Advise Needed-Veiltail Betta

[Hopeful]

Yes...that’s what I was trying to say....that way, the fish is still in his own water....

If it was me....I would do that without hesitation...he needs a bigger tank...at least 20 litres....and it will have to be cycled. I had to put a Betta fish once into an uncycled tank as he had to be rescued from someone’s aquarium. With great care and attention it can be done...the fish was fine for another 5 years. It’s not difficult...but if you do get a new tank...then check out how to do it properly.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

Yes...that’s what I was trying to say....that way, the fish is still in his own water....

That's a brilliant idea.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

If it was me....I would do that without hesitation...he needs a bigger tank...at least 20 litres....and it will have to be cycled. I had to put a Betta fish once into an uncycled tank as he had to be rescued from someone’s aquarium. With great care and attention it can be done...the fish was fine for another 5 years. It’s not difficult...but if you do get a new tank...then check out how to do it properly.

How do you cycle an aquarium?

 

[Essjay]

Cycling is growing bacteria in the tank which remove certain types of fish waste from the water. What you can see is poop, but fish also have their version of urine which you can't see, ammonia. Without these bacteria, ammonia builds up in the water and harms the fish. In a tiny jar like this, ammonia will build up quickly. Some bacteria will grow on the walls of the jar but the washing up liquid and the chlorine in the tap water will kill them off at every water change. So the poor betta is basically living in toxic water. Cycling can be done in a few ways, but if the owner goes back to washing the tank and using untreated tap water, it will quickly be uncycled again.


The best you can do for now is to do the water chnages, and when she gets home, try to convince her that she needs a proper tank for him, one with a heater to keep him warm and a filter as home for the bacteria that need to grow. That she needs to do water chnages using warmed tap water that's had water conditioner added. And that she must stop using washing up liquid to clean the tank.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

Cycling is growing bacteria in the tank which remove certain types of fish waste from the water. What you can see is poop, but fish also have their version of urine which you can't see, ammonia. Without these bacteria, ammonia builds up in the water and harms the fish. In a tiny jar like this, ammonia will build up quickly. Some bacteria will grow on the walls of the jar but the washing up liquid and the chlorine in the tap water will kill them off at every water change. So the poor betta is basically living in toxic water. Cycling can be done in a few ways, but if the owner goes back to washing the tank and using untreated tap water, it will quickly be uncycled again.


The best you can do for now is to do the water chnages, and when she gets home, try to convince her that she needs a proper tank for him, one with a heater to keep him warm and a filter as home for the bacteria that need to grow. That she needs to do water chnages using warmed tap water that's had water conditioner added. And that she must stop using washing up liquid to clean the tank.

Thank you for giving such a detailed response.

I will go and buy the wc tomorrow and have a look at the aquariums plus a heater.

Anyway, at least he seems all warm and toasty for the time being.

 

[Essjay]

You can use some analogies when taking to your friend.

That small tank is like her living permanently in a small garden shed.
Not having a filter is like her living permanently in the shed with only a bucket for a toilet, which is emptied rarely.
Not having a heater is like her living permanently in the shed wearing a T shirt and shorts in the middle of winter.
Not using water conditioner is like having a bucketful of bleach sitting in the corner of the shed, breathing in those bleach fumes 24/7.
Living in that jar is like her living in a small shed with nothing to do all day. No phone/tablet/computer; no books; no games; nothing. Bored bored bored.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

You can use some analogies when taking to your friend.

That small tank is like her living permanently in a small garden shed.
Not having a filter is like her living permanently in the shed with only a bucket for a toilet, which is emptied rarely.
Not having a heater is like her living permanently in the shed wearing a T shirt and shorts in the middle of winter.
Not using water conditioner is like having a bucketful of bleach sitting in the corner of the shed, breathing in those bleach fumes 24/7.
Living in that jar is like her living in a small shed with nothing to do all day. No phone/tablet/computer; no books; no games; nothing. Bored bored bored.

I did realise that a fish living in a jar, was like putting a child into a closet.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

Day 6

I went down at my usual time ; sunrise and the pet was awake. I swear that it's colour is getting more blue day by day. It's still perky, eating and swimming and so different to how it was this last week end.

It was 20 °C ( I gather that would mean that the water temp. is around 19°C) by the jar and the flat was warm. No more draft as I had put tea towels into the gap in the ledge.

The hot water bottle was slightly warm but I refilled it with more boiling water. Sadly, it's drizzling and overcast and the only light is from a smallish window in the room so it's a bit dark.

I fed it a few pellets (I was told one pinch) and tried to entice it to swim. I don't know how as I just realised that there was a mirror on all sides of the jar and the sides were he could see the room are high above it's head.

