HELP head scrapped pretty bad

[Mudskipper]

Help please. My betta unimac male has scraped his head pretty badly...not sure on what but it is obviously scrapped and top skin is gone. What can I do to help him heal? Really don't want to lose him. He is doing well still, swimming around. Doing everything pretty normally. Thanks. for help in advance.

[Emokidz]

I'd add melafix to the water column. Otherwise, you could dose some salt to prevent secondary infection and ketapang extract.
Don't worry too much, if he's eating and swimming alright it's probably not serious.

[Mudskipper]

He seems to be all right. I use ketapang...my water is usually quite dark. He ate like a pig today. Hope he gets well. Thanks so much.

[juilian75]

Never use melafax on wild Bettas. Just my 2 cents. Always go organic, eg. Salt, katapang solution.

[Emokidz]

Hmmm, perhaps Julian has a point there, since wild bettas have never been exposed to such chemicals before. The natural way should always be preferred I guess.

Btw, how is the little guy doing? Do check in often for fungus.

[Mudskipper]

He seems to be doing ok, for now. I moved him into a "hospital" tank which he seems to like...no girls to chase around but he's getting much needed rest. I'm not into chemicals for wild bettas either. Juilian has a good point. I've been using salt and keapang for this guy...he's still eating like a hog so, hope that's a good sign. Nervous here but hopeful.

[Emokidz]

That's good to hear. As long as he keeps a healthy apetite. Also, I'd recommend small water changes every 2-3 days to keep water quality high. Do update us on his recovery!

[Mudskipper]

Thanks so much for the concern, it really helps warm my heart specially after jumping back in the hobby again. Will do with the water changes, was thinking about that. I appreciate it. Cheers!

[Mudskipper]

Sad but the little guy didn't make it. Found him belly up this morning. *sigh* Wonder if this is a sign.

[Emokidz]

Sorry to hear that. Don't be too discouraged about it..

[ban_tse]

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Actually, it reminded me of a recent b. channoides pair i purchased. The male also had an "injury" on the top of the head, and did not survive past the week.

I can't say i used much medication, but my questions are:

How was the injury caused in the first place?

I've seen this before in some of my wild betta purchases. Due to trying to jump out of the tank? Or is it more an infection that arises out of stress?

comments please?

ben

[Emokidz]

It could be a combination of stress from travel, not being fed in transit and infection as the wound was left untreated until you got him. Also, bad water quality can cause the formation of sores or promote secondary bacterial or fungal infections if left untreated.

[Mudskipper]

I figured that these fishes like to jump...a lot! I finally watched my enisae both jump and hit their stupid heads on the plastic covers causing that scratch on the head. BOTH OF THEM!! In different tanks, too. I did a massive water change with aged water and added some salt...they started calming down. I age my water with katapang leaves, I think that helps calm them down. Now to make sure they don't jump anymore. *sigh*

[stormhawk]

Once your fish has an open wound on the head, it is as good as dead. Bacterial infections come in quickly, even in those acid blackwater conditions you keep your fish in. Try to measure your water parameters once a week or so, because these Bettas jump once the water quality goes bad. From what I see, I think your enisae are stressed. Do you have some floating plants in the tank? I find using them calms the fishes down more.

[Mudskipper]

I have tried floating plants but they keep dying and rotting on me. I do not use light cause that really stresses them out a lot more. What I have done is really planted their tanks super heavily with java fern and use the tall leaves to cover as much of the surface as possible ... now they'e stopped jumping.

I do change their water every few days...about 20 percent...with aged water, soaked with ketapang leaves. They seem to like this better...forgot how stressful this hobby an be...no wonder I gave it up a short while ago. Haiz.

[stormhawk]

Alternative is to grow Vallisneria. Once the tape grass leaves become extra long and cover the surface, they actually just hide below it. You can try with synthetic yarn as well, to create "floating" plants.

[Mudskipper]

Don't vals need good light? I have had vals before, but they all "melted" on me. I really love vals tho...so elegant. Java ferns have worked well...my tanks are very heavily planted so most of the time, no problem. Sort of planted, I guess since the java fern are all tied down to blocks...easy to replace if they die. the synthetic yarn idea...too fakey for me. LOL! I like my tank to be more natural.

[stormhawk]

They will grow with some bright room lights. As far as I recall, Ronnie aka Ronwill used to keep them in tanks that had indirect sunlight during the daytime. They grew exceptionally well in those conditions, even in the shaded tanks.

[Mudskipper]

Wah! Going to look for Vals!!!