I just woke up to find my girl betta Princess Verity on the floor all dried up.. iv no idea how she got out, she lives in the tropical tank with a proper hood n everything!! omg my hands are shaking,, i dont wanna loose her, shes alive.. she must have landed on the window sill where there was a little pile of sand iv been lazy about cleaning up, then flipped onto the floor.. probably hitting some beanie baby toys on the way.. she was lying there dried up with sand all over her, her fins are a mess..
shes in a little pot of water right now, shes breathing, and lying on her side, shes still covered in sand, she will swim up to the top if she feels vibrations etc. i dont know if she can see, her eyes were all bent inwards, like dried up n stuff.

do i need to go out and buy anything, like melafix, whats the best thing i can get for her..
omg, shes my special fish, my baby, oh man, if she dies

pleeeeeeease help

oh I hope she makes it! I had the same thing happen to me once. Female betta jumped out of the *tiny* *tiny* gap at the corner of the top of the tank. We were many many hours too late. Hopefully your lil' fishy will make it!

I've calmed down a bit and done a search of the forum, from what ive read i need to be salting to 0.1%, having perfect water and NOT using melaxfix or anything that coats the gills for a few days?
I think thats how she got out, the tiny gap at the back where the filter/heater wires go through I cant believe i heard her jump, iv just remembered, i was half asleep, so it didnt click that i should check to see what it was.. im so stupid, i hear little splashes and fishtank noises all the time but im usually awake so i have a quick head count if it was a loud one, but thismorning, you know when you are in that half awake mode, you can hear people talking or something and you are just like, whatever im asleep.. the noise was like something had hit the hood and splashed.. it must have been her.. after i woke up i was watchin tv for about 1 and 1/2 hours.. she must have been there for that long

that happened to me, but when i got home from school she was dead!
they can jump pretty high!

just checked on her and shes looking ok, most of the sand has come off, shes just covered in little bubbles from being dry then being put in water, will they come off soon or is there a way i get get rid of them, they cant be helping.. and shes got slime coat hanging off her everywhere, her pectoral fins are no longer stuck to her and shes swimming about a bit, but shes so scared of me, she hides in the corner when i go near.. which means her eyes are ok as she can see me
iv put a tiny bit of food in so if she wants to eat it can keep her energy levels up. i dont know if shes eating as she was too scared to come to the top while i was there.

I think sidney and Frump are gonna have to give up their heater for her..

Good luck with her Lucy! If the sand and gunk are falling off of her, try ti siphon it out as it hits the bottom of her container that way it won't get stirred up and stuck to her again.

s keep us updated

oh, I just thought of something - do you have a little plant or something in there with her? Sounds like she is a little skittish after her fall, a hiding spot might relax her a bit.

Im gonna sort her out into Sidney's (male betta) tank in a minute, as its cycled and heated, il put some live plants in there with her incase the oxygen is low and she doesnt feel like swimming to the top to take air
The thing shes in now is covered with a towel so shes relaxed when im not there checking her.

1 1/2 hours and still alive, thats pretty amazing, she must have used her labyrinth organ to keep going.
Im sure with the salt and a dark tank she will be fine, but the next 24 hours will be the worst time.
Hope she makes it Lucy

Thankyou Sandy, i was pretty shocked when she moved when i found her, i was going round my room turning lights on in the tanks and she usually comes out every morning to greet me when the light comes on and she didnt, so i was searching for a bit, and ..omg im so glad i didnt stand on her, i looked down and she was right next to my foot.. she looked dead but my mind went straight to stories of goldies on here surviving things like this and i ran to the bathroom, went to pick her up and she flipped her tail.. i was like.. wow! its another mirracle!
good ol' labyrinth

that's so sad lucy! she is one amazing little betta to live that long on the floor so she has the will to live! i hope she will make it through

Oh Lucy I'm sorry! It looks like everyone's got you covered. Just give her some peace to relax. When my betta jumped he was fine after the initial shock, but 3 days later he almost died of ammonia that was at .01 so make sure you take good care of her for a long time because if she recovers the stress will be there for a while. You're doing great, *fingers crossed* for Verity

Lucy: i've got my fingers crossed for you and your betta. The poor thing

I tested the water she jumped out of and it had high nitrates, could that be why she jumped?

