I don't know what's wrong with Mitch!!!

[strdustcl]

I just got a Betta fish (red) a little less than a week ago and I think he's dying. He won't eat any food (I've been feeding him some sort of pellet and dried bloodworm combo that the lady at the pet store recommended). His water is always forming this film on top and there are all these flakes in the water. My fish (Mitch) looks like there are things growing on him and his color is faded... Please help me!!!

 

[Alien Anna]

Hi there,
have you tested his water? By the sounds of it you have high ammonia and/or nitrite in there, which will kill him if you don't act fast. I strongly suspect you've been over-feeding him - rotten food will turn to ammonia in his tank. In a matured tank there are bacteria which can turn that ammonia into nitrite, and the nitrite into nitrate (the Nitrogen Cycle) but it sounds as if that is not happening yet in Mitch's tank.

Do a 20% water change daily and try to clean his gravel of any waste food. Don't feed him for a couple of days - fish don't need anywhere near the amount of food of a warm blooded animal and fasting is good for them. That should help reduce the waste he is producing and thus reduce the amount of ammonia in his water.

How warm is his tank? If he gets chilled in poor water, he could get a fungal infection. Make sure his water is about 80 F and put a little aquarium salt in his water.

 

[Scarab]

Alien Anna's right...you need to test your water. Sound like the ammonia's high. What size tank do you have him in btw?

And ditto to everything else Alien Anna said....change/clean his water and gravel. Don't feed him so much (bloodworms should only be fed sparingly anyway...as a treat). I personally don't feed my boys flakes...they don't like them anyway (although some betttas do), plus they tend to dirty up the water/substrate. Try either HBH Betta Bites and/or Hikari Betta Bio-Gold (I actually have 4 different types of food for my boys...they have to have variety in their diets). Also, you should be fasting your betta for one day a week to keep their digestive system healthy.

And it does sound like you're overfeeding. If he's not eating it...don't keep adding food to the tank. Bettas are pigs and will keep eating as long as there's food in front of them that they like. They won't stop eating if they're full---they don't know they're full! So it's on you to be disciplined in not feeding him too much.

Bettas can be picky/finnicky eaters, as you've found out...so just experiment and see what he likes.

 

[canis_lupus]

a small change in water can work wonders! if it's a small tank u'll have 2 do that at least 2 times a week! as for food.....has he eaten b4 or not at all? just wondering cuz i've gone thru a very fussy betta

 

[strdustcl]

Mitch's tank is a 1/2 gallon. He has never eaten (since I got him a week ago) even though the food I've been giving him is what they gave him at the pet shop. And I just changed most of the water because it was disgusting... So maybe a fresh start will help him out? What kind of water should I be using because I bough purified water... Could I just use tap water? What type of water heaters are good to use?

 

[Fishy_Fish74]

The people are right! test your water and maybe try differrnt food! I had a betta and he only liked froxen blood worms!!! (he hated dry stuff) Flakes work good!

 

[Scarab]

Just use tap water. But make sure you add some sort of conditioner to the water to remove the chlorine and chloramine.

As with any tank, but especially with a 1/2 gallon it is very important to do regularly scheduled water maintenance. With something as small as a 1/2 gal. water changes have to be done more frequently. I personally do one 25-50% water change mid-week and then a 100% water change once a week (during which I wash the gravel, plastic plant, and tank with hot tap water). Some may think a 100% water change is too stressfull for a fish...but frankly with a 1/2 gallon with no filter it's necessary for the overall health of the fish and overall water quality. When I do the 100% water change (BTW the new replacement water for all my water changes has already been conditioned in a separate jug at least 24 hours before the change to allow it to come to the same room temperature as the water the fish are already in), I add one drop of Aquarisol as an ick (and other parasite) preventative.

As for the eating...it takes some fish a while to get used to their new environment; to settle down before they start eating regularly, especially picky bettas. And I'm sure the "disgusting" water conditions weren't helping him at all. The water change should help him quite a bit. And as I've said before, I would experiment with some other types of food.

As for your heater question...do not, I repeat: do NOT use a heater with a 1/2 gallon. It's too small for a heater and you'll fry/boil your little dude. Room temperture should be just fine as long as it's in 64-82 degree farenheight range (with preference being in the mid to high 70's). Get yourself one of those little stick-on thermometers for your tank so you'll know what the temperature of the water is. My guys are kept at room temperature...and where I keep them it's normally over 75 degrees (the last couple of days it's been right around 80). If you live somewhere where the temp goes down considerably during the evening, I read someone else's post that suggested wrapping towels around the tank to warm it up. Heck, even a regular table lamp near it will warm up the water a bit for him.

Hope this helps. Also...go to your LPS, LFS or even a good bookstore and pick up a good book on bettas (the one by Mic & Maddy Hargrove's a good start).

Keep us posted on Mitch

 

[strdustcl]

Thanks for all your help!!! Now I just have to get to the pet store ASAP!!!! Hopefully after my classes tomorrow (I wish I could go sooner!) Does anyone have any tips on water changing and cleaning gravel??? I always make such a huge mess!!! Where is the best place to keep Mitch while I do this???

 

[wuvmybetta]

IMO, removing a betta from his/her bowl is very VERY stressful on the fish, cycling a half gallon can be done, it's just a very slow process. If you remove him once a week and change his water completely your just causing him to "live" in ammonia for the rest of his life, small amounts of ammonia, but ammonia just the same. Here's what I do (and it works) I have a couple betta who reside in half gallon fish bowls with no filters (all the others have 1 or 2 gallon tanks without filters) and all of their water tests at 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, I change half of the water once a week using a turkey baster. I suck the gravel with the baster in spots here and there to remove the waste until it's clean then take the rest of the water from the surface until half it's water is gone and then replace with clean dechlorinated water, simple as that. Drastic changes in water quality can cause a fish to become stressed so much that they easily become sick, ich being the most common sickness.
I made the mistake once of removing one of my older most favorite bettas from his 2 gallon to do some rearranging & such....I rinsed his gravel lightly because his tank was fully cycled and I didn't want to kill off his good bacteria. He was SO upset about being out of his tank that within two days a picture perfect betta had dropsy, it was a terrible slow death for my sweet sweet Candy Cane Boy and I vowed I would never take a betta out of it's bowl again. But as I said,that's just my opinion.

Good luck with your decision on what's best for you and your little guy. And if you don't mind my asking....what do you mean by "purified water"? If it's distilled water then that's not good, it has all of the minerals that your fish needs to be healthy removed from it, you'd be better off with tap or bottled spring water.

 

[strdustcl]

I bought purified water in a jug... The woman at the pet store said that would be fine, but I think tap water will work much better!!!

 

[Kossy]

Ok...I had feeding troubles with bettas before too. Ok you should try and feed your betta blackworm. But don't just feed him that or he will never eat anything else and just blackworm isn't healthy. I feed frozen in the morn, blackworm afternoon and frozen at night.