BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Is my little betta sick?

Hey guys! so I know how annoying beginners can be but i hope someone can take a second to help me out a little. So I'm at my first year of college and I got a betta fish. My dad says he thinks he has ick, to me it looks more like finrot. so the tips of his fins are clear whitish and stringy a few pieces are kind of detaching from the clump of fin it orriginated from. It just seems like he's loosing color. Theres also one small hole in his fin. His body is also going a little pale. He's really active some times, but I get really worried when he sits at the bottem of the bowl for while or, when he wont react to his own mirror image. So hopefuly someone can give me some thoughts. I've been treating the water with a drop of QuICK care because thats what my dad told me to do.
I'm also a little worried about maintaining a temperature, I really dont have much of a choice in bowls but I think this one is a good size for one betta. So any good ideas on that? My betta and I think you SO much in advance.
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Hi pyrple,

welcome to the forum! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> here are my thoughts. ick and finrot look nothing alike. with ick, it will really look like the fish has been sprinkle with salt. what you are describing, to me, sounds more like finrot. the behavior may just be from the stress of being in a new home. how long have you had him? you ask about the bowl...what size bowl do you have him in? remember these guys are tropical, so they need a heater. if you can get a 2 gallon tank, that will be big enough to use a filter, and a heater, without aking up much more space than a bowl. Bettas are commonly sold with the promise, they like small areas. IMO, thats wrong. they may survive in a small bowl, but very rarely do i think they would thrive, or be happy. here are the filter and heater i use in my 2.5 gallon. heater: https://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_heaters_hydor_mini.asp?CartId=
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wow! thanks those pictures of finrot are exacaly what my betta looks like. I have him in an oversized brandy glass (160 oz) I currently don't have much of a choice what I keep him in but I'm keeping my eye on the temperature it goes up to 72 in the morning nd as low as 68 at night. I make a habit of changing his water once a week, is that enough? I got him maybe 4 weeks ago but we did just take a long car ride(7 hours) with him in my lap. and i also just changed to this tnk from one a little smaller. and is digging in his gravel normal? he just started doing it, wow this fish just gets weirder but he's so cute!

Um, wow. That temp range is huge for a fish. Remember, they rely on the water temp to regulate theirs. Check out freecycle or craigslist, if money is the issue. If it's space, a 2.5 really doesnt take much room. Your fish isn't acting like he feels well, because he isn't. His environment is very stressful, and this stress is probably causing the odd behavior of gravel digging. I have never heard of a betta doing this, but it may be normal and I have just never heard of it. And, no, you need to be changing his water more frequently. Something that small (about 1.25 gallon), should be changed about every 3 days. The stress of the current situation could shorten his life span considerably. Please try to get a bigger home for him. He will be much happier, and less weird. Well, he may be weird, but at least it will be the normal betta weird and not the "oh, I don't feel good" weird.

Thanks!, I just got him some melafix and aquarium salt(I also bought a few gallons of water). I'm working on getting a new home for him too. I read somewhere that its a better idea to keep a sick betta in a smaller home and change the water everyday. I have 2 bowls about the same size so I'm going to set up the bowl for tommorow now, and cycle him through the two to keep him in extreemly clean water. hopefuly I'll get so see his real colors. he was bought in not very good condition so hopefuly i can make him feel a lot better. I also read somehwere about covering the tank with a blanket at night, and it workd pretty well. the temp in the tank is pretty stable between 72-74 now Thanks so mch for your help! I'll post a picture up as soon as hes as pretty as i know he can be

Wow, that is awesome. I am a beginner as well and I am really worried about my fish. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I can't help it when I have animals around me, I just love em too much! Hahahaha. Well I have one boy betta in his own special seperate tank and I'm hoping that he doesnt need another fish to keep him happy, because I tried putting guppy in the tank and he only chased them around a bit. I thought maybe that was too stressful so I transfered the guppies to my 10 gallon tank with my 2 female bettas and 2 catfish. They all seem happy at the moment...but you never know what will happen next. Haha.

Oh, I also wanted to say that I think sifting through gravel is normal. Both of my female bettas find that its really fun to sift through the rocks I have at the bottom of the tank and try to find treasures and nooks to hide in. They also find it the best thing ever to play in the bubbles from the air stone. HAHA.

Alright, just a little insight. Have fun!

lol He dosent do it so much any more but I just thought of it as rearranging. I've been treating him with the melafix and aquarium salt and I'm already seeing inprovments! he's got some clear fin growth in some areas and he's even flaring a little bit as his own reflection(he never did that before)He's even swimming around looking for the mirror! I'm so excited but I'm going to continue treating him for a few more days at least. With the melafix I feel like I'm putting almost nothing in. I just feel like I should be putting more in his bowl than I am(don't worry I'm fighting the urge!) I'm so excited about him, I never knew a fish could have a personality. Like I said I'll post a picture when i figure out how!

Sounds like he is doing great!! Do you have a mirror near his tank? Some people use "flare buddies" for their fish, or put mirrors near the tanks. Here is an article that you may find interesting if you do have a mirror near him. If you just mean he's looking for his reflection in the tank, he is exhibiting typical, vain betta behavior. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />...here's the link...http://www.nippyfish.net/flarebuddies.html


Glad to hear he sounds like he's improving!

Amber

When you change his water do you use tap water or spring water?

I bought some drinking water but i ran out. Now I've just been using tap water and letting it sit over night to dechlorinate.