Sick Betta

[Keavy]

My betta fish, Professor Chaos seems to be sick. I live in a college dorm and keep him in a 1 galleon bowl, so it doesn't have a heater, although it is generally quite warm in my dorm room because the radiators are always on. He has grown pale, he used to be a vibrant blue color and is now blue towards the tail but faded purple near the head. For the past week he has stopped making bubble nests and keeps near the bottom of his bowl. He has grayish blue patches on his face. His tail seems to be clumped together. His small front fins used to be blue, they are now clear. He is eating normally however, 5-7 pellets of hikari bio gold a day.

I have been using bottled room temperature water for his water changes because the tap water here is extremely acidic.

So far I have changed his bowl water, moved his bowl to under a desk lamp to make the water warmer, and added 1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt. I also added betta-fix drops, but I'm not sure if there is anything else I should do to help him.

Any suggestions?

 

[zoekin8yg]

Bottled water isnt good for fish, it doesnt contain all the electrolytes etc that a fish needs

 

[Keavy]

Alright, I'll buy some dechlorination stuff and use tap water next time I change his bowl.

 

[zoekin8yg]

That may help, how often to you change his water? He might perk up after some tap water keep an eye on him though he might be poorly

 

[Keavy]

I change it about every 1 1/2 weeks... I just changed it today but with bottled water and aquarium salt. Should I change it again with tap water today, or would so many water changes shock him?

 

[zoekin8yg]

Dont change him again today, but you need to be changing him more often. WIth no filter the ammonia and other nasties will build up and a week and a half is too long. Most people do 2 30 % changes a week and one 100% change once a week.

 

[Keavy]

Thanks so much for your advice, I will definately change his water more frequently. I didn't know that it was a problem to wait so long. For partial water changes, would it be appropriate to remove water with a turkey baster and add clean water that way? Or should I buy something special to do it? I keep a clean turkey baster to get his poop out of the bottom of the bowl.

 

[zoekin8yg]

I think the turkey baster would be fine for a bowl your size. Dont worry about not knowing, many shops give out incorrect information and things like that.