A large daily water change as Colin_T suggested will also be beneficial.
HELP- Female betta started spitting out her food.
- Thread starter mnakamur
- Start date
Good evening everyone, I have also gathered some info that can help
Housing:
How many gallons is your tank?
> 4,2 gallons
Does it have a filter?
> yes, hang-on filter with midea, perlon and active carbon
Does it have a heater?
> yes, automatically controlled
What temperature is your tank?
> 28C / 82,4F
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
> No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?
> No
Food:
What food brand do you use?
> Tetra, Tropical and Nutricon (brazillian one) - all pellets
Do you feed flakes or pellets?
> Pellets
Freeze-dried?
> Yes, once a week. Artemias.
How often do you feed your Betta? How much?
> Twice a day, 1 pellet or three mini pellets.
Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change?
> Once every a week or 10 days
What percentage of water did you change?
> 20%
What is the source of your water?
> Faucet, treated with Seachem Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
> Not so often, only superficially.
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner?
> Seachem Prime and Seachem PH Regulator
Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: didnt have the test
pH: 7.0
Hardness (GH): SOFT (1 drop already painted the resul t)
Alkalinity (KH): 3ºdH
Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms?
> after the substrate change which we did with using 60% of the old water, with 40% of new water. Two days later we did a 10% water change. In the same day, after we changed the substrate, she started chewing and spilling the food.
How has your Betta’s appearance changed?
> no apparent changes so far.
How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
> she became quieter and lazier during the day, however, if you show her the food she comes right away, but chews and spits.
Is your Betta still eating?
> most of the times she chews and spits, and rarely she eats only the first pellet.
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how?
> yes, we did a salt bath and added Stress Guard to the tank
Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
> when she arrived, in a small betta tank (7 liters, no filter, no heater), she was quiet and didnt eat. We gave her a salt bath and changed the tank to a 4 gallon tank.
How long have you owned your Betta?
> 1 year
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?
> we are not sure, but when she arrived we put her in a medic tank with icht and broad spectrum medicine, even though she didn't have any appearing disease.
Housing:
How many gallons is your tank?
> 4,2 gallons
Does it have a filter?
> yes, hang-on filter with midea, perlon and active carbon
Does it have a heater?
> yes, automatically controlled
What temperature is your tank?
> 28C / 82,4F
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
> No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?
> No
Food:
What food brand do you use?
> Tetra, Tropical and Nutricon (brazillian one) - all pellets
Do you feed flakes or pellets?
> Pellets
Freeze-dried?
> Yes, once a week. Artemias.
How often do you feed your Betta? How much?
> Twice a day, 1 pellet or three mini pellets.
Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change?
> Once every a week or 10 days
What percentage of water did you change?
> 20%
What is the source of your water?
> Faucet, treated with Seachem Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
> Not so often, only superficially.
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner?
> Seachem Prime and Seachem PH Regulator
Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: didnt have the test
pH: 7.0
Hardness (GH): SOFT (1 drop already painted the resul t)
Alkalinity (KH): 3ºdH
Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms?
> after the substrate change which we did with using 60% of the old water, with 40% of new water. Two days later we did a 10% water change. In the same day, after we changed the substrate, she started chewing and spilling the food.
How has your Betta’s appearance changed?
> no apparent changes so far.
How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
> she became quieter and lazier during the day, however, if you show her the food she comes right away, but chews and spits.
Is your Betta still eating?
> most of the times she chews and spits, and rarely she eats only the first pellet.
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how?
> yes, we did a salt bath and added Stress Guard to the tank
Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
> when she arrived, in a small betta tank (7 liters, no filter, no heater), she was quiet and didnt eat. We gave her a salt bath and changed the tank to a 4 gallon tank.
How long have you owned your Betta?
> 1 year
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?
> we are not sure, but when she arrived we put her in a medic tank with icht and broad spectrum medicine, even though she didn't have any appearing disease.
Also, every three months I switch the pellet food brand, alternating between two different brands each time.
So, for example, today I have two pellet brands, one I give today and the other tomorrow. I'll rotate these brands in three months.
She has enjoyed this for this past year.
So, for example, today I have two pellet brands, one I give today and the other tomorrow. I'll rotate these brands in three months.
She has enjoyed this for this past year.
It's been 4 days now that she is behaving like this.
Got back from work and made a round of measurements, also data.
I have also gathered some info that can help
Housing:
How many gallons is your tank?
