# Heavy Breathing from One Side



## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

Okay, so Fabio is being unhealthy again. At the same time, he's fine. :/

His tail is the most beautiful I have ever seen it, all fanned out and glorious like a crowntail should be, and he swims happily in the water and even acts playful. However, he has had a sudden change that scares me. He is breathing heavily *but only from one side of his gill*. I can see those gill flaps and one side looks normal while the other is puffed out and the gills (the black part under the flap, I presume?) are very visible and pumping heavily. The only change in behavior I have seen so far has been that he hasn't been playful in the past two days but he does swim around the tank and remains fanned out.

I last changed his water on Friday and it is only Tuesday. I did my first 50% water change and now he is breathing even harder. :/ How can I make him last at least 1 week without the need of a 100% water change twice a week? When I come back from college for Thanksgiving Break I will be leaving him home because I return in 2 1/2 weeks and would like him to not need a change in water before I come back because nobody else will do it correctly. I just want him watched and fed, but at this rate that seems impossible.

He is very active and not at all lethargic even when going to the bottom of the tank. However, his breathing is worrying me and I really want to get him used to needing the tank changed no more than a week so I can leave him at home with good conscience.

Help?


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## Cutar (Aug 3, 2010)

1. You could get a small filter
2. What kind of water conditioner are you using?
3. Throwing in some un-iodized salt always helps my fish when they are going through something. 1 Teaspoon.
4.Do you have a heater?


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

1. The tank is too small, but I do have an air pump. At home he will temporarily be living in a fish bowl until I return again.

2. Prime. OldFishLady told me to use it and it has been saving his life.

3. I have already done so, but he is still breathing very hard.

4. No, but the water is at 80 degrees. The building is warm and when the water beings to get chilly I take my lamp and shine it above his tank along with his tank light on. It heats him up to a comfy temperature, usually going no lower than 78 degrees.


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## Cutar (Aug 3, 2010)

You could use a small disposable filter or a sponge filter to help with the water. It cant hurt. When he flares does it look normal or does on side still look different? And does he have any small white spots on his gills?


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

I see no spots and he is still breathing very hard, but one side is heavier than the other.


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## Cutar (Aug 3, 2010)

Hmm thats odd. Here is a good list of betta illnesses. Try to see if anything fits

http://www.healthybetta.com/fish-illness-and-cure-information


Heavy breathing could also be caused by stress do you have a light on all the time?


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

Thank you for that link! It is very helpful. 

I am beginning to suspect that Fabio was never healthy to begin with. Although he feels like my first fishy, he is not. I have had other betta fish of my own or ones that I watched in the past (Yen--a blue betta that was my sister's, SnowBerry--a purple-cranberry betta that was my own and live nearly, if not, a full three years, and my brother had Henry who unfortunately died from suffocation as an accident) and they never had their gills like this. 

When I purchased Fabio, he was breathing heavy and he did not fan his tail out but that--I thought--was due to stress/being a in a cup. I swapped him into a glass betta bowl. It is more of a decoration than a living environment, of course, and am only keeping him here temporarily until I can find out what makes him sick in the water.

I do not think it is because of stress because his light goes off every night between 10 and 11pm, if not sooner. Sometimes I like to keep it off all the time because there is so much natural light coming in the room from the window that it seems silly to have the fake one on. He has a basic night and day schedule. He also has aquarium salt added to keep his stress down.

I have learned the following:

-Fabio will eat his pellets now, but feeding him 3-4 pellets twice a day as instructed on the container will make him bloated. At most, he can have 2 pellets in the morning and MAYBE 3 at night. He can have a single bloodworm once a week in between meals as a treat.

-I have to ignore the pH of the water and simply fill the tank up with tap and use Prime conditioner, some anti-ick drops (although not needed, but recommended to me), and a teaspoon to two teaspoons of aquarium salt.

-For some reason, even when healthy and active Fabio's gills look swollen, but not drastically so. I can see them out of the gill flaps on each side of his face and underneath the black part looks almost balloony at times.

-One side of the gills (his left and my right when viewing him) works harder than the other. Even when breathing his heaviest, Fabio's wonky side is doing most of the work. When normally breathing, more of the black gill shows than the other side.

-The gill problem is undetermined in regards to time origin. Because of the fiasco with the tank conditions and the water poisoning him, due to PetSmart employees not telling me about the toxins in local College Land waters we don't have at home, he had always been breathing heavy. However, I noticed after saving his life that the gills acted strange. I am guessing that there was permanent damage from the condition of the water that has affected his gills.

-His water has to be changed 100% twice a week. This is a problem and I need him to get to the point where he can survive at least a week without a water change.


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

One suggestion, if I may. Stop giving him the ich drops - if he doesn't have ich he doesn't need the drops. Matter of fact, medicating a fish when they don't need to be can cause real problems. 

Best of luck with him!!!


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## Capricorn (Sep 4, 2010)

How big is his tank? If you're leaving him in a fish bowl I don't think he'll make the 2 1/2 weeks between your thanksgiving break without a water change.. I don't believe any fish can make it that long. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but with the size of your tank frequent water changes (maybe even slightly more than what you have now) may be necessary.

I thiiink.


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

Lion Mom: It isn't to cure ick but a disease preventative. Then again, PetSmart did say to use them and so far they haven't been really useful. They literally told me that Fabio is SUPPOSED to be at the bottom of his tank breathing heavy and not eating his food, during his poisoning fiasco, because "that's what bettas do." Gee, thanks fish care specialist. I am not going to use the anti-ick drops anymore to see if that makes a difference.

