Fix The Fish

Had a customer come into the store today with a question about her betta.

Because she said for the last little bit the betta she has has just kinda been laying on the bottom of the tank and doesn't swim around much, and seems to struggle when swimming up to the surface to get food.

So I asked her, noting the use of 'struggling' if the fish was using it's back end at all. The tail part to swim.

To which she said she didn't think it was and wanted to know what she could do to fix the problem.

Unfortunately there's nothing much she could do....

As if anything it sounded like the fish had a stroke of some sort.

I've seen it before in my own betta fish.
Where one day they're swimming fine.
And the next they're all gimpy swimming about.

And if it's a stroke...not much we can do to fix it.

I mean it could be some sort of other issue.
But with fish it's definitely a lot harder to tell.

The customer wanted me to come up with a solution...and was a bit disappointed I couldn't.

Most treatable things you see something on the outside of the fish. 
So like red sores, or white growths, or white spots, or ragged fins would help to be able to tell if the issue was bacterial or fungal or even parasitic.

But not moving the back half of the body?
Yah...not a symptom that's listed under the categories above.

Still I directed the customer to a 'general cure' that would treat everything and anything that is treatable with the fish.

Which she ended up buying.
Because her son told her to go to the store to get medicine.
And she figured she'd better try something so her son would know she at least tried to take care of the fish.

Though honestly I don't know if the fish will recover from that.

*fingers crossed* though. 

-Sarnic Dirchi