> 4,2 gallons
Does it have a filter?
> yes, hang-on filter with midea, perlon and active carbon
Does it have a heater?
> yes, automatically controlled
What temperature is your tank?
> 28C / 82,4F
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
> No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?
> No
Food:
What food brand do you use?
> Tetra, Tropical and Nutricon (brazillian one) - all pellets
Do you feed flakes or pellets?
> Pellets
Freeze-dried?
> Yes, once a week. Artemias.
How often do you feed your Betta? How much?
> Twice a day, 1 pellet or three mini pellets.
Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change?
> Once every a week or 10 days
What percentage of water did you change?
> 20%
What is the source of your water?
> Faucet, treated with Seachem Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
> Not so often, only superficially.
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner?
> Seachem Prime and Seachem PH Regulator
Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: didnt have the test
pH: 7.0
Hardness (GH): SOFT (1 drop already painted the resul t)
Alkalinity (KH): 3ºdH
Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms?
> after the substrate change which we did with using 60% of the old water, with 40% of new water. Two days later we did a 10% water change. In the same day, after we changed the substrate, she started chewing and spilling the food.
How has your Betta’s appearance changed?
> no apparent changes so far.
How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
> she became quieter and lazier during the day, however, if you show her the food she comes right away, but chews and spits.
Is your Betta still eating?
> most of the times she chews and spits, and rarely she eats only the first pellet.
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how?
> yes, we did a salt bath and added Stress Guard to the tank
Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
> when she arrived, in a small betta tank (7 liters, no filter, no heater), she was quiet and didnt eat. We gave her a salt bath and changed the tank to a 4 gallon tank.
How long have you owned your Betta?
> 1 year
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?
> we are not sure, but when she arrived we put her in a medic tank with icht and broad spectrum medicine, even though she didn't have any appearing disease.
Got back from work and made a round of measurements, also data.
I have also gathered some info that can help
Housing:
How many gallons is your tank?
> 4,2 gallons
Does it have a filter?
> yes, hang-on filter with midea, perlon and active carbon
Does it have a heater?
> yes, automatically controlled
What temperature is your tank?
> 28C / 82,4F
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
> No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?
> No
Food:
What food brand do you use?
> Tetra, Tropical and Nutricon (brazillian one) - all pellets
Do you feed flakes or pellets?
> Pellets
Freeze-dried?
> Yes, once a week. Artemias.
How often do you feed your Betta? How much?
> Twice a day, 1 pellet or three mini pellets.
Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change?
> Once every a week or 10 days
What percentage of water did you change?
> 20%
What is the source of your water?
> Faucet, treated with Seachem Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
> Not so often, only superficially.
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner?
> Seachem Prime and Seachem PH Regulator
Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: didnt have the test
pH: 7.0
Hardness (GH): SOFT (1 drop already painted the resul t)
Alkalinity (KH): 3ºdH
Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms?
> after the substrate change which we did with using 60% of the old water, with 40% of new water. Two days later we did a 10% water change. In the same day, after we changed the substrate, she started chewing and spilling the food.
How has your Betta’s appearance changed?
> no apparent changes so far.
How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
> she became quieter and lazier during the day, however, if you show her the food she comes right away, but chews and spits.
Is your Betta still eating?
> most of the times she chews and spits, and rarely she eats only the first pellet.
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how?
> yes, we did a salt bath and added Stress Guard to the tank
Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
> when she arrived, in a small betta tank (7 liters, no filter, no heater), she was quiet and didnt eat. We gave her a salt bath and changed the tank to a 4 gallon tank.
How long have you owned your Betta?
> 1 year
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?
> we are not sure, but when she arrived we put her in a medic tank with icht and broad spectrum medicine, even though she didn't have any appearing disease.
The temp should be 78-80F. Did you use the same filter? The beneficial bacteria does not live in the water. Only in the substrate and filter, decor. Your nitrates may be too high. Do 75% water change daily for 10 days and see how she does. After that, you need to clean her tank once a week with a 70% water change and vacuum her gravel well.
I'll buy a nitrate test today and post the results.
Put back her original tank setup (a tree trunk with a cave) and now all she wants to do is stay inside the cave.
Do you think a betta behavior can change that much just from day to night?
Put back her original tank setup (a tree trunk with a cave) and now all she wants to do is stay inside the cave.
Do you think a betta behavior can change that much just from day to night?
No. Something is going in.
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