Betta with gill cove sticking out

[goldenpuon]

Yesterday, I found one of my oldest female bettas (Kittwang, I’ve bought her from Petsmart almost 1 ½ years ago) having problems with buoyancy and not eating well. I isolated her in a 1 gallon container with a low water level so she can access the surface easily.

Many of my other bettas have gotten this before and been fine other than having trouble swimming later on.

Kittwang wants to swim around but is "grounded" on the bottom like there is something wrong with her swim bladder. She is eating today but not as quite much as usual. She also has 1 gill cover sticking out like all of my fish that get this. She is trying to get air from the top constantly but is not breathing rapidly. In the tank she was in, there were no problems with ammonia or nitrite. The other 6 bettas from her tank are fine. One of them actually suffers from the same problem but she got it a long time ago and is able to function pretty normally.

I researched this and the only thing that I found that matched a enough of her symtoms is BGD or Myxobacteriosis which I found at www.fishyportal.com/cgi-bin/pub/diag?c=v&id=50. Though she doesn't have any a darkening of coloration, mucous, or lesions of any kind, this is the best I could find that seemed like it might be a slight possibility.

I called Carl and he said it may be genetic because so many bettas have gotten this and when I bred adult bettas that showed it later on, their offspring also got it. Carl recommended a bath in Metronidizole and Kanaplex so I will be trying that to see if that helps at all.

I'm thinking it is genetic but I am not entirely sure. If anyone has any further ideas about what this is, please let me know. Thanks!

Renee

[babygeige]

Sorry to hear about this. hopefully the treatments will help!

[goldenpuon]

Thanks Babybeige. I hope so too. I'll be happy if she's able have a normal life again. I'll be giving her a bath first thing tomorrow morning.

[goldenpuon]

I gave the female betta Kittwang a bath in Kanaplex wioth Medronidizole and a little epsom salt. Unfortunately, the Medronizole expired last April so I am hoping it still wokred a little. She does not seem any better after the bath.

I also did a bath for Critique who had seen lethargic and not acting like himself for several days. I noticed some of his droppings were whitish and it looked like he was suffering from constipation. I gave him the bath with epsom salt and he is doing better now, though not 100% back to normal. He is more active now and flaring at the other males which is a sign he is feeling better though he isn't begging me for food yet like he normally does. If he is still not feeling like himself by tomorrow, I will be giving him another epsom salt bath.

Unfortunately, in the tank Kittwang was in, I noticed 2 of the females in there having some problems. One named Ellie is having trouble swimming upward (not severely like Kittwang though) and the other looks a bit battered up and a little stressed. She is eating although not with as much enthusiam as usual and is going to the top a bit more often than usual. I will be testing my water and isolating one or both this afternoon if they aren't doing any better. I'm thinking that the one that looks battered up a bit may have gotten into a figth with another fish. I will be keeping a close eye on all of them and water parameters in the tank.

[goldenpuon]

Good news and bad news. Good news, I figured out what was going on with the battered up female. Bad news, I have a very agressive female betta on my hands.

I was observing my betta tank tthis afternoon and saw one of the females chasing the one that was battered up this morning. It turned out one of my most agressive female bettas Foresti was attacking/chasing her. In the past when I tried to breed her Foresti beat up one of my male bettas pretty badly. The betta she was hurting has wounds (which I didn't see before) and torn fins. I isolated her in a 1 gallon and treated her with Melafix. I am considering giving her a MB bath for the wounds. If I see anymore trouble from Foresti, I will be removing her from the other females permanently and putting the one that got attacked and Kittwang back after they recover. I also moved the plants around to try to subdue some of the agression. Hopefully it will help.

I currently have 5 female bettas left in the 4 gallon. Before I removed Kittwang and today's battered female, there were 7.

I am wondering if there is any correlation between Foresti's agression and Kittwang's problems as well. She never had a problem with swimming before. Foresti has torn fins too. I am thinking that her problem may be an injury from fighting. I will be observing this tank very closely for the next few days.


EDIT: I was watching the bettas more and after watching them a bit and also looking at the bettas I had removed, I decided enough was enough and removed Foresti. She is now also in a 1 gallon. I will probably keep her there permanently. Her quality of life will be good, she will just not be kept with any ther bettas.

[goldenpuon]

The betta that was battered with it's fins tron and wounded is doing much better. She is no longer clamping her fins, is active, eating , and not looking very stressed. I am continuing to monitor her wounds and treat with Melafix. If her wounds get infected or she takes a turn for the worse I will do baths. Fortunately, she doing very well now. If she keeps on doing how she is now, she will probably make an speedy recovery.

[babygeige]

Good! I'm glad she is doing better. They make a quick recovery once their bully is gone. I had the same thing when I had 2 of my girls together.

[goldenpuon]

Here is a video of my 2 female bettas that got beaten up by one of my other bettas, Foresti. The reddish one is Resh and the other is Kittwang. Both don't have plants in their containers because they are only eating some of their food and it makes cleaning easier. Once they recover, they are going back into the main tank with a hydro sponge filter, plants, and a lot more room. Kittwang's has her container only filled a little so she can easily access air at the top. Both are in pretty rough shape right now but on the way to recovery. Resh is being treated with Melaix and both are getting small water changes every other day. They don't like the light being on when it's dark so they aren't showing their full colors. Anyway, here's the video.

s457.photobucket.com/albums/qq297/goldenpuon/?action=view¤t=100_3114.flv

I admit it is very sad to look at, especially Kittwang who is stuck around the bottom. It is very hard for me to look at now but I know it will not cause will not be this bad forever as I know from experience that it gets better as the fish becomes less stressed/recovers. I have three other bettas who have the same problem. 2/3 of those are in the main tank living normal lives.