BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Fish Journal - BETTAS ONLY

I'm no expert with these things (not by a long shot, in fact), but I would be inclined to say that if your tank is properly cycled to keep up with whatever water changes you are doing, because he will build plenty more bubble nests. I once wanted to breed my betta and then sell them to college students with a full set-up so that they had a pet and knew how to properly care for it...that is, until I realized what a pain breeding them is! The best of luck to you, though, if you do decide to go for it, I'm sure you'll have fun (though I'm not sure you'll decide to do it again :P)

Hi everyone, I hope that all of you and your bettas are doing well. I haven't been around for a while because we've been staying with my Mother-in-law until we find a house. Everything has been going good with Sugar besides that I have woken up to find the heat turned waaay down. Anyway, I now have a dilemma. My boys and I went out of town on Sunday with my husband for his job. I cleaned Sugars' tank just before we left. When we returned last nite (Wednesday) there was some kind of crusty white stuff floating on top of the water, and tons of that white-cottony looking fungus. (I think it's called fungus) Because the lights were out Sugar was all white, but after 10 minutes his colour hadn't come back. We found out that my Mother-in-law hadn't fed him while we were away so I put some food in right away. He wasn't really interested in eating, and picked at his poop at the bottom instead (eewww). I was trying to keep calm but couldn't tell if the fungus was growing on him so I cleaned the tank out right away. It gets worse. I always put him in a little sandwhich baggie then float him in it, but this time the baggie was so full of fungus that I decided to scoop him in my hand. Well you all can see this coming... he flopped into the sink and when I got him again and he flopped onto the toilet lid! I panicked and added some bettafix (8 drops for his .5 gallon). He looks fine today besides being a little weary of me. I'm wondering if I should continue with the bettafix, as now I've totally stressed him out or just let him be and forget about the bettafix?? Thanks for any help, sorry my post is sooo long.

Hello FW..welcome back !

Been there, done that...lol..poor little things, what they have to put up with sometimes...

Keep doing the betta fix for the whole 7 days per instructions. Just to be sure the fungus is gone. Doing a major cleaning has helped too. You might want to add a bit of stress coat as well and aquarium salt. Let him veg for awhile and be sure to keep the water good and clean...remember to add the proper amount of bettafix after each cleaning.

Hope he heals up well for you FW !

Good to "read" you again ! ;-)

Thanks Emg, it's nice to be back. I noticed shortly after posting yesterday that the fungus has crept in already. If that is what it is, it seems to be 'growing' from the plastic plant in the tank. It's just a small amount so far and it is just hanging off of the "leaves". I always have stesscoat/conditioner in my aged water and I added salt too to try and help with the stress (...er, sheer terror) of dropping him. His colour and behaviour is totally back to normal, flaring and fiesty with everyone and everything and this morning after breakfast he made a little bubble nest too. I'm so glad because I was sure I had sent him to death's door the other day lol. Does anyone else out there have a betta in the .5 gallon "Marina" kits with the gravel and plastic plant?? I'm curious if fungus on the plant is common. Thanks again for the advice Emg. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Are you sure it's fungus and not just some kind of algae ?

I'm a brand new betta mommy, I've had my male betta (named Giovanni) for about a month and a half. I have a post up on the front about a recent scare in which Giovanni tossed himself from a cup while I was changing his water, he was acting a bit weird after that but he's alright now.

I was just wondering though, if there should be anything else that I should have for him care-wise. I have him in a 1 gallon bowl from wal-mart, he's got some pretty things in the bottom and I feed him Tetra BettaMin twice a day. I probably change his water way more than I should. Every week I give him completely fresh water. I've read that most people only do a half-gallon change, though? Should I start to do this instead? And I've heard so much about how important heaters are, but I live in the dead center of phoenix, arizona, and the temperature outside is starting to rise. I shouldn't need a heater, certainly? And I wanted to get maybe a plant for his bowl, or one of those cute decorations, you know, the ceramic ones that say things like "No fishing!", would that be safe? I've had Giovanni for such a short amount of time, but I love him to death and it would just kill me if I made a stupid mistake and hurt him with something as trivial as too-frequent water changes.

Thank you for your time!
Bunnywith

Hello Bunny...welcome to the betta fanatics forum...lol.

If you've had him for a month and a half and he is doing fine...don't change a thing...lol...because the day you do is the day you start having problems ! Bettas hate change..

Don't worry about the heater as long as the bowl is in a place where the temps don't fluctuate alot. I have some betta in one gallon tanks and I keep a light on over them all the time which helps to keep the temps warm enough for them. Just have something for him to hide under to get out of the light when he needs to. Plants work very well for this and betta love to hide and swim around in them too.

Make sure you don't over feed him. It's easy to do because they always look at you like they're starving every time you walk by thier bowl..lol. They really don't need that much and a couple of small feedings a day are usually better than one big one.

Good luck with your new bud Bunny. Do come by anytime with any questions...or just to share something funny or interesting about your fish.

I'm not sure if it's fungus or algae Emg lol. It looks like the same stuff that eventually killed "Sugar I" that was floating in the water last week. Kind of whitish and fluffy looking stuff. I have a hunch that someone stuck their fingers in the tank too... I don't know if that would create or accelerate fungus or mold, but the same thing happened last time we were away for a few days. The tank has a little of the stuff now, but not nearly as much as it got in those 3 days last week. Grrr I wish I knew what was going on.

I'm not sure if it's fungus or algae Emg lol. It looks like the same stuff that eventually killed "Sugar I" that was floating in the water last week. Kind of whitish and fluffy looking stuff. I have a hunch that someone stuck their fingers in the tank too... I don't know if that would create or accelerate fungus or mold, but the same thing happened last time we were away for a few days. The tank has a little of the stuff now, but not nearly as much as it got in those 3 days last week. Grrr I wish I knew what was going on. By the way, welcome Bunny!

FW...does that show up when you are treating with bettafix? I do get cottony white floaties in the bowls when I do the bettafix thing..don't know what it is but I just suck it out with a syphon when I see it and continue treatment.