dying beta

[RVT092481]

I think Betha may be dying. Well I hope she's not but she doesn't look very good.
I came home from work yesterday and went to feed them and I couldn't find her. She came out of one of the hiding things and ate maybe 2 flakes of food (size of pensil eraser) then went back into hiding. She came out a few more times last night but it was only to swim around like crazy and attack the danios (no visible injuries to them that I can see).
Today my husband was looking for her and said that she only came out to swim like a crazy nut then went back into hiding.
She looks really dark now(I posted a picture of her on a previous post to see what she normally looks like). She's looked dark before but only after she'd be sleeping or chilling out for a bit and would wake up. There are no injuries to her or anything on her (ie spots). I got her out of hiding when I got home today and she just swam quickly to the corner and layed on the gravel and didn't move. She kinda curled up a bit as well.
If there's something that I can treat her with that'd be great. I can't really take a picture of her since she's always hiding.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[phoenix]

sorry, just a from me... no advice. That's exactly what one of my bettas acted like before he died- dark colour, laying on the gravel, etc. They don't live that long, despite our best efforts sometimes.

Today I started treating one of mine for fin rot. I'll keep my for both of the little guys.

[Sneaky]

Hey RVT,
you havent had her too long have you?
Cant remember exactly how long ago you got her,
but its gotta only be 6-8 months ago right?

I would suggest testing the water for ammonia,
nitrItes, and nitrAtes.
Do a good water change to make sure its nothing in the water.

To me, it sounds like Old Age creeping up on your little friend.
Bettas can live from 1 year to 2.5 years which is pretty much max,
and most bettas dont live past 1 year of age.
With no noticeable marks, spots, or wounds, I can only suspect one
of three possible things:
A) Water quality issue, test that water and see whats going on.
B) Old Age
C) Internal Bacterial Infection of some kind.

After you test your water (or have it tested somewhere), post back the results here.
If the water is good, (ammonia 0, nitrItes 0, nitrAtes below 40),
then its likely one of the other causes.

If you wanted to try treating her with something, if you suspect it may be a bacterial illness, Id suggest the medicine Maracyn 2. It cures most gram negative bacterial infections. You can pair it with Maracyn (1), which cures gram positive infections, if you want to cover the board.

I cant fully remember, what other fish are in the tank,
but I seem to remember it is 10g right?

One other thought, have you added any new fish lately?
Any small fish like neons or whatever in the tank that may have died
and could be causing an ammonia spike? Check for bodies in plants and stuff.

Also, have you noticed her to be pooping at all? normal poop? white,stringy poop? Any bloating at all? Constipation can commonly affect these fish, so try taking a canned pea, rinse it, take the outer hull off, and try feeding the soft inner pea to her. Do this for a day or two with no other foods.
If its constipation this should help. If shes still eating, its best to try now before she starts refusing food. Most bettas love peas.

Anyway, keep us posted and good luck! Hopefully one of my ideas may
spur something on your end.

Get well little Bertha!

[RVT092481]

We got her at the end of June and they said that she was a baby then (you can see that she's obviously grown since we've had her). Unless they lied to us (it was from a pet store after all ).
I will take the water tomorrow to be tested to see if that may be the problem. We did a good water change today (~40-45%) in hopes that that would help somewhat.
I do have 5 zebra danios in the tank with her. They are all doing well and being their normal crazy selves. They're still playing, eating, zooming around and they look fine with not marks/injuries on them.
Will adding any of the antibacterial meds affect them at all? Should I buy some anyway just to be safe? What about the peas? Is it still a good idea to try to get Bertha to eat them with the danios in there?
Nobody has died, we do a head count every day.
I know that she's just a fish and I can't take her to the vet or anything (I've asked the vets that I work with ) but I'd still be sad if she died.
So my plan is to take the water to be tested tomorrow and I'll buy some peas at grocery time as well.
Thanks for the help. I'll post more when I know more.

[phoenix]

my little guy died today. the rot had progressed to his body, poor little guy. I should have known better to buy him from that store, but he was so cute! They were in very dirty water and his fins were curled, but I thought I could rescue him... I guess he was too ill and stressed. RIP snow! :sad:

I hope that yours comes out of it... unless you know what the illness is, I wouldn't medicate... but if you do medicate, take him out of the 10g and isolate him. You could try the peas, watch and see who eats them. I've heard that aquarium salt can help in these situations... anyone know much about that?

[Maya]

Poor little fish. :sad: