[blondiebetta]

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/mystique1111/1.jpg

I made a collage of the details.

History of my betta: I got Blondie from Petco last September. He gets 14 drops of BettaSafe in his 2 gallons of water when changed. He gets 2-3 freezedried bloodworms and about 8 Betta Bio-Gold pellets, twice a day. The first month or so, our water was off-the-strip-tester hard, but he was okay. Since then, we've had off-the-strip-tester soft water, and he has been fine. I don't know if he has fin rot, but that is exactly how he looked the day I bought him, except he may be bigger.

He is friendly and loves his coral reef rock decoration. When his bowl got a strange film inside, I threw out everything including the bowl and rock decoration. He didn't like the big piece of coral I bought him and he moped around his bowl. So I bought him a new one of his original coral reef rock decoration (pictured), and he was so happy, checking out every detail and swimming through the holes and sitting inside sometimes. Everytime the bowl is clean he checks everything out, but then he doesn't seem very curious after a day or so.

I probably didn't clean his bowl often enough (once every 2-3 weeks) but each time I scrubbed everything down and used no soap. After 1 week since changing the water last time, I noticed the bowl got cloudy pretty quickly and he was going up to the air often yesterday. I cleaned everything, but now this morning he didn't want to eat his food. He would go up and look at it and swim beneath but didn't try to eat it. He is still going up for air a lot more than usual and seems slightly agitated. Stays near the top, instead of sitting on the bottom at rest.

Could this be related to his fins? He has always looked this way, no better, no worse. His scales and body look normal. Maybe we're feeding him too much? Is this from the water being too hard? But it has been like this for months. Any ideas?

 

[Sasami]

Welcome to Paw-Talk!

His fins are normal, he's a variety of betta called a crowntail .

One problem I see right away is that his bowl is pretty small. You say you clean it out every few weeks when you should really be cleaning it every few days. I would personally get him an actual aquarium, though.

You're also overfeeding him. I would rotate between the bloodworms and the pellets rather than feed them both at once. The amount you're feeding in one meal is about what he should be getting in one day...split it into two meals. Most people feed even less than that...a lot of bettas just get two or three pellets a day and are fine. Your betta is very overweight right now.

When do you test the water? Test it BEFORE a water change and make sure both ammonia and nitrites are at 0. pH doesn't really matter too much as long as it stays stable...don't mess with it.

Keep in mind that test strips can be inaccurate. You might want to take a water sample to PetCo and have them test it .

 

[blondiebetta]

Thanks for the welcome Sasami! I didn't realize I was overfeeding him. Is that why he didn't want to eat today? I will change his diet accordingly and hopefully he will eat. But should I wait a few days to feed him since he's so overweight at this point? He seems to beg for food, which is why I kept increasing how much I gave him compared to when I first got him. The people at Petco said that they like small bowls, and here I thought the 2 gallons of water (plus rocks, decoration) in the vase was huge for him. Do you recommend taking him out, then taking out half the water and replacing it, and adding the drops? Or do you recommend taking out every single thing and rinsing it thoroughly every few days? Does he need a complete aquarium with filter etc? Or could I just do a bigger bowl or vase that holds like 4-5 gallons, no filter etc? Petco said they didn't need aeration because they breathe air at the surface. I will definitely take a sample of the water for testing. Thanks again for all your helpful info. I was getting really worried about him and he's a great fish. I hope these changes get him back to normal.

 

[Jess]

Hi and welcome to PT Blondibetta!


The truth is, ALL pets tend to act like theyre starving 24-7, even If you just fed them 10 minutes ago! From african clawed frogs to rabbits to dogs, they all beg like crazy! You just have to learn not to give in, even tho it can be hard sometimes.


When I had bettas, I only fed them a few times a week. aquatics are kinda like reptiles, and they dont need a ton of food every day like mamals do. Its acually worse to over feed them than to under feed them, cuz if you over feed them not only do they get fat, but extra food laying around can cause your tanks amonia to spike up!


The only thing you MIGHT be able to keep in a 2 gallon is an african dwarf frog... If you get and kind of fish, Youll want at least a ten gallon. With a betta you might be able to pull off a 5 gallon, but the bigger the better! Not only are larger tanks funner for the fish, but they are a ton easier to maintain!
And dont listen to what petstores say the fish "like". They tell you that goldies "like" fishbowls, but my 2 tiny goldies are in a 20 gallon aquarium, and I would never dream of putting them in anythng smaller! They are so happy and fun to watch, any extra work is worth it! Now to convince my mom to get a 55 gallon...


