BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Very worried about betta

Hi Yohko,
This film... is it transparent? I find that my tank has a film on top of the water when our betta makes a big bubblenest and it dissipates. I haven't heard of aquarium salt leaving a residue, and the little clay pot shouldn't so long as you rinsed it well before putting it in the tank.
As for the blood worms, personally, I would take them away for a few days and keep trying with the pellets/flakes whichever else you have. He will eat them, even if he holds out for a few days he won't starve. I find flakes create more waste and get kind of slimy when they break down. If you decide to keep on with just the worms, I'm not sure how much of those you should give him. Hope that helps. FW

It's transparent, but my betta hasn't made any bubblenests yet. It just looks like it's dirty, but I just cleaned his tank.
I didn't put the clay pot back in this time, so I guess it's not that. The only new thing in his tank is the aquarium salt.

Sorry Yohko, I don't have any other ideas of what that film could be. I have never heard of aquarium salt leaving a film. Maybe someone else knows about that. Does it still look like Moe is reluctant to come up to the top? Hang in there Yohko, you'll get the hang of this betta world. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Argh. I cleaned his tank yesterday and the scum is back this morning. Next time I clean it I'll leave out the aquarium salt, and see if that helps.

I get that occationally in my tank. I figure it's just regular household dust because I don't know what else it could be. My house has been dustier latly.
In fact I just read an article saying your house gets dustier in the winter because your air has less humidity and creates more static causing it to be atracted to surfaces.

Patricia

I used to get that a lot on my tank too, it didn't seem to bother my fish at all.

As for the food, blood worms shouldn't really be a betta's entire diet, but more of a treat. Feeding only dried bloodworms can lead to health problems down the line such as swim bladder disease, and he won't be getting the right nutrition from them. Many times it takes a few days for a new betta to adjust to his surroundings, especially if he was fed something different at the store. See if you can find out what they were feeding him where you got him. He might not even be aware that the pellets you are giving him are food yet! Keep trying though, he'll eventually figure it out <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I just thought I'd post and thank you guys for all the help!
He started to eat pellets finally, so now I reserve the bloodworms for treats. And a day after that he made his first bubblenests, and now he makes them regularly.
The aquarium salt wasn't causing the scum, because I didn't add it once when I cleaned his tank... and I ended up with an unhappy betta and that persistent scum. So I'm back to the salt, and I just can't figure out what the scum is coming from.
Also, I cleaned his tank yesterday and now that he's used to his new home I put the clay pot back in. He seems to be tentative about it, but he's starting to like it. He still likes to hide behind his plant, though.
I've now had him for three weeks, and he's definitely settled in. I am a very proud betta parent now.

Great to hear your good news Yohko! It takes a little bit to get comfortable (for you both lol) and figure out how things should be and what works best. It's a great feeling when you get it right. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />