Just some additional thoughts. What is the outlet from the bio wheel filter.. ie the flow. Too high a flow can ravage their fins tissue which is a single cell thin. (I use sponge to slow it down or silk plants attached to outlet). Also, they can handle lots of salt during treatment, and adding 1/2 to one teaspoon per 10 gallon helps to keep them (my experience) free(er) from bacteria. It needs to be added slowly over time though. They have been so inbred that they are not at all as hardy as when I was younger and in my opinion need extra care. Plus the way they are shipped in a few teaspoon of water so on, they arrive highly stressed in medicated water. So, prone to bacteria. I have found that salt water dips, (aquarium salt of course) each day and fresh water changes helps a lot. I rescued bettas (ok did one more lately) and use to use meds but the salt water workes best even with the extremely hard to rid flexibar columinaris (which looks like stringy fungus but is bacterial). Or you can use a gram positive and gram negative med plus the salt. Use your hospital tank so as not to hurt plants, bio load. Take out all plants, salt treatment will kill. Use soft silk (large leaves better as they like to sit on or hide under when asleep).. Use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per gallon for hospital tank, then each day tank him out with tub (plastic container and cover so he won't jump).. I lower lights place towel over container, (inside of larger incase he does jump) Then I slowly dribble additional salted water for a soak, while I clean his main tank. I have had fish recover nicely from this, but it took some work. Melefix will help with healing tissue after bacteria gone. I have found they can handle much larger salt loads, but am hesitant to suggest this, just watch for stress, ie frantic swimming. And go slow slow slow. Then reverse with his fresh (adjust to match) clean tank water until equal and gentle place him back in. I never use nets just cup them gently in containers. (there are pros and cons on salt but I've used it since I was a kid many decades ago, per Dr. Innes and no problems and much help. Has to be used properly though). ........................... from a forum The simple answer is that bettas do not like much salt in their water. Bettas will tolerate a certain amount of salt in their water; however, there is a limit. Salt will change the flow of water due to a change in the concentration. All fish will tolerate salt to some degree, but when there's too much they will dehydrate due to water flowing out of the creature. Saltwater fish have kidneys that allow them to expel excess salt while retaining their water. Freshwater fish do the opposite - they expel water because of the concentration gradient. When using salt, you should use it for specific problems or needs. If you don't know when it's right, do some research. For example, FishEnthusiast.com notes that: "Salt puts electrolytes in the water that stimulate production of the mucus coating that protects fish from infection. At the same time, it alters the chemical balance of the water, usually increasing the pH. Salt also helps inhibit bacterial growth at least the kind that seem to cause algal blooms in freshwater aquariums." Salt assists in the healing of injuries, promotes formation of slime coating, improves gill function, reduces the buildup of nitrite (useful when setting up new tanks: 1/2 ounce of salt per gallon), and is effective against some parasites. However, it is a double-edged sword; there are also some downfalls. For example, some plants and fish species cannot tolorate salt. This yet another reason you should do a little research before treating a problem. It is NOT advised to use salt with scaleless fish, particularly cordydoras. These species are particularly sensitive to salt, and even a small amount can harm them. Also, tetras are fairly sensitive to salt. More useful information regarding salt: Salt in a Freshwater Aquarium Re: feeding, in nature when animals are really sick they often don't eat, much as people don't. The body is working immune system wise to repair and has more resources then you can imagine. But since you mentioned that he came alive with worms seems he might have been finicky (as they often are at first). Remember their stomachs are as small as their eyes. It is easy to overfeed, esp with dry food as it swells inside when wet. A small amount will do it. I feed a few pinchs of flake, chaning types for variety (live brine shrimp when I can find them, and Hakiri sterilized blood worms, as the live and non Hakiri always caused bacterial problems with any fish that ate them. They are grown in sewage like conditions and freezing does not kill the nasty bacterial or parasites. Hence Hakiri is three times sterilized (forgive my bad spelling). I feed a bit of vegetable matter in late afternoon to provide a purging of earlier meaty meal.)

Hello...just coming across this post (read them all by the way) lol Always searching for info on my Betta Goliath. I'll start by saying I'm not sure where some get their improper info from....so I will go with the more consistent info which seems to be more correct in all the research that I have looked up myself. Would like to also add that just because someone works in or around selling these beauties don't always know what the heck they are talking about they are mainly there to sell & will tell you whatever (like they know) to make that sale. I use to be one of those people that worked at the Mall in the pet store. Ok on with how I came about getting my Goliath :) My daughter had bought me a 3 gal. tank kit for Christmas this past. Well from having many tanks in my younger years I began searching on the internet for which fish to choose for this small tank she bought me lol and which fish will do well together. The Betta's beauty caught my eye :) So decided that that is what I would go with...next step as to who can share this tank with him... Got all my info & went shopping. Not a happy camper on seeing how these beautiful fish are housed!! (not that I didn't see this online) but seeing in person is just awful. Of course I wanted to buy them all! But couldn't of course lol I shopped a few pet stores (leaving with a sad feeling that is) went to Meijer's and that is where I found Goliath...to my surprise they all looked healthy in nice clean plastic bowls made and labeled for the Betta's. I bought him and headed over to Jack's Aquarium which is the next best taken care of pet store. There I bought my dwarf frogs & 6 neon tetra's & a plant for Goliath to rest or sleep. I have a happy tank & Goliath is loving his new pad of room to move. He makes his bubble nests (in which is a good sign that he is happy). My neon tetra's didn't make it because they all got sucked up in my filter tube :( Sooo this opened the door for me to buy a algae eater...so I bought a Otocinclus catfish (very peaceful fish) & he won't out grow my tank ;) What a wonderful bubbly personality Goliath has. I now finger feed him :) I'm happy and my tank is very happy it all shows! Ps in left back corner of pic you can see the 2 dwarf frogs playing in the bubble stream lol but I turned that off because Goliath likes calm tank best ;)

They need sunlight. Give them better access to bright, indirect sunlight. That's the only way they can gather their strength and hopefully recover. The canes still look healthy, so not all is lost. Sunlight is a plant's source of food. So the more sunlight you give them, the more food they can produce. Move them closer to a window where they can get plenty of bright, *in*direct sunlight. Don't give up on them just yet. Good luck. :)

kswl - your O&L paper sounds wonderful! there is a really lovely metallic acorn paper in one of the books now. Sigh... I love so many of them. I used a different O&L paper with hummingbirds in my master BR. trailrunner - I would love share more photos, but I will eek them out as I have rooms more ready to show or get feedback on! Would love to see photos of your home as well! debrak - so thrilled that you noticed the way we designed the rail. That was added. I fell in love with a pedestal sink that was too tall for the existing chair rail, but I wanted to keep the rest of the chair rail at the existing height. So my carpenter and I figured this out. Here is a "before" photo. Quite a difference!