My Betta is a little off

[SarahB92612]

So I am new to the fish tank world, I recently got a 10 gallon tank and 1 male Betta, 1 male swordtail and 1 female guppy(i think, the guy at the local non chain pet store did not know anything about any of the fish). Anyways my Betta has developed 2 lines on both gills and he is constantly holding all of his fins as straight as possible never letting them just flow. Any ideas on what's going on?

 

[LyraGuppi]

Are his fins and the stripes like this?

 

[SarahB92612]

Are his fins and the stripes like this?

No, they are straight up and down on his gills only. 2 on each gill.

 

[NickAu]

How long have you had them?
Is your tank cycled?
Is your tank filtered?
What is the water temp?
Any plants in it?
Do you know your water parameters? Ammonia Nitrite and Nitrate?
Do you know your waters PH, KH,GH?
Can you provide a photo of the fish?

Now for the bad news, Guppies and Sword tails are social fish and need more of their kind say at least 3 of each, My suggestion would be to take the Guppy and Sword tail back to the shop.

Oh and BTW
You female Guppy could be pregnant most Live bearer females are when you buy them.

 

[SarahB92612]

Are his fins and the stripes like this?

No, they are straight up and down on his gills only. 2 on each gill.

How long have you had them?
Is your tank cycled?
Is your tank filtered?
What is the water temp?
Any plants in it?
Do you know your water parameters? Ammonia Nitrite and Nitrate?
Do you know your waters PH, KH,GH?
Can you provide a photo of the fish?

Now for the bad news, Guppies and Sword tails are social fish and need more of their kind say at least 3 of each, My suggestion would be to take the Guppy and Sword tail back to the shop.

Oh and BTW
You female Guppy could be pregnant most Live bearer females are when you buy them.

My tank is filtered, there are no plants and the temperature is 72°F, I do not know the answer to the rest of your questions because either I don't know what it means or I don't know how to tell
I hate to take the fish back to that grimey place, maybe I could take them somewhere better.

 

[SarahB92612]

That was the best picture I could get, you can kind of see the stripes but not very well.

 

[SarahB92612]

o

How long have you had them?
Is your tank cycled?
Is your tank filtered?
What is the water temp?
Any plants in it?
Do you know your water parameters? Ammonia Nitrite and Nitrate?
Do you know your waters PH, KH,GH?
Can you provide a photo of the fish?

Now for the bad news, Guppies and Sword tails are social fish and need more of their kind say at least 3 of each, My suggestion would be to take the Guppy and Sword tail back to the shop.

Oh and BTW
You female Guppy could be pregnant most Live bearer females are when you buy them.

Oh and I've had the Betta about 3 weeks and the other 2 about 1 week

 

[NickAu]

In that time how often have you changed water?

 

[SarahB92612]

In that time how often have you changed water?

I haven't. I let the water sit in the running tank for like a day then I got the Betta and haven't changed it yet.

 

[Demeter32]

The gill plates of dark colored bettas often have the two stripes you are talking about, it's just part of their coloration. But yeah, I don't recommend keeping any bettas with live bearers of any sort. Actually, there's aren't many fish I would keep them with other than calm/peaceful bottom dwellers. I'm with the others, I'd take the sword tail and guppy back to the pet store. If a betta constantly has his fins straight up and flared out, that could mean he feels threatened/angry. The other fish are very active species, and bettas are known to be super calm and lazy when their in their element.

If your new to fish keeping, make sure you start doing weekly water changes. This dilutes the nitrates in the water, keeping it a healthy environment for your fish. But first I would worry about the Nitrogen Cycle, because it sounds like your tank isn't cycled which will end up making all your fish ill.

 

[SarahB92612]

The gill plates of dark colored bettas often have the two stripes you are talking about, it's just part of their coloration. But yeah, I don't recommend keeping any bettas with live bearers of any sort. Actually, there's aren't many fish I would keep them with other than calm/peaceful bottom dwellers. I'm with the others, I'd take the sword tail and guppy back to the pet store. If a betta constantly has his fins straight up and flared out, that could mean he feels threatened/angry. The other fish are very active species, and bettas are known to be super calm and lazy when their in their element.

If your new to fish keeping, make sure you start doing weekly water changes. This dilutes the nitrates in the water, keeping it a healthy environment for your fish.

thank you

 

[NickAu]

Ok

First thing you need to do is a 50% water change with treated water, You will need to treat the water with something like Seachem Prime.

I would do 50% today and 50% tomorrow, Then you need to get a water test kit so you can monitor the water quality API master test kit is great.

What are you feeding the fish?

 

[SarahB92612]

Ok

First thing you need to do is a 50% water change with treated water, You will need to treat the water with something like Seachem Prime.

I would do 50% today and 50% tomorrow, Then you need to get a water test kit so you can monitor the water quality API master test kit is great.

What are you feeding the fish?

Thank you so much for your help! I feed my Betta "Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets" and the other 2 I feed "Omega One Freshwater Flakes for all tropical fish"

 

[NickAu]

Just do not over feed them, Bettas are little pigs when it comes to food.

Can you post a photo of your tank please?

 

[SarahB92612]

Just do not over feed them, Bettas are little pigs when it comes to food.

Can you post a photo of your tank please?