Is My Fish Sick?

I have an aqua colored betta in a 2.5 gallon tank. I got him at PetSmart about a 2 months ago. First, I had him in a 1 gallon bowl. It was getting really cold in our place during the day, and he was always really cold and barely moving when I came home from work. A couple of times, I thought he was dead. He would not eat the betta food pellets I bought. He would try and spit them out. He was annorexic. I bought him flakes, and he would bring them below the surface and spread them around and make a mess, eating some and spitting the rest all over the place. He would proceed to chace remnants around and put them in his mouth and spit them out. (It is hard to clean all of the uneaten stuff out when he brings it all to the bottom.)

Now, I have baby pellets that he loves! He eats like a civilized fish. He is a gentleman. He loves his tank, and is much warmer all day where I put it. he is a very active and fiesty fish. Over-all, he seems very happy. He is very affectionate too, as odd as it sounds.

Since the first week after I brought him home, when the light in the tank is on, you can see has a little red coloring on the top of his head and some red coloring through his fins. He also has some rips on the ends on his fins, but he likes to hang out by the intake for the filter. Part of me thinks the filter intake is damaging the fins.

I think I need to get him a little home so he stops playing behind the filter. Aside from that, does he sound healthy? I have no idea. I do not know fish that well. This is my first fish, and I love him sooooooooooo much. He is my baby.

you have been bitten by the bug! but he sounds quite healthy apart from the rips...did he have them when you got him, because if he did then it could just be fin damage from transportation...i know my betta has a bit of a damaged tail, but it will eventually grow back!

I don't think he had the rips when I got him. It keeps getting a little worse. I hope he will heal if I get him a home and he stays away from the filter. I am going to get him a little house with some hiding places in it today.

I was thinking his fake plant might be ripping his fins too. He is a very aggressive swimmer. He is really fiesty. He likes to swim circles around the plant and enjoys weaving in and out of it, too.

tbh i think in my opinion, real plants are worthwhile in using, they oxygenate the water in the day time and take out some nasty stuff out the water

plus they wont rip ur betta's fins

what temp is the water he is in??

The water stays 70F - 80F.

Easy way to check fake plants etc are safe is to drape a pair of tights over them and pull them back and forth. If they snag, so will your betta.
A hiding place will be much appreciated, mine loves hiding in his cave and under plants.

I got him a little house type thing yesterday. It was really hard to find something at the pet store without a lot of rough edges on which he could get his fins cought. They just do not make a lot of tank ornaments for fragile finned fish.

When I put it in the tank, he was a little wary of it. First, he would not go anywhere near it. He stayed on the other end of the tank. I sort of guided him towrd it by having him follow my finger on the outside of the tank. He will swim near it now, but gives it a very wide birth. Maybe it needs to build up a little slime or something. Maybe it smells funny. Hopefully, he will warm up to it a little bit. I think it is perfect for him, but it does take up more room than I would like.

krisfnj said:

I got him a little house type thing yesterday. It was really hard to find something at the pet store without a lot of rough edges on which he could get his fins cought. They just do not make a lot of tank ornaments for fragile finned fish.

When I put it in the tank, he was a little wary of it. First, he would not go anywhere near it. He stayed on the other end of the tank. I sort of guided him towrd it by having him follow my finger on the outside of the tank. He will swim near it now, but gives it a very wide birth. Maybe it needs to build up a little slime or something. Maybe it smells funny. Hopefully, he will warm up to it a little bit. I think it is perfect for him, but it does take up more room than I would like.

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I would check out the fish emergencies section and the Betta FAQ section too. If the fins are ripped, but the fish acts normal and is eating, get some Melafix and watch for new growth on the fins. If it doesnt grow back or gets worse then you have to see about more serious meds. If he's getting caught in the intake, try something to wrap something around it that doesn't block the intake but reduces the openings so the fins cant get caught. It depends upon your in take tube but I've used a thin strip of filter sponge, and fastened it with a rubber band 1/ 2 way up the tube so there was suction above and below but the openings were too small for the fins to get really sucked in.
alot of people use the small terra cotta flower pots, they're less then a $ and real smooth. personally my fish could never be bothered with a cave but he really digs the floating stirofoam cup, cut in half, floating cave they're used for breeding my fish just likes it because he can hide at the top. Also, see about a 25 watt submersible, adjustable heater to keep the temp consistant. in the picture I have circled an area where there is light colored new fin growth

Just keep his water clean, maybe add a little bit of aquarium salt, and his fins should heal up just fine on their own.
The filter could be messing them up if it's too strong. You'll have to keep an eye on that.
What sort of fake plants do you have in the tank with him? If they're plastic, they usually always have very sharp edges that can cut into their fins. Real plants would be best, but silk plants are just as great as well and requires less maintenance heh

Thank you for all of the advice. I think I should try to get a silk plant instead of the plastic one. The plastic one I have in there really does not have any edges or anything. It has very smooth rounded leaves.

