Betta Is Losing His Slime Coat...Please Help

i bought my male betta about two weeks ago from wal-mart and i noticed his water was getting cloudy quickly so i started doing more frequent water changes than once a week...this past weekend i noticed that there was chunky white things floating in his water. i took a sample to my local petco and the fish guy there told me that it was one of two things my water or my fish...we tested the water and it was fine. i am using a good water conditiner for bettas and feeding him pellet food. i came home and did a complete water change and set his bowl up but did not put him in it (i put him in another bowl to see if it was the water or if it was the fish) this was on saturday...today when i came home i noticed that only the water of the bowl that the fish was in had the white chunky things again...is my fish shedding his slime coat? if so what can i do for him? he is active, eats well, not losing his color, his fins and scales look healthy...i got him some stress coat today and put it in his tank but is there anything else going on? has anyone else ever had this problem? please help me i am severly stumped with this one

Thank you

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Any time you have your water tested by a shop have them write down the numbers. It is quite possible that fine to them may not actually be fine, especially when dealing with a betta in a bowl, and Petco. Do you have any sort of heater or filter in this bowl, and what is the water capacity of this bowl? What is the name of the water conditioner you are using?

How big is the bowl and how often do you change the water? How much water do you change?

If it is thin sheets floating on the surface of the water (they look almost like a ridiculously thin layer of ice or glass) it's probably from dirty water. When I had my betta in a 1g bowl changed weekly, I got the same thing. My friend's was even worse because she didn't change the water for weeks.

To help you estimate, a 1g bowl needs to be changed every 2 or 3 days in order to keep the fish waste at a non-lethal level. I'm not sure what that pet-store guy tested for or what he deems 'safe', but unless you are cleaning that bowl like Martha Stewart it is most likely poor water quality.

Your betta should not be in a bowl of any description. It should be in a filtered heated 5 gallon tank as a safe minimum ( all of which can be obtained and set up very cheaply if you get second hand stuff and look on ebay ) , which should get regular weekly water changes of 25-50%.

If he's swimming and eating fine, and has no visible symptoms, then it's your water, not your fish. Since bowls are stupendously hard to filter due to shape I would presume you do not have a filter? Or at least not one with a flow on it?

Not only does this mean you have almost no decent colony of beneficial bacteria to process and convert your bettas waste, you also have no water circulation or flow. Effectively your bettas water sits there stagnating and accumulating waste ( all of which can quickly make the fish very ill indeed ) until you change the water.

Seriously, you need to upgrade to a much bigger home ( 5 gals can take up only 12-14 inches of space on average by the way ) with a filter and heater. Sponge filters are safe for bettas and pretty cheap, but a simple inyternal cannister with an adjustable flow and maybe a spray bar attatchment to deflect current is also great.

A filter will circulate the water and prevent this scum accumulating on the surface, and make the bettas water vastly safer since the bacteria in the media will do all the work for you. All you'd need to do is one weekly water change, two if you spilt into a bi weekly 25% routine, instead of having to change it every other day to keep the ammonia down.

Nice Betta! ^^; Anyways, you need a thermometer for him ASAP. If your house is warm, he'll be fine. Bettas can do well from 70*F - 80*F. I should know, because the crappy heater in my 2-gallon bowl (which, by the way, has a sponge filter), maintains the water at just 20*C, and that fish is as happy and colourful as anything. ^^; Seriously, I think she thinks she's a goldfish.

Well, anyways; if a 5-gallon doesn't work for you, I'd go for a 2-gallon, at the very least. Mine works wonderfully. ^^; :3

In a small 1 gallon container, you cannot afford to wait more than a day or two between water changes. The new water should be close to the same temperature as the old water. A betta will do better with water at about 80F but if you have no heater, you do not want to warm it with a water change then let it cool back off. The varying temperature will do more harm than good. A bare minimum of 2 1/2 gallons will work for a betta with much less trouble than you are having with the 1 gallon but a 10 gallon tank would cost no more and would be much easier to care for. The larger tank is also easier to heat and filter than the tiny bowl. It sounds to me like you are genuinely trying to care for your fish but have been misled by the tiny containers that stores keep bettas in.

A 1 gallon anything is about as useful as a chocolate teapot. They don't sell those because fish can live in them, they sell them to make money from you.

You can get tanks of 5 gallons + really cheaply if you look carefully. Ebay is always a good place to start, Craigslist (if in the US) Freecycle, newspaper ads, garage sales/car boot sales, ask any neighbors if they have an old tank in a garage they don't want anymore? . All great places to look for a second hand tank. As an example, the last tank I bought is 12 gallons and cost me £1 from a car boot sale. That's what...$2-5 roughly?

Another alternative while you are looking for a bigger glass or acryilic tank, is a clear plastic storage box. Like a rubbermaid container. Something at least 12 inches long and 10 inches deep by about 8 inches wide will do until you can get a proper tank.

You can set up the tub the same as a tank, with a sponge filter and heater, and some silk plants. Then when you get a proper tank, just transfer all the equipment, half the water and your betta over, and top up with fresh dechlorinated water. It's a really cheap and easy alternative while you wait for a decent tank to turn up.

i appreciate everyones advice in this matter...i just have one more question...how much water should i be changing every 2 to 3 days (25%, 50% etc) until i get a larger aquarium for my fred?

If you wait as long as 3 days, change all of the water. Put the fish in a tiny cup like you brought him home in. Dump the bowl and refill with dechlorinated and temperature matched water and then ease him back into his home.

and if i do a water change every other day?

Water changes are generally a good thing. If you change water often, as long as the replacement water matches the tank or bowl water within reason you have one of the best preventative measures going, cheapest as well.

Changing 50% daily is easy in a container that size, you get in a daily routine, and the resulting healthy fish is something to be proud of.