Hi! Purchased my betta the 11th of February and he took a while to acclimate to the new environment and begin eating but he has been fine until recently. He lives in my dorm with me and continues to eat and be active. See attached images to see what I mean about him looking less fine. He appears to have lost some scales or something on his face and side. I noticed a few white spots on his side not too long ago but did not think anything of it because I recall him having at least one or two when I got him. His belly also seems a bit reddish. Please help!!! The top two photos are when I first got him and the ones on the bottom are yesterday and today.
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Help! What is up with my Betta?
- Thread starter kmil5
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- #betta #illness #help
Hi, I'm very sorry about your betta fish! Do you have a water testing kit? If so please give the nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia levels of the tank, and some pictures of the tank its self. Are there any other fish in the tank with it? Also, when you got the tank did you cycle it?
I did not cycle the tank, I’m not sure what that is. I also do not have a water testing kit. The tank I have is just a one gallon tank I think and there are no other fish with him.
Do you ever do water changes? Is there a filter on the tank?
Water looks really murky and cloudy, and there's a visible waterline where it's been evaporating
Tank's not cycled
Slaphppy7 is right, if the tank was not cycled, there is a lot of a toxic chemical called ammonia in the water. Here's a link to learn about cycling: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/, but do that later. Right now, do a 75% water change with dechlorinated water that is the same temperature the water in your aquarium and clean the gravel well. After that, if you can, go to your local pet store or fish store and pick up test strips or a testing kit, as well as Seachem PRIME if they have it. Dose the water with the prime, it will remove harmful chemicals in the water as well as null the effects of the ammonia/nitrite for a short time. In addition, do not feed your fish for the rest of today or tomorrow, to try and decrease the ammonia output of the fish. Be sure to test the water daily with the testing kit, and to daily large water changes as well as gravel cleans. Furthermore, unfortunately, the 1 gal tank is not large enough to fit a betta fish. The minimum requirement for them is about 5 gal and even that might be to small. I understand that it is really fun to get a new pet and going through collage (I assume you're in collage because you said you live in a dorm) you often need that company that a fish can provide. Unfortunately, more often than not that leads to complications with the fish and tank quality. If you don't feel comfortable trying to go through with this, I recommend calling your local fish store, explaining what happened, and asking if you can return him. 9 times out of 10 they will say yes. Even though it is hard to return your new friend, if you don't feel comfortable with getting through this prosses with the fish in there, the fish will quickly pass away. I'm so sorry this happened to you and if you do decide to return him for now and want to start over, we will be more than happy to help you through setting up a new tank.
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I'm aware it's not cycled
I'm trying to find out whether it even has a filter, so we can get it cycled.
Would also be good to know whether OP has any water conditioner to do water changes.
Good advice...also, 1G is not big enough for a betta, 2.5G is absolute minimum, 5.5G much better.
Do they even make filters for 1G tanks/bowls?I'm aware it's not cycled
I'm trying to find out whether it even has a filter, so we can get it cycled.
Would also be good to know whether OP has any water conditioner to do water changes.
Maybe a small sponge filter, I suppose...
It's practically a vase
I have no idea, are nano filters a thing?
I don't want OP to be bombarded with too much info and feel overwhelmed, so I'll duck out of this thread since others have it covered. Good luck OP, hope you can get things under control and save your betta!
It does not have a filter. I have water conditioner and use it every time I change the water in the tank. Is there a dorm friendly tank I can get with a filter that’s 2.5 gallons or 3 or something? I’m not sure a 5 gallon would fit on my desk. I’ll see if I can get my hands on some supplies for water testing, my campus is very strict about COVID regulations so I have to get approved to leave. How can I tell if the water is dechlorinated? I have tap water at school, which is what I have been using because the pet store guy said it should be okay, or I have ice mountain water bottles which I figure probably wouldn’t be a good idea.
Look on the bottle of water conditioner, look to see if it gets rid of chlorine and chloramine, if not, your fish likely also has chlorine poisoning. You will need a dechlorenator to get rid of the chlorine if the conditioner does not. I once again recommend Prime by Seachem to get rid of chlorine and chloramine, as well as helping your ammonia problem. Unfortunately, people at the pet store often have little to no idea about their department weather that be fish, birds, mammals, reptiles etc. Furthermore, without a filter in your tank, there will be many problems in your tank including water not being clean.
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