may be able to help in the meantime: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=45161

Good luck!


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## jato (Jan 12, 2015)

Definite plus one to seachem prime! Prime is generally whats recommended here, stress coat is included in prime. It also, and more importantly, detoxified ammonia for 24 hours.

Ok, yep def looks like there may be some damage. Looks very similar to my old first betta's battle with ammonia. He was a Walmart rescue and while he was on the mend I was still new to betta keeping and he couldn't handle a spike that occurred.

So lets get started, IF ammonia is the cause. Please do not trust store tests.

Meds: If there's no other symptoms, I wouldn't.

Aquarium salt: +1 on starting it, remember, 1 tsp per gal. Change the water frequently, don't do longer for 10 days. Start with 5 days, if its not better by then go another 5 days. Longer than 10 days however and youre looking at dehydration as well as internal organ stress/damage

Filter flow: No Lethargy is good! But if it starts you may want to do the following: turn down the flow for now, does he have a leaf or something he can sit on near the surface? You may need to cup him and float him at the top if hes not getting up and getting air.

Water Changes: While normally I recommend heavy water changes, however, your Betta does not seem to be as critical yet. The 70% change was a good start. Your 5g tank can accommodate a cycle. If it is not cycled you need to keep changing water more frequently. I would do at LEAST 50% weekly changes, also, your moss ball and java fern may actually CONTRIBUTE ammonia. I recommend getting an API LIQUID test for ammonia. Don't trust the stores, most of them don't know what they're doing and will lie to you, unless you saw them test specifically for ammonia they most likely did not. They did the same to me on my first betta, I just didn't know better.

Heater: Stress keeping it as close to 78 as you can.


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## Song (Mar 23, 2015)

jato said:


> Definite plus one to seachem prime! Prime is generally whats recommended here, stress coat is included in prime. It also, and more importantly, detoxified ammonia for 24 hours.
> 
> Ok, yep def looks like there may be some damage. Looks very similar to my old first betta's battle with ammonia. He was a Walmart rescue and while he was on the mend I was still new to betta keeping and he couldn't handle a spike that occurred.
> 
> ...


I'll see about getting the Prime. He does have a leaf near the top, but he's swimming normally still and getting air on a regular basis like he should be.



jato said:


> Water Changes: While normally I recommend heavy water changes, however, your Betta does not seem to be as critical yet. The 70% change was a good start. Your 5g tank can accommodate a cycle. If it is not cycled you need to keep changing water more frequently. I would do at LEAST 50% weekly changes, also, your moss ball and java fern may actually CONTRIBUTE ammonia. I recommend getting an API LIQUID test for ammonia. Don't trust the stores, most of them don't know what they're doing and will lie to you, unless you saw them test specifically for ammonia they most likely did not. They did the same to me on my first betta, I just didn't know better.
> 
> Heater: Stress keeping it as close to 78 as you can.


Without the personal water tests, I cannot guarantee the water is cycled, but along with the sponge filters in my corner filter I'm using the Seachem Matrix Media for the bacteria to establish to help with cycling the tank. I've had this filter set up for just over a month now. 

After Ekoyuhale's suggestion of increasing the temp it's now up to around 78.

I watched the store do the strip tests, and they did specifically do an ammonia test strip. The test didn't show any signs of green at all. 

I'm still doing the 20-25% daily water changes and today is day 5 of the salt treatment. He's still swimming, breathing, and acting completely normal. I plan on stopping the salt but will continue with the small water changes for a few more days and see how he responds. 

I didn't think of it when I made the original post, but I did have some overgrowth of algae not long before the gill problem. It was growing on everything - walls, plants and gravel. My fault because I was leaving his light on for far too long. I thoroughly scrubbed everything and left his light off (except just to turn it on just to feed) for several days to get the algae under control. Would that have caused a spike of ammonia - or a sign of excess ammonia - in the tank?


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## jato (Jan 12, 2015)

Yes plant growth, or more specifically death, can cause a massive spike in ammonia. (That's why I haven't tried a planted tank yet, theyre so pretty but they can have serious consequences for the fish if not kept properly).

Off of everything you've posted it sounds like things or on the mend  I would stop salt water treatment and see how he does tomorrow. Do a 50% change to help get some of that salt out.

Accidents happen, its how we learn  You've made some great strides in improving your tank. The only other thing I have to recommend right now is getting an API liquid ammonia test kit whenever you can. Far more accurate than the strips. I'll watch for updates!


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## Song (Mar 23, 2015)

So far so good. I did the 50% water change on the 24th and have left his tank alone for the past 3 days. His gill cover is nearly back to normal, only sticks out just a very slight amount. Still happy and healthy and eating like his normal piggy self. I fed him a treat of Blood Worms last night an you'd think he had been starved near to death.

I'm going to go with an ammonia spike and that I caught it before it started causing any noticeable distress to Stormy - other than the gill cover issue.


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## jato (Jan 12, 2015)

Glad to hear!

Ammonia is the silent killer that is responsible for a majority of new fish illness' as it is not commonly discussed, especially by local stores selling fish. (Which they should be hammering on, but I guess on their end its good for business)

It sadly took my first betta, glad you were able to catch on before it harmed yours


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