# Help my fish is dying!!!! :'(



## finny (Apr 18, 2010)

Hello everyone! I come to you all for some help my Betta Fish Finny has been staying at the bottom of his bowl and only coming up for air every now and then. He is not eating any food. This has been going on for about a week now. Today I noticed his tail is breaking off into small pieces. Everything I read points to him dying. Is there any way this could be just a bad case of fin rot? 

His bowl is clean and I have tried pallets, flakes even blood worms but he will not eat. It looks like he is in pain and can hardly swim. 

Thanks for your help!


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Can you post a picture? 

What's the temperature of the water? How often do you change it? Do you use a good water conditioner? Do you have any Aquarium salt or Epsom salt handy?


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

As asked...we need some more information to help you...also..
What size of tank, filtration if any, how much and how often on the water changes and when was the last one,
Do you have any water pram numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and water temp?
Type of additives used if any...


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## finny (Apr 18, 2010)

His water was last cleaned last Monday. I am not sure what the pH is but the water is rather cool. I would have to find out about the pram numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrat etc. I use Betta Safe for the water conditioner and I change it about once a week using filtered water. I did buy the Aquarium salt and Betta Fix. Which I have not put in his 1 gallon tank yet. I am sorry my pic is not better. The pic is of him coming up for air but I could not get his fins. Hope this helps sorry I could not answer everything but I've had Finny since 2007 and he has been taken care of very well. He even traveled in from San Diego to Los Angeles with me by car.


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## finny (Apr 18, 2010)

Sorry the pix did not work the first time.


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## ecoprincess (Jul 16, 2009)

When i had a 1/2gal tank the same-ish thing happened to my betta. 

I kept a bottle (1gal) of conditioned water by his tank (24hrs) so it would get to the same temp as the water in his tank.....then mix the proper amount of aquarium salts in the bottle so its completely diluted.

Use that water for his water change......you should see an difference with the salts within hours....with my betta they really do work wonders! 

Good luck! Dont give up......but dont waste time treating him with the salts....do it asap


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## finny (Apr 18, 2010)

Thanks I just did the salt and Betta Fix. I also removed some water so he has less of a swim for air and cleaned his bowl. But I noticed that his gulls look flared. These are awful pics. Thanks again.


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

In a one gallon, once a week is not enough water changes. You should be changing his water every other day or every three days. Just fill up an empty gallon bottle with conditioned water when you're done changing his water and leave it out for the next change. That makes things easier. Your best bet is salt and clean, clean water. 

Warmth would help too but I don't know what your situation is money-wise. They really need temps above 78. Most of mine live at 82. But you'd probably need a bigger container if you got him a heater. When they're cold they're more prone to illness and they have slower metabolisms.

How long have you had him?


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## finny (Apr 18, 2010)

I've had him since 2007 and he has been doing great. He use to be my office fish until I had to move to LA. He has been doing great at home. I do keep a gallon bottle with conditioned water. I have done more water changes when needed but he has seemed to be doing just great. Everyone tells me 3 years is a long time to have a Betta. Could this be that he is just getting old? He is still not eating any food. I have been removing all old food. It just so painful to watch. I have changed the water which I noticed is a little warmer. I also put salt and Betta Fix in his bowl.


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Yeah, it could certainly be that he's getting old. Keep him in the warmest room in the house and continue what you're doing with the water and the salt. It may help.


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## finny (Apr 18, 2010)

How often did you do the salt? I don't want to stress him out and have to change the water to often. Just trying to keep him calm as much as possible. He looks like he has goose bumps do you know what that could be? I will continue to do the Betta Fix and Salt and keep him in our Office which gets nice and warm. 

Thanks again everyone for the advice! Keep Finny in your thoughts. :-?

~ Anna


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Goose bumps? Are his scales sticking out at all? Like a pine cone? What kind of bumps?

For salt it should be 1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon. So when you change the water just add the 1/2 tsp to the new water and let it dissolve. It shouldn't hurt your fish at all. You can use salt for up to 10 days.

I'll be pulling for him.


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## fishmadcraig (Dec 17, 2009)

Rotting food + fish poo = Lots of ammonia. For me, i would be changing his water daily, even more so during his hard times. I also stay away from bettafix, It doesn't seem much weaker than Melafix in my experience, and in such a small tank any dosage would more than likely be an overdose. 

It sounds like dropsy if his scales are sticking out  Can you buy him a larger tank? I would do that, plus a heater, the heat increase to temperatures that he should really be at already (78-81) will help a lot.


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## louu (May 22, 2009)

3 years a good life for a fish in a bowl that size. It might be time to prepare yourself for loss but by all means make him as comfortable as possible and treat him for anything wrong. You have done a good job giving him a happy long life and the best advice I can give you is to relax this is most likely all being caused by old age (IN MY OPINION) and keep in mind whats best for the fish.

If your worried about dropsy I can dig up some information for you but otherwise I cant help

Goodluck and all the best you sound like you care for him very much


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## Greynova27 (Feb 4, 2010)

My fish just died from dropsy and it sounds like yours has similar symptoms mine did. I'm sorry  Just pray and make him comfortable.


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