betta with a stuck flared gill

[angyles]

I jsut got home and looked at one of my bettas and noticed one of his gills is stuck flared out! it's very hard in place. I took him out aand sedated him a little bit to get a closer look and couldn't see any real physical cause for it. He's back in his tank now swimming around. I have no idea what caused it, how serious it is, etc. He's in a divided tank with another betta (female) on the other side, so I'm nervous to use any meds.

Anyone ever seen this?

 

[halfmoonplakat]

Is it just sticking out more than the other one? And when he flares can you notice an obvious difference in the gill cover?
There could be several causes for this:
1. He has been exposed to other bettas/has gotten into a fight, leaving a damaged gill
2. Ammonia burns
3. Gill parasites
4. Water quality issues
5. Genetics
In the case of option 1, it rarely heals, but as long as he is active, alert and healthy, there shouldn't be anything wrong with it. As for option 2 and 4, can you tell us about your water params? As for option 3 you can treat flukes with Coppersafe, Formalin 3, or Permoxyn, and if you feel that it is gill disease afflicting him, Maracyn Two would work. As for option 5 unless it his causing him great discomfort, and making him sluggish/weak/tired, or giving him a lack of an appetite, it should be alright. Some bettas outgrow their genetics & change over time, and some don't. As long as it isn't affecting your little guy's comfort and well-being, there is nothing wrong with him.
Again, water params, tank size, tank temperature, water change frequency/percentage, and any noted behavioural changes would help. As would pictures.
What did you use to sedate him? Have you tried to block their view of one another (the male and the female bettas?) Does he flare very often? (24/7 or rarely)
Good luck

 

[angyles]

thank you for a response!

okay so the scenario is, it's a 10G with a pretty opaque divider. They know each other are there, I'm sure, but you can't actually see through it. I NEVER see him flare. EVER. the female, well she's always been a bit of a stinker and flares at everything LoL. I've had him for about 1 month, and it wasn't like this when I got him. The tank is heavily planted, has some snails, and is kept at 78f with filtration. 20% water changes every 1-2 weeks. I used a couple drops of clove oil to sedate him just enough to where I could get a close look. I didn't SEE any parasites, but again, I've only had him a month so I suppose he could have brought them with him? The tank has been established for over a year, very healthy.

params are:

ph 7.6
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 5ppm
temp 78F

he's behaving perfectly normal, so I'm trying not to worry. But I've had a well over a dozen bettas over the years and I've never seen this before!!

how do i determine if ther'es gill parasites? I've neer seen them before, are they alwasy visible?

I don't have a camera so I can't take a pic. but it looks like a mild flare. Not full flare, but like, halfway. You can see straight in behind the gill, open cavity basically.

 

[halfmoonplakat]

If there are gill parasites, they will almost always be visible as white matter on your betta's gills (in the form of long strings). If there is nothing in the gill cavity besides dark gill tissue, and if he is not breathing heavily, I would not be too worried.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

if it does turn out to be some sort of infection or parasite then i'd treat the male in the divided tank instead of qt to ensure that the female on the other side gets treated too, just as a precautionary measure.

 

[angyles]

thanks for the repsonses. I almost missed them!

well he's doing a lot better now. It's laid back down; not 100% but almost. I still wonder what the heck it was all about, and hope it goes down the rest of the way with time.