# It's like Sky's back end is weighed down?



## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

Hi all...

This past weekend I noticed that Sky is acting like his back end/tail is too heavy for him. This also came simultaneously with noticing that my filter had been off for about 2 weeks and hair algae was making a massive reappearance in his tank (undoubtedly because of the filter being off). *All water parameters were still 0, though, as this is a heavily planted soil-based tank and the filter is just for water movement/clarification.

*He is eating and eliminating normally. Is this probably just SBD? I should also add that he is about 2-2.5 years old. Is it a symptom of old age, although I really don't consider him that old? I think he's a bit too vibrant to be old... Mr. Fish died of old age and you could tell he was old. I have him floating in tupperware containers in his tank. For the first 3 days I had him in 1tsp/gallon AQ salt because it's all I had, but since there are no outward signs of infection/parasites of any kind, he is now in 2tsp/gallon Epsom salt as of yesterday morning. He's still acting the same for now.

I've taken this opportunity of him being out of the tank water to re-hook up DIY CO2, which drops the pH, so I could make sure the pH/alkalinity is stable before re-adding him (which the pH is now done dropping). This will also decimate the hair algae bloom.

Housing 
What size is your tank? *10 gallons.*
What temperature is your tank? *82 F.*
Does your tank have a filter?* Yes.*
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? *No.*
Is your tank heated?* Yes.*
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? *Snails.*

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? *Aqueon pellets.*
How often do you feed your betta fish? *2-3 2x/day.*

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? *It's a Walstad planted tank, so once or twice a year. I did one (50%) this weekend after taking him out and he hasn't yet been back in the tank. All parameters were 0 before (and obviously after) the change.*
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?* --*
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? *Prime.*

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia: *0ppm.*
Nitrite: *0ppm.*
Nitrate: *0ppm.*
pH: *8.2 before water change, now 7.0 because of re-added CO2 (fish obviously not in tank during the change, as he's floating in salt).*
Hardness: *10 degrees.*
Alkalinity: *6 degrees.*

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? *His coloring is all normal, no markings. So no change there.*
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?* Laying/sitting on the bottom, acting like his backside is too heavy for him to hold it up.*
When did you start noticing the symptoms? *This past weekend.*
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? *2tsp/gallon Epsom salt.*
Does your fish have any history of being ill? *Never.*
How old is your fish (approximately)? *2-2.5 years (obtained March of 2011).

*I guess I pretty much know what to do, but if anyone has experienced anything like this, please let me know!

This is what he's sitting like, and you can see that he definitely isn't pale or anything:









You know... now that I'm looking at him (not that I haven't before, haha), he might have a small wound on his side near his tail.... maybe from thrashing to get out of hair algae? Ugh. Stupid hair algae. I hate hair algae! You can kind of see it in a white dot on his side in the picture. It's quite small, though, but if it hurts badly enough I can see how he'd be favoring a side by laying that way. Despite that, I think I'll keep him in Epsom salt just in case it is SBD. The water is super clean, so if he does have a wound, it will heal. I'd be relieved if it's just a small wound, though!


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Looks healthy to me but may I please see a pic of him not in a container you seem like a good owner.


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

ChoclateBetta said:


> Looks healthy to me but may I please see a pic of him not in a container you seem like a good owner.


Haha, sure. He seems a bit better now, but he's still having trouble swimming and is laying down most of the time. >:|


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

I had a boy who was the same way. It was almost like his tail was paralyzed. A couple weeks in epsom salt and he was able to swim properly again.


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

Silverfang said:


> I had a boy who was the same way. It was almost like his tail was paralyzed. A couple weeks in epsom salt and he was able to swim properly again.


Yes, that about describes it. I'll just give him some time, then. I don't mind keeping him floating in containers for a few weeks.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

I kept him in a 1.5 G rubbermaid container. Kept him him warm. And in I think 2 tsp of epsom salt. Gave him a moss ball and an anubis. Despite his disability he nested like nothing I had ever seen before.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Marimo loves a little salt good thinking.


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

He's not looking any better... He's still eating, but he definitely has trouble getting up to it, even though it's only an inch above his head. :\ He hasn't gotten _worse_ per se, but I see no improvement and he does have a visible lump now near his tail. I'm trying to get a picture of it. I suppose it could be a cut that is scabbing over? He's taken to laying down with that side facing down, so it's hard for me to get a picture of it because I don't want to make him move any more than necessary. He's attentive and bright still... he tries to get up when I come over.

My boyfriend just made an interesting observation which I took a picture of, that when the light shines through him he has a very dark spot... that we're pretty sure isn't supposed to be there/wasn't there before. It's in the same spot as the weird lump/raised scales:









Here's my attempt at a picture of the lump - this is the same side that is shown in both of the pictures I posted in previous posts... so you can see there's quite a change:









Maybe I should switch back to AQ salt? I really don't know... He's been in 2tsp/gallon of Epsom salt for 10 days, and before that he had been in 1 tsp/gal of AQ salt for 2 days.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Wait are two Bettas the same?


