Sick Betta Fish

[Keavy]

My betta fish seems to be sick. I have him in a one galleon bowl, set under a very warm desk lamp to keep his water warm (I am in a college dorm room). For the past week he has been lurking near the bottom of his bowl, reluctant to move unless I fed him. His appetite has been normal. However, his normally bright blue color has faded, his fins seem to clump together and his two small front fins have turned competely clear. Last night, his face appeared to have turned gray, like a beard. Today I changed his water completely with bottled water (which I have since learned was a mistake in the betta forums, as well as learning that I need to change his water more frequently). I added 1/2 a teaspoon of aquarium salt to his bowl, as well as betta-fix remedy. He has become more lively, swimming around quickly and darting around the bowl. I am not sure if this is due to stress, the fact that I move his bowl to a spot closer to where I sit all day, or whether he is feeling better. He's always been a spazzy fish, but now more than usual. The grayish color around his face has since lessened, but his color is still faded and dull and he seems to still have gray patches on one side of his face. I could not get a proper picture, as the flash scares him. I have looked for pictures of fish diseases online, but his face appeared similar to those in pictures of BOTH bacterial infections and of certain pictures of ich. I am not sure whether to keep adding betta-fix to his water (changing it more frequently) and just see if the face thing either goes away or grows into something more diagnosable, or whether to buy medicine.

1. Water parameters. (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp', Hardness etc) One galleon fish bowl, no filters, haven't tested it. Used spring water and aquarium salt for a full change today
2. A full description of the fishes symptoms.- see above
3. How often you do water changes and how much.- Have done 100% changes every 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, learned today to do two 30% changes a week and one 100%, will do that in the future
4. Any chemicals and treatments you add to the water.- added aquarium salt and betta-fix to the water for the first time today
5. What tank mates are in the tank.-none
6. Tank size. 1 galleon
7. Finally Have you recently added any new fish?- no

 

[Amunet]

I have no idea what's wrong, but I would recommend changing his water more frequently. Once a week in an unfiltered 1gallon just isn't enough. You should be doing water changes every day or every other day with some dechlorinated water. I'd say anywhere from 30-50% changes.
If you're medicating him.. just put back in however much you took out. Like say a gallon requires 4 drops of medication.. you do a 50% water change.. so add back in 1 or 2 drops.
That's what I did for a while when my hospital tank didn't have a working filter and that seemed to work out ok. Even now that it does have a filter on it, I'm still doing 30-50% water changes every day to make sure the fish don't become too stressed from the ammonia buildup.

Hope your lil fella is gonna be ok! Also remember to have a lid on that bowl! Bettas do jump!

 

[zoekin8yg]

Have a look at velvet see if that looks like what he has

 

[Keavy]

I will be sure to do 50% water changes, thank you for your advice about that and the amount of medication to add with that.

It does look like velvet! Thank you so much I hadn't seen pictures of that before, I will go get medicine.

 

[zoekin8yg]

Great news glad you have found out whats wrong with him. Good luck

 

[heatmisr]

You may want to not use the salt. Bettas are freshwater fish and 1/2 a teaspoon in a 1g bowl is quite a bit.

 

[Htw]

You may want to get a thermometer to check the water temp. With no actual heater, if it's fluctuating too much he won't be able to fight any infection he may have.

 

[Keavy]

You may want to not use the salt. Bettas are freshwater fish and 1/2 a teaspoon in a 1g bowl is quite a bit.

Even though the box says for freshwater fish? I went to several websites and they recommended adding it to the bowl for electrolytes, and they said especially when sick...

I will get definately go get a thermometer.

It's only been two days but already Professor Chaos is looking much better, he's more active and his tail is no longer clumped up, and he made a bubble nest this morning. Thanks everybody for your advice!

 

[WILDER]

Glad he's on the mend.