You should ALWAYS clean a fish tank by taking out a portion of the water, but never all of it! Bacteria that fish need to stay healthy grow in thier water and stuff and every time you empty out all the water, the bacteria are going to have tore-grow and your water is going to have to re-cycle all over again, wich is extremly stressful on your fish. The best way to clean a tank is to buy a gravel syphen for about $10 and use that.


BTW, you dont absolutly need a filter, but it helps keep your tanks cleaner. My bettas never really had filters, and I never turn my ACFs filters on, and he does just fine. You just have to clean your tank more often if you have no filter.


Sorry this is so long... Im in a talkative mood today! XD Can you tell?


Good luck with your fishy, and I hope he gets better! ^^

 

[blondiebetta]

Hi Jess and thanks for the info! Today I fed Blondie 1 pellet and he ate it immediately, so I'm glad he is willing to eat again. I think I will gradually get him back on track with just a pellet or two twice a day to start, and gradually go to a feeding schedule of much smaller portions suggested above, so he slims back down to normal. Today he went crazy, darting around and then up for air again, but I think it might be because he is overweight and it is probably harder to breathe.

I will get a gravel syphon to clean out the bottom instead of taking out and rinsing the rocks. I will take out a portion of the water and replace instead of redoing it all at one time. This sounds easier and the reasoning makes sense. So if I probably don't need a filter, does he need aeration/air bubbler, a live waterplant, or a heater or anything? Our house stays fairly warm. I'll also look for a bigger aquarium (or vase-like container to be more interesting-looking) and hopefully with all these changes, Blondie will be happier overall. Thanks again for your advice!

 

[Jess]

Bubbler and plant and all is optional. My bettas didnt seem to care if they had a bubbler or not. The only reason I had one is b/c if the water isnt moving, a nasty film stuff grows over the top. It doesnt hurt the fish, its just gross.


If you stick with a smaller tank, you probably shouldnt get a heater. When I was younger I had a 2 gallon with a pair of guppies, and it got over 90 degrees in the summer! Technically, those poor things should have been dead, so I set up my 20 gallon for them. A huge problem with smaller tanks is its really hard to keep the temp nice and stable cuz they are so small is doesnt take much to heat them up or cool them down. Just buy one of those little glass thermometers if you dont already have one, and monitor the temperature. Than you can decide what you need. Bettas should have it about 78-82, Im pretty sure.

 

[Sasami]

I will get a gravel syphon to clean out the bottom instead of taking out and rinsing the rocks. I will take out a portion of the water and replace instead of redoing it all at one time. This sounds easier and the reasoning makes sense. So if I probably don't need a filter, does he need aeration/air bubbler, a live waterplant, or a heater or anything? Our house stays fairly warm. I'll also look for a bigger aquarium (or vase-like container to be more interesting-looking) and hopefully with all these changes, Blondie will be happier overall. Thanks again for your advice!

If you upgrade him to an actual aquarium (and hopefully you do) you'll want a thermometer to monitor the temperature. If it tends to stay in the high 60's/low 70's or cooler than yes, you'll need a small heater. If it stays in the mid 70's to low 80's than you really don't need one. Bettas are tropical fish so you can't let the water get too cold.

Although you don't technically need a filter, I would highly recommend one if you get a tank over 5-gallons. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, a small hang-on-back filter is fine. In fact, you actually don't want a really strong one since bettas have issues swimming against currents. A small filter will allow you to cycle the aquarium and it'll be an overall more stable environment (much easier to maintain, too).

You don't need a bubbler since bettas breathe from the surface. The filter will provide enough aeration to help keep beneficial bacteria alive.

Live plants are great, bettas love them and they keep the tank more stable. You definitely don't need them but they're helpful. Stick to hardy species like java ferns and anubius.

 

[blondiebetta]

I will get a thermometer and possibly a filter too. This has really opened my eyes to what a betta needs in comparison to what the people at Petco led me to believe. Blondie thanks you for setting me straight. I'll be checking back to let you guys know how he's doing when he gets his new environment and gets slimmer. Thanks to you both again!

 

[Jess]

Any time hun! :hugg2:
I hope blondie gets better! ^^