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

Yes... the first picture is from the bottom/side with the light shining through him to show that he has some type of dark spot internally (kind of like a weird x-ray). I'd appreciate it if someone could confirm that bettas don't typically look like this with light shining through. And the second picture is just from the top down to show that he has some type of weird lump/abscess.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Looks like he lost a scale.


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## ItsKourtneyYoC8 (Sep 13, 2012)

In the very last picture, it looks like he migh have scraped himself on something.
Is there any sharp like objects in the aquarium?
I do see what your talking about though but like I said it looks like he may have scraped himself or something.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Some Bettas naturally have a hard time swimming because of big fins.


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

ItsKourtneyYoC8 said:


> In the very last picture, it looks like he migh have scraped himself on something.
> Is there any sharp like objects in the aquarium?
> I do see what your talking about though but like I said it looks like he may have scraped himself or something.


That's what I'm kind of thinking, too. I just thought it would start looking BETTER, not worse, after 12 days, especially because it didn't look bad to begin with! But maybe it's because it's scabbing. It had to be a pretty deep wound for him to still be so messed up. :\ I hope he starts to heal more soon. 

He has two sea shells in his tank that he could have scraped himself on if he was moving fast enough/at the right angle (the points are buried, but I suppose he could have managed it), probably while trying to get out of a strand of hair algae (GAH I HATE THAT STUFF). Everything else in his tank is live plants (obviously besides his heater, but that's all round glass, of course).


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I would think the shells did it.


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## ItsKourtneyYoC8 (Sep 13, 2012)

kfish said:


> That's what I'm kind of thinking, too. I just thought it would start looking BETTER, not worse, after 12 days, especially because it didn't look bad to begin with! But maybe it's because it's scabbing. It had to be a pretty deep wound for him to still be so messed up. :\ I hope he starts to heal more soon.
> 
> He has two sea shells in his tank that he could have scraped himself on if he was moving fast enough/at the right angle (the points are buried, but I suppose he could have managed it), probably while trying to get out of a strand of hair algae (GAH I HATE THAT STUFF). Everything else in his tank is live plants (obviously besides his heater, but that's all round glass, of course).



Well, in my opinion, if it's scabbing, it's a good thing, means it's healing or atleast trying to heal.
Jus keep doing what your doing and keep him warm and relaxed and he should be good in no time! 


P.s
I was just thinking, maybe he did get stuck in the hair algea arounbd one of the shells or something and as he was trying to escape he got cut up?


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

IAL help with fin and scale damage.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

He's looking a little skinny, does he eat normally. Is it possible that he had tb or internal parasites? Maybe because he lost some weight so he can't support his tail anymore? Just a suggestion.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

That.. is different than what my boy had. I'd PM oldfishlady or Sakura8. They might be able to offer better advice.


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

He does eat normally and his waste looks completely normal and is coming regularly.

Something I just noticed that is new today, is a red dot on his dorsal fin... he's been developing a red "streak" there for the past few months and I figured it was just a color change because he's been known to develop new colors, but this is a little odd. I really don't think he's septic, because he's acting healthy besides not being able to move properly, and it doesn't -look- like sepsis. The mark on his side looks a lot better today, actually. And he seems a bit more active. Maybe he's on the road to recovery.



















I've been thinking about PMing OFL and I think it has come to that point. I don't like to bother her because I know how many inquiries she gets.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

That area on his side looks a bit like a pigment cell melanoma and it could have grown to the point that is is pressing on the spine with lateral line involvement and why he is having swimming difficulties. Not really anything you can do except to keep him comfy-Epsom salt, tannins, no water movement and low water level is what I would recommend and if at any point he seems to be suffering....Sadly, that hard choice we often have to make to do what is right by him......Sorry, I couldn't give you a more positive opinion...but that is just my best guess-so don't give up on him too soon-especially since he is otherwise acting okay.....Lovely fella by the way.


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

Oldfishlady said:


> That area on his side looks a bit like a pigment cell melanoma and it could have grown to the point that is is pressing on the spine with lateral line involvement and why he is having swimming difficulties. Not really anything you can do except to keep him comfy-Epsom salt, tannins, no water movement and low water level is what I would recommend and if at any point he seems to be suffering....Sadly, that hard choice we often have to make to do what is right by him......Sorry, I couldn't give you a more positive opinion...but that is just my best guess-so don't give up on him too soon-especially since he is otherwise acting okay.....Lovely fella by the way.


Thank you very much for your guess! It certainly does make sense, although I hope it's not true solely because of the nature of it.

I'll add some oak leaves this round and I think I'll reduce the Epsom salt to 1tsp/gallon from 2tsp since he's been in it for 11 days.


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

Behaviorally, not any change. He's still eating and excreting normally. But his physical appearance has changed slightly... And his red marks are extending. He's still in Epsom salt as of today, but tomorrow he won't be.

Here are some pretty good pictures of the afflictions.





































He still looks so beautiful...


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

Little Sky died last night. He stopped eating a few days ago and it was just starting to seem like I was going to have to use the clove oil. I'm glad I didn't have to and he went on his own. He started to break out in uncontrollable fin rot, despite being in clean, salted water. I don't think his body could fight anything anymore. The lump must have been a melanoma.

I'll miss him!


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Sorry for your loss.....


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