# Betta Fins Turning Brown, Has Small Holes, Stomach Bloating



## alexslater17 (Feb 8, 2013)

Hello all, 

This is my first betta, my boyfriend is in the Navy and we decided that a fish would be something that would be easy for me to take care of while he is away. We decided to name him Iiro. We have had Iiro for less than a week. 

Iiro is a Double Fin Male, when we bought him, he had bright blue and green back fins that faded into purple and black as you get closer to his face. The fins under his gills were a bright red. 

He has seizures. Not joking, its pitiful, when it happens, ends up on his side on the bottom of his tank, and his fins flip and flap wildly for about 5-10 seconds, then he stops and makes a mad dash to the top for air. He does this at least once a day. 

His water was very cloudy so my boyfriend replaced about 80% of the water and added a Tetra BetaSafe Water Conditioning tablet. The water was pretty clear for about a day, then it was cloudy again. I noticed his fins were turning brown and he has some bloating a little bit in front of where his body becomes his fins. He has some small little pin holes in his fins. 

I did some looking around on this site and found a few answers that aplly a little, so I put him in a bowl for a second, dumped all his water, and but 82 deg. water in his tank I didn't put any rocks or his plant back in there. I put him in the tank again with the BettaSafe tab... 

I hope he doesn't die  HELP PLEASE!!


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## Afayed (Feb 5, 2013)

Hey I'm on my phone so I can't post them, but there are a series of questions you should answer so we can better help you out, they're in a sticky thread in this forum(diseases and emergencies)


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## alexslater17 (Feb 8, 2013)

Ok, Ill look them up and answer them real quick.


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## alexslater17 (Feb 8, 2013)

Housing 
What size is your tank? I don't really know honestly, the box the tank is in doesn't say
What temperature is your tank? Usually about 76%
Does your tank have a filter? No.
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No? There's a small hole in the lid if that counts for anything.
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Usually a small layer of rocks and a fake bush he likes to sleep under.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Tetra Betta Flakes with Color Enhancer
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1 small pinch two times a day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? 1-2 times a week.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 80%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Tetra BettaSafe Water Conditioning Tablets

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? No, we just got him less than a week ago. 
If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Pinholes in fins, darkening or fin color, some brownness.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Wont eat, not really active. Has seizures.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? A few days ago
Have you started treating your fish? Yes If so, how? I took all the rocks and plants out of his cage, did a 100% swap of his water and put a Tetra BettaSafe Conditioner tab in it with him.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? I don't really know, we got him from Petco
How old is your fish (approximately)? We got him about a week ago, and hes about 2 inches long with tail, but I don't really know.


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## Afayed (Feb 5, 2013)

A few more questions:
1.Is he pooping?
2.Can you post a picture?
3.Is there any other discoloration/odd spots on him?

But anyways, from what I see, here is what I think:

-Fin rot! This comes from either unclean water or stress (which can be brought on by several things) The pinholes in his fins are most likely from this, what I've done in the past is keep the water extremely clean (water changes every day or so, depending on your tank size) and treat with AQ salt for about 10 days or so~

-Water. Im not sure your water parameters since you havent tested them yet(you can usually take it to your LFS and have them test it for you) this COULD be the root of most of your problems, I've always had more luck with the drops in comparison to the tablets. His 'seizures' could actually be bouts of pain caused by wonky water problems (does he have any ammonia burns??)

-Stress. If all your water turns out to be ok, he could be going through stress. Buying a heater for him would help stabilize the temp in his bowl and could help reduce stress as well as keep him healthy in the future

-Bloating. There are a couple things I've seen to cause bloating, none of the fish I've had have ever had it. But, from my understanding, bloating usually come from one or more of the following: Overfeeding, constipation, dropsy, tumors 


What I recommend: 

Go to your LFS and pick up some AQ salt or order some IAL online, either have your water tested or buy a testing kit, get de-stress/water conditioner drops and buy a heater(I promise, it does them wonders, make sure you have a thermometer to monitor temp as well)

Do a 100% water changes with either the AQ salt or IAL added

Dont feed him for a day, watch for reduction in bloating

Let everyone know if that helps, and most likely we all can try and help you further~


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

It sounds like his organs have already begun to shut down, I'm sorry to say. Is he still with us?

How did you acclimate him to his new water?


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## LittleBlueFishlets (Nov 10, 2012)

@Afayed - Do not use Aquarium salt on a fish that is bloated. Aquarium salt is for external issues only, and it can worsen internal problems. Epsom salt (100% pure magnesium sulfate) is used for internal problems, such as bloating.

@alexslater17 - I once had a Betta who had seizures. It was very upsetting to watch..... Do you have any pictures of him that you could post here? I think it might be helpful for people to see his condition.


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## Afayed (Feb 5, 2013)

@LittleBlueFishlets I was talking about using the AQ salt for the fin rot and as an anti bacterial, not for bloating. 

I am a complete DIY'er when it comes to fish so most things I learn from personal experiences, does AQ salt worsen bloating or something?(So I know for the future)


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

Is this your fish? If so, he looks like he has ich.