If you could see the way my fish swims, you would understand why it would be easy to rip the fins on anything. He really twitches and twists his body a lot, so his fins hit the plant pretty hard. he swims too fast and furious. I wish I had a better place to put him so I could get him a nice big tank. He would have so much fun doing longer laps and racing around. That is his favorite thing to do, aside from attacking the edges of the tank and swimming up and down them like a mad man.

As for the filter, I have it on the lowest setting possible, but I guess I need to figure out where the intake may be catching his fins and try to make the surface area difficult to get to or too small for the fins to get into.

I tried to get a little heater for the tank, but the suction cup doesn't stick to the sides of the tank. The heater won't stay where it belongs. I worry it might get too warm in there too.

krisfnj said:

If you could see the way my fish swims, you would understand why it would be easy to rip the fins on anything. He really twitches and twists his body a lot, so his fins hit the plant pretty hard. he swims too fast and furious. I wish I had a better place to put him so I could get him a nice big tank. He would have so much fun doing longer laps and racing around. That is his favorite thing to do, aside from attacking the edges of the tank and swimming up and down them like a mad man.

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is he flashing around the tank? you originally mentioned funny color? has the color changed, your post originally mentioned odd color,maybe he has velvet

Well, he is a bluish-aqua colored fish. When he is back-lit, or when the tank light is on, you can see some red through his fins near his body. In regular lighting, he is totally blue. He has a little bit of a darker color on the top of his head. It is not red, but it is not blue like the rest of him.

He does not flare. When I say he attacks the sides, I just mean he swims at the sides. He sticks his face in the corner and wigles his body. He swims up and down with his face in the corner. It's a little weird, but he never flares when he is doing it. He swims laps sometimes too, but he never flares when he is doing that either. The only time he has ever flared is when I put a compact mirror up to the side of the tank once.

He is very calm most of the time when the tank light is off. I try to keep the light off in the tank for longer periods of time because I do not want him to wear himself out. The longer the light stays on, the more active he is. He has been a little calmer in the past week since I have been keeping the tank light off longer.

Oh no! Is he sick?

krisfnj said:

Well, he is a bluish-aqua colored fish. When he is back-lit, or when the tank light is on, you can see some red through his fins near his body. In regular lighting, he is totally blue. He has a little bit of a darker color on the top of his head. It is not red, but it is not blue like the rest of him.

He does not flare. When I say he attacks the sides, I just mean he swims at the sides. He sticks his face in the corner and wigles his body. He swims up and down with his face in the corner. It's a little weird, but he never flares when he is doing it. He swims laps sometimes too, but he never flares when he is doing that either. The only time he has ever flared is when I put a compact mirror up to the side of the tank once.

He is very calm most of the time when the tank light is off. I try to keep the light off in the tank for longer periods of time because I do not want him to wear himself out. The longer the light stays on, the more active he is. He has been a little calmer in the past week since I have been keeping the tank light off longer.

Oh no! Is he sick?

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he's eating right? try shining a flashlight on him and see if he has any gold dust looking stuff or white specs, try the fish emergency section if you're not sure

I tried to find the fish emergency section, but I couldn't. I will try again. Maybe I am missing it. I did look at the diseases on the Tropical Fish Forever Home page, and it seems like they all say it should be white spots. His are redish and dark gray on his head. He is not lathargic at all, but he certainly darts around the tank. I did think that was odd.

When I came home from work today, Killer has red lines on the sides of his gills now. They are new. I'm so upset. I actually started crying. It sounds so stupid, I know. I am very attached to him. I live in an apartment. He is the only pet I can have. I love him, and I want him to be happy and healthy. I can't just call a vet. They will not give me the time of day.

I tried the flashlight thing. After he looked at me like I was crazy, I could not really see any white or gold dusty spots. He just kind of looks gray and reddish in some areas. Poor guy. There was one tiny spek that may have looked like something that might be construed as white. Hmmm.

Any ideas on how to keep my heater with the faulty suction cup in submurged and off to the side of the tank?

What ever will I do with this fish??

And, yes he is eating without any issues. He is a picky eater, but he eats 3 Hikari Bio-Gold baby pellets 2 times a day. He is always looking for more, so I know he has not lost his appetite.