Shes doing so well, its almost too good to be true
Shes set up in her hospital tank now with a cycled filter and a heater, shes still wary but shes coming out to the front to see me a bit, its mostly covered with a towel so its nice and dark.
When i checked on her when she was in the little pot, she was producing excess slime and it was all over the pot.. yuck.. all the sand is off her, theres no more slime hanging off her, the only thing visable is her fins are ripped and clamped.

Kissy, thankyou for the advice, im gunna do a little waterchange every day as im not totaly sure about the cycle on the filter.. i think this week is gunna be obsessive water testing!

What a story Lucy.I'm so glad that the little girl is hanging in there for you.Sometimes it gets uglier before it gets better,so hang in there.High Nitrates can be bad for any fish so you want to get all your Params spot on.Make sure that water changes are evenly matched to tank temps,as you don't want to stress her out any more than she is. I had a Dojo that did the same thing,and he survived ,but it went from "he's okay",to uh-oh,it's looking really bad- to "he made it"! It was touch and go after the initial find of him.

great nurse lucy! You are doing a great job it sounds like! hope your fish recovers!

Glad to hear your precious is doing ok!

Be very very gentle with waterchanges. If you are worried about ammonia or nitrites, add prime occasionally instead of changing water (thats what I did, but mine did not have a filter)

Thankyou everyone
Shes alive and well this morning
shes swimming about like normal, and has the appetite of a goldfish!
I am preparing myself for when it gets bad though, im going down the lfs after lunch to get some melafix.. is there anything else or diffierent stuff i need? I've got some anti fungus/finrot stuff at home if that crops up, and salt.

The only thing is her tail, it looks more like a paddle than a fin, its a bit fused, will it always be like that or does it just need to absorb a bit more water and free itself?

ok.. its the 'uh-oh its looking bad' stage
her fins are rotting away, and really fast, about 5 hours ago they were fine, just clamped etc. and now they are missing about 2mm, which in 5 hours i think isnt looking good?
I have a anti finrot med, but i dont know to use it with salt, and i bough melafix earlia today, so thats ready for a few days time.

I have pics.. the first is of her healthy in the tank a couple weeks ago, so theres a comparison pic..

Healthy pic


This second one shows how the point on the back end of her anal(?) fin has rotted away

and how her tail is missing most of the end

this is her hosp. tank


and this one.. well, she must have jumped out a hole in the back of the hood, then flopped her way to the edge of the window sill (glad she didnt land in that cactus pot!), got herself covered in sand.. then (im so glad she didnt land on the radiator there, she would have been fried) fallen on the floor.. i didnt see her till after walking about there and weighing myself on those scales.. then i nearly trod on her, looked down and she was right next to them

Have the salt at .2% and add the finrot meds to stop the bacteria getting any further in. With her being stressed I wouldnt use melafix until those meds and the salt have worked.
She looks amazingly well considering.

oh what would i do without you Sandy Thankyou, i'l update tomorrow morning..

Good luck Lucy! Sounds like you have everything you might need on hand!

well shes still alive shes got a bit slower though, her tail has got a bit smaller but i think that med has slowed it down, now i guess its just perfect water and waiting

I'll be honest,anytime I've ever used Melafix with a Betta,I swear their problems became worse=Nothing I can actually pinpoint for sure,I just know that the fish just weren't doing well with it.Be very Careful,and look for any downward changes if you can.I have found Pristene water to do the best job,and if the Betta becomes worse,then do go onto trying a Med that will help Fin/Tail rot. Salt for Betta's,have gone both ways.I've heard many people use it with no probs,but I've also heard that Betta's aren't all that crazy about it.Maybe in low doses to be safe.