Capricorn: The tank he is living in now is about 2.5 gallons. The bowl at home is about 1.5-2 gallons of water. The main difference is that the bowl does NOT have an air pump. We have other tanks, but none are as big as the bowl and I would feel worse putting him in the GloFish/neon tetra tank just because it does have an under gravel air pump. I would rather change his water often than have him be cramped for the 2 months I will be home.

Today Fabio is doing well. He is in that glass betta bowl because it is the only container I have aside his normal home. Although he is my only fish, I am keeping him isolated from the large tank because I cannot change the water yet with all my classes and want to keep a close eye on his behavior and gills. He is breathing normally again, but that one side of his gill looks swollen/funny shaped in comparison. I am beginning to suspect he has gill disease. However, i do not want to diagnose him just yet and am going to see how long it is until is heavy breathing starts up again. Today is day 2 of being in the glass bowl. Usually it takes 3-4 days.


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

" However, i do not want to diagnose him just yet and am going to see how long it is until is heavy breathing starts up again. Today is day 2 of being in the glass bowl. Usually it takes 3-4 days."

If it is taking 3/4 days for the heavy breathing to start, is it possible that he is suffering from ammonia poisoning and actually needs MORE water changes??? 

Yes, if it were me, I would discontinue the "preventative" drops. IMO/E, the best preventative is regular water changes/cleaning.


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

Update: It is the end of day 2 and he is breathing heavy again. I will change the tank in the morning. Do those betta water conditioner tablets work? Perhaps I should try investing in those to keep tank levels correct.

I am considering taking him to PetSmart and demanding someone tell me what is wrong with him before I have to, then have that person explain to me why it happens and how to prevent it.


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## Ajones108 (Jul 7, 2010)

Invest in a bottle of Prime water conditioner, they sell it at PetSmart in an orange and white bottle. It's 2 drops per gallon of water and everyone here swears by it. Don't waste your money on tablets. I'm a college student too, I understand money stuff.


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

That's the thing: I only trust Prime! I put 4 drops into his normal tank every water change.


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## Ajones108 (Jul 7, 2010)

If you're already using Prime, then the problem isn't your water conditioner.


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## Capricorn (Sep 4, 2010)

Lion Mom said:


> " However, i do not want to diagnose him just yet and am going to see how long it is until is heavy breathing starts up again. Today is day 2 of being in the glass bowl. Usually it takes 3-4 days."
> 
> If it is taking 3/4 days for the heavy breathing to start, is it possible that he is suffering from ammonia poisoning and actually needs MORE water changes???


Gonna quote this.. seeing as it's not your water conditioner, I really want to guess this is what's wrong. I'm thinking that you should probably not wait until he starts breathing heavily and change his water more often. If anything, clean water should help his situation. That's just what it seems like to me, at least, hopefully someone else will poke their head in here and offer some more advice.


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

Do you happen to have any live plants in with him? 

I'm thinking some Ancharis floating in his tank/bowl might help. Don't know for sure, but it can't hurt!


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

I don't have live plants and I can't afford them. I shouldn't have to change his water every other day, so I wonder what the problem is. Also, when he does breath normal, I noticed his gills pop out from underneath like they are swollen and a little on the side that works harder.


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## Capricorn (Sep 4, 2010)

Well I'm only offering my opinion, but seeing as your tank is 2.5 gallons and doesn't have a filter, I think you _should _be changing the water every other day. I'm surprised that more people haven't posted to offer their opinions in here, but considering that you're using a good water dechlorinator and nothing else seems to be out of place, I'm willing to bet that's what it is. Feel free to wait for someone else to take a guess, but the people at petco or petsmart won't be able to tell you what's wrong.. they know less about keeping bettas properly than anyone. The most they'll do is test your water to see what its levels are.


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

That is true. It's just that in the past, none of my other betta fish have acted in such a way and required so much water changing.


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

How's he doing? I think some bettas (or fish in general) may be more sensitive to ammonia than others - kinda like some people are more sensitive to pollutants than others are. 

And, according to this site I found, I think it is VERY possible it is ammonia poisoning:

Ammonia Poisoning	Red or inflamed gills. Fish are gasping for air at the surface. New tank setup or a tank with too many fish.	Ammonia poisoning is easily preventable. Avoid adding expensive and less hardy tropical fish until the aquarium has cycled. For more information on cycling your aquarium please read about the aquarium nitrogen cycle. You can use a substance called zeolite to help absorb ammonia but the best solution is to ensure that your aquarium has cycled and that your tank is not overcrowded. If your tank has not yet completed the nitrogen cycle, you will need to perform frequent water changes to keep the ammonia levels down.

http://www.fishlore.com/Disease.htm

I really, really think he probably needs more frequent water changes and/or a larger living space. If money is tight, go for a Sterlite container. 

Hope that helps!


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

Thank you!

He is doing okay today, but the gills popping out from his chin worry me. He acts fine and is happy again. I feel like something was wrong with him when I got him, but if that was the case then he looks the best he has ever in his life. Today he is having fun lurking in his ceramic barrel hiding place and poking his head out when I am not looking.


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

You're welcome and I'm really glad he is doing well today - hope it keeps up!!!


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