# Clamped fins, lethargic, and doesn't eat much



## ashiyawann (Feb 5, 2014)

I got my little girl about a month ago from a couple of friends that didn't want her (she was given as a gift to them and they had no interest in owning one).

While the conditions I am about to describe are how I have always known her, I started to become concerned that she has been sick for a very long time when I read about betta illnesses. 

She doesn't swim around much. She either lays in between the branches of her rubber plant, lays in the gravel, or hides inside the shell I put in the tank for her. 

She doesn't eat much and is very picky. She won't eat anything but betta fish flakes. She won't eat pellets, blood worms or any other variety of betta food.
She rarely comes to the top to actually eat the food I put in there. She mainly eats when I poke at a flake to make it float towards the bottom. When she sees them, she comes and eats them. 

Her fins have also been clamped (I only recently learned about this sign) the entire time I have had her and I have noticed a suspicious paler area on her back fin. She occasionally darts around the cage and runs into the gravel and her shell as though she is scratching herself, so I am thinking an infection of the fins at this point. She also seems to have a difficult time swimming when she isn't darting around. She will swim a bit and go up to the top for some air and then suddenly stop swimming and drop to the bottom. 

I at first thought she was just a more lethargic fish, but now that I have noticed the clamped fins and darting, I am concerned. 

What kind of infection could it be and what are the best ways to treat her?

(I'm new to this site)


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

do you mind filling in this form? 
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

It has all the questions we will need answered to help you. A picture of her is helpful too both for reference and to visually look for problems.


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## Kiara1125 (Feb 1, 2011)

She could just need better water treatment. That's how my friend's VT was. I got him and he was shy with clamped fins. Now he's constantly swimming around and flaring. Your female probably just needs some good quality care.

I put in two before pictures and an after picture. Does your female look like how my friend's male did? He got better after good care and treatment. He was into one side of a 1/2g container. I put him into a 4 way divided 10g, so he had approximately 2.5 gallons of space to swim. The tank was cycled, so he didn't have to deal with ammonia or nitrites. I did a 50% water change once every week.

What size tank do you have your female in? If you could get any pictures (whether your own or a comparison) then it would help us a lot to be able to diagnose your fish.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I agree it sounds like it could be a water quality issue. Have you tested the water for ammonia and nitrite?


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## ashiyawann (Feb 5, 2014)

Housing 
What size is your tank? 1/2 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 78-80 
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? no
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Betta min flakes, only thing she will eat. I have blood worms and pellets and other varieties
How often do you feed your betta fish? a few flakes in the morning and a few at night. I take out any left uneaten

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? Used to be once a week, but since I noticed her seeming ill, every other day. It definitely has helped. 
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? water conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? No, will be purchasing testers soon

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Clamped fins, pale mucous like area on back fin. 
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? lethargic, doesn't eat much/picky eater
When did you start noticing the symptoms? has had these symptoms since I got her a month ago, but didn't realize they are symptoms of illness until a few days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? bettafix. It is what came with the fish when my friends gave her to me. 
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)? I'm guessing a year. I don't really know


I can't get any pictures of her that show the pale areas. Her condition has improved the last couple of days since i started using the medicine. Her fins aren't clamped as much and her swimming has improved. This was the best photo I could get of her. You can somewhat see the pale grey area on her fin.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

water changes, water changes and more water changes. That's what I would do - change all the water every day.

If you're serious about keeping a betta then I recommend getting the proper equipment - larger tank, filter, heater.


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## ashiyawann (Feb 5, 2014)

jaysee said:


> water changes, water changes and more water changes. That's what I would do - change all the water every day.
> 
> If you're serious about keeping a betta then I recommend getting the proper equipment - larger tank, filter, heater.


Yes, that is what I am currently doing. It is definitely helping her out. Thanks

I am serious, and will invest in those things when I get the chance. What I have now is just what my friends had given me when I took her, since they didn't want her. I really enjoy her company in my dorm room, so I intend to do my research. I am in college and have limited opportunity to go to a pet supply, except when I am visiting home. I will look for those supplies this weekend.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

I'm going to do a breakdown of symptoms and conditions and then move on to something you can do right away and something more long term for your baby so read at your own pace.

Half a gallon is incredibly small for a betta, the betta bowl myths are way off from the mark I'm afraid. A small bowl leads to lethergy, tail biting, stress behaviours and all sorts of worrying things. Thje bettas become so bored and stiff they start freaking out. A good size for a single betta with no tank mates is about 2.5G. Some say 5g but money and space are a factor.
Your heating is perfectly controlled.
Flakes for a betta arent eally the best food available, it is the equivalent of junk food. Easy to eat but with little nutrients and can lead to stomach upsets. 
In her tank I cant see any covering plants or caves that may be causing her distress, bettas love to hide and squeeze themselves up to the surface among leaves.
Her cleaning routine wasn't quite up to par with such a small tank before, the ammonia builds remarkably fast in such a small tank and can lead to all sorts of poisoning problems and stress behaviors, good to see the more frequent cleans have started.

Now your fishy appears to be undergoing lethargic behaviour, likely from stress factors covered above. I cant be certain but her fins appear to be a little rotted (hard to tell with them flat to her like that) which may be causing discomfort as well.
Have you seen her expel any waste in a while? And if so what color was it?

