I Think George Might Be Sick

[gordsmail]

Hi everybody

This is my first post. I'm concerned about George. He has lost color over the last day and wants to hide a lot in his plant. He is in about a little over a half gallon tank with a live plant and an apple snail. I change his water weekly, feed him once a day three pellets of Betta Bio-Gold with the occasional blood worm. I've noticed what looks like a change in his scales under his chin and some change in his coloring. I was wondering if anyone noticed something wrong with him. I've uploaded some pics. Please let me know if you see something out of the ordinary.
http/farm3.static.flickr.com/2294/231987...a419557.jpg?v=0
http/farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/232069...bd971d8.jpg?v=0
http/farm3.static.flickr.com/2356/232069...7ca0515.jpg?v=0

 

[liz2]

How long have you had him? trouble is with male bettas bought from shops they are fully grown and probably a year old before you get them. It could be old age. Just keep him in super clean water there doesnt appear to be any illness....

 

[ibbledibble]

Hi everybody

This is my first post. I'm concerned about George. He has lost color over the last day and wants to hide a lot in his plant. He is in about a little over a half gallon tank with a live plant and an apple snail. I change his water weekly,

hi, gord, welcome to the forum.

i've never kept a betta in such a small container so i'm not entirely sure on times, but i'm fairly sure you should be changing the water more frequently than once a week for a half gallon tank. i know others have said they do 100% water changes weekly on 1gal tanks so it would seem you should do changes at least twice a week for him. with my 1-1.5gal tanks i did 2 90% water changes weekly. plus i have heard that apple snails pollute the tank quite a bit. never kept one so don't know for sure.
is the tank heated? bettas immune systems are weaker at lower temps.

 

[gordsmail]

How long have you had him? trouble is with male bettas bought from shops they are fully grown and probably a year old before you get them. It could be old age. Just keep him in super clean water there doesnt appear to be any illness....

Thanks for the Reply. I've had him for about 9 months and he is about 3 inches long. I'm not sure where he came from or how well he was taken care of before because he was a center piece at a wedding. Usually at stores they aren't very well taken care of. He has however gained more red on his head and more blue on his body since I have got him. I wanted to know it the red on his gills looked like a bacterial infection as well.

 

[eb2]

How long have you had him? trouble is with male bettas bought from shops they are fully grown and probably a year old before you get them. It could be old age. Just keep him in super clean water there doesnt appear to be any illness....

Thanks for the Reply. I've had him for about 9 months and he is about 3 inches long. I'm not sure where he came from or how well he was taken care of before because he was a center piece at a wedding. Usually at stores they aren't very well taken care of. He has however gained more red on his head and more blue on his body since I have got him. I wanted to know it the red on his gills looked like a bacterial infection as well.

does his breathing seem labored in anyway,rapid etc?

 

[gordsmail]

How long have you had him? trouble is with male bettas bought from shops they are fully grown and probably a year old before you get them. It could be old age. Just keep him in super clean water there doesnt appear to be any illness....

Thanks for the Reply. I've had him for about 9 months and he is about 3 inches long. I feed him 3 pellets a day is this enough? I'm not sure where he came from or how well he was taken care of before because he was a center piece at a wedding. Usually at stores they aren't very well taken care of. He has however gained more red on his head and more blue on his body since I have got him. I wanted to know it the red on his gills looked like a bacterial infection as well. His tank is not heated however my dorm room is quite warm. I will also begin doing a partial water change during the week.

Thanks again for the replies

 

[gordsmail]

How long have you had him? trouble is with male bettas bought from shops they are fully grown and probably a year old before you get them. It could be old age. Just keep him in super clean water there doesnt appear to be any illness....

Thanks for the Reply. I've had him for about 9 months and he is about 3 inches long. I'm not sure where he came from or how well he was taken care of before because he was a center piece at a wedding. Usually at stores they aren't very well taken care of. He has however gained more red on his head and more blue on his body since I have got him. I wanted to know it the red on his gills looked like a bacterial infection as well.

does his breathing seem labored in anyway,rapid etc?

No it all seems quite regular. He gulps from the surface occasionally, not as much since I've added the live plant. Some times he stretches his chin way forward but I've been told this is normal. He swims in an out of his plant some times. I'm not sure if this is glancing or just playing. He only breaths heavy when he's been swimming quite quickly or flaring. Why what would that indicate?

 

[eb2]

How long have you had him? trouble is with male bettas bought from shops they are fully grown and probably a year old before you get them. It could be old age. Just keep him in super clean water there doesnt appear to be any illness....

Thanks for the Reply. I've had him for about 9 months and he is about 3 inches long. I'm not sure where he came from or how well he was taken care of before because he was a center piece at a wedding. Usually at stores they aren't very well taken care of. He has however gained more red on his head and more blue on his body since I have got him. I wanted to know it the red on his gills looked like a bacterial infection as well.

does his breathing seem labored in anyway,rapid etc?

No it all seems quite regular. He gulps from the surface occasionally, not as much since I've added the live plant. Some times he stretches his chin way forward but I've been told this is normal. He swims in an out of his plant some times. I'm not sure if this is glancing or just playing. He only breaths heavy when he's been swimming quite quickly or flaring. Why what would that indicate?

if he's breathing funny, the gills look swollen, if you decide he is glancing, or looks like he's coated with something, he might have an illness but I have only limited experience so I won't actually try to advise on that. there are many on here with good info, you check in the "tropical fish emergencies" to be sure

 

[WILDER]

Red inflamed gills, flicking and rubbing, and laboured breathing can be gill flukes.

 

[frostpixie]

i dont think george is sick at all... he's just souless

he should be fine it's not like you've noticed his behavior has changed completely or that he's not getting enough food....


it could be the food you are feeding him, b.c it has color enhancements in it