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## Syriiven (Aug 15, 2012)

The bloating may be due to the flakey food. I havent had any experience with it that particular brand, but after already dealing with a friend`s fish who had a crashed swim bladder after months of swim bladder disease because she fed the fish betta flakes....-ahem- A liveéfrozen food (like bloodworms or daphnia) would be better, or Omega One betta pellets or New Life Spectrum (they have more nutrients, less filler).

Anyways...what you choose to do based on advice here is purely your choice. personally I would go a day without feeding him and see if he poops. Make sure his water is super clean - finrot can be healed simply with nutrition and warm, clean water - before you jump to meds. And you want to figure out the bloating first. 

My other suggestion would be to switch water conditioners to Prime, as I find it works the best. Again, tho, simply my opinion. 

Also, tank size is an important thing to know in order to maintain a good number of water changes. Also if it`s easily heatable or not - 76 is a bit cold, and all of mine have definitely perked up now that I got them adjustable heaters that keep them at 80-81F.

Anyways, back to bloating. If your fish poops, great - it should be the color of his food and curled. If the bloating goes down after the poop, then treat the finrot with AQ salt and clean, warm water. 

If the bloating does not go away, or he doesn`t poop, treat with epsom (no additives like perfume or color, clean, white epsom salt). Again, with warm, clean water. 

I hope he comes through - most things can be treated with clean water and warmth. But it`s always good to have basic meds on hand.


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## LittleBlueFishlets (Nov 10, 2012)

Afayed said:


> @LittleBlueFishlets I was talking about using the AQ salt for the fin rot and as an anti bacterial, not for bloating.
> 
> I am a complete DIY'er when it comes to fish so most things I learn from personal experiences, does AQ salt worsen bloating or something?(So I know for the future)


Epsom salt is a laxative (in both people and fish). If a fish is bloated, it can help relieve the bloat (and any constipation). 

Aquarium salt causes water retention (in both people and fish). If a fish is bloated, it can make it worse. Also, Bettas are sensitive to salt. It can only be used a short time (10 days max), as it can harm the internal organs if used for longer periods.

Aquarium salt is used for external issues as it has antibacterial qualities. However, most "salts" - including Epsom salt, have some amount of antibacterial qualities. So the Epsom salt would still have some beneficial effect on a condition like fin rot.


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

Is your tank a minibow 2.5?

If it is, it's 2.5 gallons.


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## alexslater17 (Feb 8, 2013)

1.Is he pooping? He still hasn't pooped and I have withheld food, but I feel bad. 
2.Can you post a picture? Not unless I can post from mobile.
3.Is there any other discoloration/odd spots on him? His bottom fin, close to his body is turning a little brown, as stated in original post, and like i said little pin holes.

@Afayed, I think it is stress, his bowl has a lid that can be easily knocked into his tank, and almost everyday, I come home to his lid in his tank. I don't know if its the cats or if hes is trying to jump. I took his lid away and put some plastic wrap on it with some holes for aeration. I don't use any chemicals when I clean his tank. And I do condition the water before I put him in. The cloudy water stopped when I took his rocks out. I cant really go out and buy a heater bc I'm broke but hes in the warmest part of the house. 

@callistra Yes he is still with us, and when we got him, we assembled his tank, and let the water in the tank get to the same room temp as the water in his container by letting it sit on the counter overnight then we just poured him in there. 

@Saphira101, nope not my little guy, I haven't posted any pics yet and hes too small. 

@Syriiven The water conditioning tablets came with a sample of the Tetra Betta Pellets so Ill try switching to that. And I can't afford to get the live frozen food. Like I said, Im broke. 

I don't want to lose all of this so I'll reply to page 2 in another post.


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

The lack of acclimation may have caused this. It sounds like you may have shocked him (the seizures) however the rest you are describing is constipation and fin rot/ammonia poisoning.

Also he is at room temp? Unless you keep a dedicated fish room or house that stays a constant (no peaks or dips) temperature of 80F+ he needs a heater. Also changes in temperature are really hard on fish and can cause disease and even death if swings are too wide or too fast.

2 gallons is minimum to keep bettas healthy long term.. 1 gallon works short term but requires a minimum of two if not three weekly water changes of 50% and 100% or two 50% and one 100%. IT's important to use his in tank thermometer to match the temperature of the new water to his bowl temp exactly, and add conditioner before you introduce the fish. I also suggest never using a net, and instead scooping him up with a plastic cup, like a solo cup and holding him in there during changes. After this float this cup in the main bowl and add a few tablespoons of water every 10minutes for an hour before introducing him. The fastest I'd do this is a series of 50% water changes with new water into the cup for a half an hour. Highly suggest getting a liquid conditioner and not those tablets - should say it removes chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals - must mention all 3.

The tetra pellets are possibly the worst on the market because they mostly wheat and other additives and chemicals. Your pellet should have the first two or three ingredients are _whole_ fish, not fish meal and the worst is wheat.

I'm also concerned about the possibility of the cat messing with his water.. can you not keep them away from where you keep your fish?

If you can't afford to buy anything for him at this point all you can do is keep his water clean and pray. He needs things.. but you said you're broke..


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## Afayed (Feb 5, 2013)

Saphira101 said:


> Is this your fish? If so, he looks like he has ich.


Yes, those were bubbles on his tank from just cleaning it, not ich.


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