For the time being I recommend you keep up the more frequent cleans to keep ammonia down and try to swap her to a pellet food brand, don't worry if she refuses to eat for a while. Bettas are manipulative at mealtime and can go for a long time without eating, a few nights wont starve her. if shes being really fussy try soaking them in garlic juice, bettas love it for some reason.

Long term I highly recommend a larger tank and some more cover (also that shell needs to be plugged. I once had a fish as a girl that tried to swim into it like a cave, got stuck and drowned. Just jam something into it to make it inaccessable).

I'll wait on an answer to the questions i asked, they can help us isolate any larger issues. Oh and a picture of her swimming if possible. try snapping her at mealtime?


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## ashiyawann (Feb 5, 2014)

Taeanna said:


> I'm going to do a breakdown of symptoms and conditions and then move on to something you can do right away and something more long term for your baby so read at your own pace.
> 
> Half a gallon is incredibly small for a betta, the betta bowl myths are way off from the mark I'm afraid. A small bowl leads to lethergy, tail biting, stress behaviours and all sorts of worrying things. Thje bettas become so bored and stiff they start freaking out. A good size for a single betta with no tank mates is about 2.5G. Some say 5g but money and space are a factor.
> Your heating is perfectly controlled.
> ...


Thanks for the feedback. Her fins actually don't seem to have rot. I looked at pictures. It actually looks like more of a fungus, but whatever it is it is clearing up now that I am cleaning the tank more. I'm pretty disappointed that I have always been informed wrong about how often to clean the tank, but I'm glad that I know now. I will try to get some pictures up after I finish studying for an exam. 

I haven't actually seen her expel waste, but I definitely see it when I clean her tank. It is a beige color. 

She does go inside the shell but only into the bigger part of it. I will put some gravel inside so she can't go deeper into it. I didn't think of that as being a hazard.

I will try to switch her on food then as well. And a bigger tank will be purchased next time I visit home.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Just keep up on the water changes until then


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## ashiyawann (Feb 5, 2014)

Here is a video of her swimming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wek1YEEIij0


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

Swim bladder disorder most likely, lower her water asap so she can come up for air. if she cant she may very well drown.

Epsom salt will help relieve some of the swelling so you can get started on her treatment

good to hear she is expelling waste, so this is isolated to her swim bladder organ. Bacteria has gotten into it and the waste they are expelling is making her heavy so she cant swim. There are several medications to help with this disorder, all of which are antibacterial in nature. Tetracycline is a common one and another is called kanaplex and is available in the US. It comes down to whichever you are able to get hold of and are happy with. I know some here recommend maracyne but I cannot get it in aus and so have no experience...


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Bettas have fully functional gills....


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

Bettas do have gills but are a particular type of fish known as labrynth fish. 
They habitually surface to 'gulp' which pushes air into this organ. It acts a lot like a diving lung and is found in a lot of stillwater or brackish fish because their natural environment doesnt have the air they need.
Any betta that gets trapped at the bottom of their tank runs a risk of drowning because as the fish stresses they hyperventilate and need more air. They panic drown.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I'm well aware of what a labyrinth fish is - I've kept several different types. I don't buy into the whole drowning business. That will be my next experiment.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

To prevent a derailment here I will redirect this back to ashiyawann and her ailing girl.

I'll be waiting with fingers crossed. let us know if anything changes.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

The point I meant to make is that the container is plenty small already - lowering the water level will only make the water toxic that much faster. If the fish were in a larger tank I wouldn't be concerned but it's a half a gallon.... it's already pretty close to the surface. Lowering the water level will bring the volume down to what, a quarter of a gallon?


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

Very true, I was under the assumption the tank wasn't so small which is my own personal failing. I must have missed that in my rereading of tank conditions before posting.


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## Kiara1125 (Feb 1, 2011)

With all due respect, I agree on lowering the water level. She's obviously having trouble getting up for air and I'e had bettas drown before. It may seem unbelievable, but it happens. What Taeanna described was exactly how they act. They panic and start hyperventilating. I've never seen a female betta struggle so much. Poor girl ... hopefully clean, lower water will help her. I'm wondering if a change in her diet would help with her swim bladder. Thoughts?


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## ashiyawann (Feb 5, 2014)

UPDATE:

Oh ha ni's swimming has improved greatly. She is much more active now and her appetite is better than I have ever seen it. She actually comes and gets her food without me having to push it into the water for her. And she eats all of it. Her fins are no longer clamped, but the pale area on her fin is still kind of there, although most of it is gone now. I think the main issue was not enough water changes, but the medicine surely has helped. I will keep updated if she still seems sick in a few days, but I think what i am doing now is all she needed. 

She has never had problems coming up for air. That is the only thing she came up for at first. Then she would just go back to the bottom after she gulped some air. Now she is swimming around leisurely and hasn't darted around the tank in a couple of days. Her color's have also gotten much more vibrant. I see much more red on her lower fins. She is quite beautiful!

I will try changing her diet now that her condition has improved. I didn't want to suddenly switch her food while she was weak and already unhappy as it was. 
But I really don't think water level needs to be changed, especially now that she has no issues swimming. 


Thank you to everyone for your help! The last time I had a betta, I was 10, so I am certainly no expert. I'll take advantage of this forum to learn as much as I can about caring for Oh Ha Ni, and then maybe one day be able to to a few rescues from my local pet stores.  I really admire all of your dedication to these beautiful creatures and it makes me want to get into it myself.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I'm glad things had improved. Any time something seems off, water changes are your first line of defense.


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