I bought a sick Betta

[ral]

I finally got a Betta for myself and it looks like I got a sick one. He is in a 1.5 gallon cylndrical bowl, with two small plans, a rock and gravel and one gallon of water.

When I saw him on a shelf when I was in this pet sotre with a friend (I don't have any other pets), this little blue and while pastle colored fish in a small clear plastic cup turned to me and sort of greeted me so I got hooked. This was three days ago.

After talking to the shop manager on what I needed for Max (the Betta's name) I decided to buy him. They were out of stock of the thing that you use to drain water from a bowl so I did not buy one of those yet.

Today I went to a different pet shop, a small mom's and pop's outfit(found one on the next street from my home) and got one of those tube like things with a small hand pump....

.... anyway, I saw their betta's and they looked rather different from mine. There was one which looked like mine and the store owner told me that one was sick.



Max is pretty active, but his fins do not spread out when he swims... I think he may be sick. He also looks thin compared to the other Betta's I saw. I have read the threads on sick betta's but I really don't know what pine coned scales or buglike eyes would look like.

Will read up some more and try to figure out what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know it would not cost much to replace him with a new healty one (.090 US cents), but he is my fish so I don't want him to die. I don't care what it costs.

 

[knvb7741]

hi ral,

I'm sorry to hear about the conidition of yor betta, but maybe if you post a picture some of our betta experts could help you. HTH

 

[dixaisy930]

Changing some of the water everyday will help. Getting him some sort of decoration to hide in may also help...make him feel more secure. Small terra cotta pots turned over work really well.

Pinecone scales will stick out from the body, instead of laying down like normal...doesn't sound like he has that problem. By "buglike" eyes, maybe you are referring to pop-eye? With this the eye(s) actually bugle out, and look like the are popped out.

Some bettas have a washed out color when they are sick, and some bettas are just pale color with nothing wrong with them.

He may be thin because he hasn't been eating at the petstore. Try offering him different foods like brine shrimp or bloodworms. What are you feeding him now, and has he been eating?

 

[ral]

Thanks for th replies.

Will get a picture of him and post it.

Does he eat. I feed him 4 pellets twice a day and he gobbles them up in two minutes or so.

Well he does not seem sick. He is pretty active going up and down the thank and through the plants I put in there. The plants cover about 1/4th to 1/5th of the bowl and rise up so a few of the leaves are actually over the waterline. Got a flat rock for him in case he might want to sleep there. Usually he seems to be sleeping finds a spot in between the leaves of the plant.

I quess frequent water changes will be good? I guess 50% at a time. I could do a 100% change too. In case he is sick I guess it would help. I have prepared another gallon of water and I leave it beside the bowl so I hope they have the same temperature.

Whether he is sick or not I think at least he is happier here. After floating his cup (yup he came in a plastic cup) and finally transferring him to the thank, we was darting about everywhere.

Well, he is active, but his physical appearance seems to be so different from the Betta's I saw this morning and the pictures on the net. Mainly why I am worried.

Why do they keep Betta's in half filed plastic cups? They are clealry active fish wo like to move.

I got a 1.5 gallon (biggest) "bowl" I saw. But with the way he moves around, I think a 2.5 or 5 gallon tank might make life more interesting for him.

 

[dixaisy930]

Sounds like he is a pretty happy/healthy betta to me.

Another added bonus with getting a bigger tank is that you don't have to do so many water changes. And if you got a 5 gallon, you could get an african dwarf frog or two as some company for the betta (if you like).

 

[ral]

By the way, the mom and pops shop I found this morning keeps them in small but decent sized fish bowls. I am new to fish, but they are getting all my business (I do plan to get more betta's once I learn how to care fro Max well), because of the way they threat betta's.

 

[jkun17]

Sometimes it's just boredom.

My first betta did the exact same thing. I got worried, tried to medicate, did frequent H2O changes; in the end, I bought another betta just so I would have something to continue on to should my first one die. Then my first one started getting much more lively after I set the two next to one another.

I guess he just needed someone to get all mad at

 

[ral]

dixaisy930 @ jkun17

I hear yah. Will give me betta a mate. Maybe 2.5 or 5 gallon two betta tanks side by side?

 

[AlexsDaddy]

You could get a 5 gal and a divider and split the 5 gal in half. That way you only have one tank to deal with, and the guys can see each other all the time. Well, if you go that route, you would probably want to get something that they can't see through and only let them see each other for 10 or 15 minutes a day so they don't get too stressed out from flaring all the time. If you have a small mirror, you could put that up to the glass of his bowl and let him flare at that for 10 or 15 minutes every couple days. It's good excersize for them, and might help perk him up a little. Good luck with your new friend!

 

[ral]

Got another betta for my girlfriend. Already has several fish, but no betta's. I got the betta at the shop near my home. Comparing Max with the new betta (a amazing looking red one) I noticed my betta is a lot smaller and his fins don't look anyting like the red betta.

Took some pics but they all came out badly. Am now pretty sure he is sick. is fins are blue violate but with a lot of white areas and comparing the two, I guess I would have to say they are clump together.

The only fish medication they have available is Methalyne Blue and I was told you could not use that for Betta's. I can't even find any aquarium salt.

I am doing now what I can do. I am changing half of the water daily and feeding him regularly. The water I use is tap water with a declorinizing solution and I preapre it the day before and keep it beside the jar to try to keep the temps close. I figured the water changes are okay since he seems to actually enjoy it.

I use this thing I got that uses a small hand pump to remove water. I point the head to the gravel and pull some water out (trying to make sure any dirth in the gravel is removed. He seems to like the device as he swins torward it whenever he sees it.

He still eats like a pig and is an astive little fish. Maybe I should not worry so much. But when you look at Max and the red betta side by side it does look like something is wrong.

 

[bettacrazy]

hi ral,

i currently have a betta that has clamped fins. she eats normally but not as active as before. i was advised by the wonderful people on this forum to do water changes, aquarium salt, water conditioner and methylene blue. i believe that meth blue combats gm + and gm - bacteria. if max has bacterial infection, then meth blue might be the answer. however, if it's parasitic or fungal infection, you will need to use something else... and i'm sure the members of this forum can help you out on that (i'm not very familiar with the medication stuff)!! try taking pictures again and post them. it really helps the members better to help you!!!

in the meantime, keep the water clean.

i hope max will feel better soon!!!!!

 

[f250fisherman]

I just wanted to mention this. When feeding pellets, remember that they swell up when they get wet. Close to 3 times as big. A fish can get impacted pretty fast if you are not careful. When feeding pellets, 2 pellets is enough, especially if you feed them twice a day. I'm going by BettaBio Gold pellets, not the tiny fry pellets.

 

[ral]

Update:

Well it has been a month and Max is alive nad well. His front fins are growing although the tail fin still folds at one spot.

He is now living in a 5 gallon tanks with 10 plants and 3 rocks, and has several neighbors, though I keep them from seeing each other too often

Thanks all.

 

[Joby]

that's great to hear he's doing well