Thanks, ok, when i come to use the melafix, shall i try a half dose and see how that goes?
right now the tank is salted to 0.2% and dosed with the fin rot med, as the box said.. i think its made by interpet

I had a betta jump out of his tank a couple years ago. I don't know how long he was on the ground before I found him. He did it sometime during the day and I didn't find him until I got home that evening. He was all tacky feeling and I didn't see him breathing, thought he was dead. However I read they can live for a while out of water so I decided to make sure he was gone before I disposed of him. I put him in a cup with some water and within a few minutes he started to try to swim. I added some stuff to the water to restore his slime coating and over the next few hours he started to improve. However the next day his fins started to shred a bit and became red colored. I figured this was from stress and bruising. I took care of him the best I could and he pulled through. He has since passed away but it was around a year after his little leap so I don't think it was related.

Good luck I hope she pulls through. She sure is pretty.

Autumn

The edges of her fins look painfully red today, i hope its not hurting her too much

Sorry to hear your fishy passed, but its great to hear he survived the jump.. it may have been indirectly related, im sure after this is if Verity survives she wont have the same strength, its like when a person has a heart attack or stroke, they are always a bit weaker after.

Glad to hear she is hanging in there Lucy.

Ooooh, Lucy. I just came across this post. I'm so sorry about your little lady. I'm glad she's doing better though. It's good that you found her when you did. I had a betta commit a high dive off a tall shelf and into the dog's mouth. Be happy nothing else found her before you did, hun. I wish you luck on getting her back into shape.
I don't know how well it works with bettas, because *knocks on wood* I haven't had any major issues with them, but with all my other fish, I usually just mix a little nitrofurazone in the water whenever I see the beginnings of red streaks. It works well for me.

[QUOTE][quote=truistik,Jan 9 2006, 03:46 PM]
It's good that you found her when you did. I had a betta commit a high dive off a tall shelf and into the dog's mouth. Be happy nothing else found her before you did, hun.[/QUOTE]

:
Luckily we dont have any furry's around the house right now..
I cant beleive, i hate my bed post, its the only reason i didnt find her sooner than that 1 1/2 hours! i was sat on the end of my bed watching tv eating cereal out the box, and the bed post was blocking the exact peice of floor she was lying on, why i didnt notice

Whats nitrofurazone?

Edit: no idea what happened to that quote..

Nitrofurazone is just a pure medication. It won't mess with a tank's cycle or anything. I got it from a licensed 'vet' I guess you could say. This guy owns a fish store and also has certifications and licenses to sell pure meds. You'll find nitrofurazone in things like Fungus Clear.

EDIT: Whooops, silly typos!

Hey Lucy,How's your Betta doing? Everything okay?

Shes doing quite well, her in herself is back to normal, not scared anymore and eating a ton!
But her finrot.. all seems to have stoppped, but then its not getting better, like frozen in time.. i think the med has stopped it rotting, but its not healing.. do you think its time for the melafix?
the tank is salted to 0.2% and dosed with the finrot med, would mela mix with that ok?

it will take a couple of weeks to see any regrowth of the fins. Leave out the melafix and just give her lots of clean water.

My thoughts exactly Sandy!

ok

Lucy, I am using bettafix on my little guy that has rot. Its gentle and it seems to really be helping.

I've not seen bettafix, can we get it in the UK?

PetCo.com - BettaFix

This is it... I only ever see it at PetCo.... I don't know if its available everywhere....

It doesnt look familiar, but it is made by AP so it should be around, il have a good look for it if im in a fs

edit: mad spelling

Lucy, I just came across this thread. Have not been able to get on koko's due to computer problems among other things. I'm so sorry to hear that this happened to your girl. She is very beautiful though and you've been an extremely good nurse to her! You go girl!

I have treated my betta fin rots very well with Betafix as well, so I do highly recommend that medicine.

Also, in one of the photos you showed. Is that a real tang under the betta tank? It looks HUGE

Wishing you all the best with your situation (although it sounds like you have it well under control).

Thankyou Amy

Thats a big poster of a Yellow Tang.. i got it for 30p at a public aquarium, thought it was funny, its been there for a few years

shes got some little bumps appearing one one side, they sort of resemble ich, but im sure thats not what it is, they are in a little patch, they look like white bumps coming out from under her scales, could it be fungus? if it is i dont know hows its come to be as the med treats fungus too
Her fins are still on the mend, all that red has gone except for a few corners of fin