Anyway, I'm off to buy some wc (I'll have to check how you dose it for 1 litre of water) and I'll change the water at lunchtime with the 24 hr water.

I'll also have a look at the tank and accessories and talk with the sales assistant. He seemed to know a lot about Bettas. I must say that I've learned so much thanks to you on this forum and I'll be sad to leave you.

I was also wondering how often do you test for ammonia when bettas are in large aquariums?
I have also noticed that most of the shops and websites sell plastic plants for aquariums. As this is dangerous why do they do so ?

 

[Rhianne]

He seems to be so much better since you started taking care of him!

Plastic plants are tough and can cause injury so I’d recommend real plants but you’d have to go for silk if you can’t get real ones.

With the water conditioner you’d probably only need a tiny drop like 1/4 cap full (if that) but if you’ve left water out for 24 hours and given it a stir that should be fine.

I use the API freshwater kit to test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates every couple of days or so. I had it on amazon for £17 and it’s usually around £28. But I’ve got a 50l tank so any build up of the nasties would take longer than in a small 1l container.

I’ll be sad to see you go, I’m enjoying hearing how he’s getting better. I still think kidnap could be the best option, it’s not too late!

 

[Gypsy Tart]

He seems to be so much better since you started taking care of him!

Plastic plants are tough and can cause injury so I’d recommend real plants but you’d have to go for silk if you can’t get real ones.

With the water conditioner you’d probably only need a tiny drop like 1/4 cap full (if that) but if you’ve left water out for 24 hours and given it a stir that should be fine.

I use the API freshwater kit to test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates every couple of days or so. I had it on amazon for £17 and it’s usually around £28. But I’ve got a 50l tank so any build up of the nasties would take longer than in a small 1l container.

I’ll be sad to see you go, I’m enjoying hearing how he’s getting better. I still think kidnap could be the best option, it’s not too late!

I would also have thought that plastic could damage the fins. I'm only asking as people must be buying them and some shops don't even sell plants made out of material.

It says 1/2 cap full for 40 litres of water and the pet is in approx. 1. 1/4 litres of water. I have left the water outside for 24 hours. I don't even think that I should heat it up as it must be the same temp. as the jar. However, I will finger test it. She adds warmer water compared to the tank one which she throws away.

I'm delighted by it's progress and making an animal (creature) happy, makes me happy. I hate to see an animal that is abused or unhappy. They deserve a long and carefree life.

That ammonia test seems very pricy so I won't mention it to the owner. I need some arguments to win her over as she thinks that everything she's doing is right (internet) and that it's OK that it's lives in a litre of water. So what do you say if she says that goldfish live in a tiny bowl ?

No kidnapping

Tomorrow will be the last day.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

So it didn't go well and both the fish and I are stressed out.

I did the 50 % water plus I added 1/8 of a tsp of wc. The sales assistant said it was fine as it wasn't poisonous if I put a bit more in. It also contains aloe vera.
I made sure that the water was at approx. the same temp. as the jar. I had a tough time catching the fish with the net. I made sure that I did it gently and put my hand underneath it.

I quickly cleaned out the plastic jar and it was filthy - tons of poop, food and other things floating about and it smelled foul.
I also emptied the glass pebbles that were at the bottom and rinsed them. I quickly wiped the jar with water and a paper towel put some water back, the fish topped up with the rest of the water.

Since then, he's seems stressed out and isn't moving plus it seems like he's gulping or doing something unusual.

I'm going to go and see in within the next hour but what else can I do ? I hope he doesn't die. To think that he only gets tap water, gets the tank washed with washing up liquid and is surviving.

It would be so much easier to have an aquarium as you don't have to remove them when cleaning.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

It's been over an hour since I changed the water and the pet is still not swimming and in the same place and gulping air.

It looks strange and like something is wrong. Could it really be so stressed out by the change of water and container?

 

[Essjay]

Bettas do gulp air from the surface, but they shouldn't do it all the time. They evolved in waters with less oxygen than usual so they developed an organ in the head which can get oxygen from the air - they take a gulp of air into this organ at intervals.

Can I check - is he blowing bubbles at the same time?

 

[HoldenOn]

I don't know if anyone has said this, but you could get a moss ball from the pet store. It can rest on that and it will help keep the water parameters more stable.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

Bettas do gulp air from the surface, but they shouldn't do it all the time. They evolved in waters with less oxygen than usual so they developed an organ in the head which can get oxygen from the air - they take a gulp of air into this organ at intervals.

Can I check - is he blowing bubbles at the same time?

No bubbles. I went to see it twice ( every 30 minutes) and it looks a tiny bit better because it swam- not far mind you. It's now sort of floating near the side where I've left the hot water bottle.

I hope that I didn't do anything wrong but it doesn't look perky.