Sick Betta

[Snick]

it seems to have developed a weird atittude... thatbeing that it hangs around the floor all the time except to go up and breath. It doesnt eat, and it seems to have developed a whiteness on his belly. What is this and how can i fix it?

 

[ElectricMayhem]

Hmm, kinda hard to say. How old is your betta? Is the whiteness fluffy or fuzzy, or does it look like the scales have just turned white? Is your betta having any problems swimming when it does go up for air? Does it look bloated at all? Sorry for all the questions, it might help someone reading better identify what's wrong. In the meantime I'd make sure your betta has nice clean water with a pinch of aquarium salt in it. Hope he gets better soon!

 

[liz2]

yes, you do need to post about these things and then hopefully one of the experts can help. keep my figers crossed for him

 

[mrplaty]

a picture might help or answering the questions ElectricMayhem asked would be a big help!!

Hope he gets better soon

 

[Manolog]

The Betta that Snick posted about is actually mine, but I wasn't a member of here until ... very recently; I'm relatively new to the world of aquariums. Answering ElectricMayhem's questions, my fish is a couple of months old (December of January, I remember buying it during winter); it seems that the scales have turned white, and it doesn't seem to have trouble swimming, it just swims VERY VERY slow, almost as if a current was moving it. It DOES actually look bloated, but it has not eaten in a couple days now.



Aquarium Salt ... I have never heard of it. I'll look for it in the local fish store, and hopefully buy it. My fish is currently living in a glass bowl, and it is pretty spacious for a fish that size. My fish is about an inch and a half (tail included). The only other object in the bowl are the small plastic stones at the bottom. Should I buy plants, or sand for it? I've had around four Bettas, and I'm a simple fish owner, but this is the first time that something like this occurs.

Hope someone is able to help me; I don't really want to have him die.

 

[Rediahs]

You said the bowl is "spacious", but one person's view on "spacious" could be another's "cramped". I'd like to know how big your bowl is, in gallonage...

If you don't know, next time you do a water change, measure out the water with a measuring cup as you fill it up. 1 gallon is 4 litres or so. And 1 litre is 4 cups or so.

 

[Powie]

As for salt, you don't really need to buy aquarium salt, just get some "pure salt", I buy canning salt at my local grocery store, you'll probably save some money. My local fish store told me to just buy it at the grocery (I was impressed they weren't just trying to make a sale) when I asked them about "aquarium salt". I salt all my tanks, my betta tanks get 1 teaspoon per 2.5 gallons. My tropical tank gets about 1 teaspoon per 1.5 gallons.