BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish My Bettas Are Sick

I think my Bettas are going to die. I've done everything I know, following the advice of Petco and what I've read on-line.

Not sure, but I think they have Ick. The one does have a white coloration around his head and gills, but it doesn't look like fine grain salt. The other one doesn't look the same, but it's hard to see him, even with a magnifying glass. He also does kinda a jerking motion periodically. Neither of them have been "rubbing" against the rocks or plants as I read they will do with Ick. Both are still eating good, but one hangs suspended at the top of the tank all the time and the other one lies at the bottom of the tank. One is holding his fins very close to his body and the other one somewhat close.

Both of them are still blowing bubbles and they still rise to greet me when I talk to them.

Yesterday, I started treating the water with Quick Cure, Fast Relief for Ick and Protozoan Parasites. I can't see any difference in them yet.
The directions are to use 1 drop per gallon of water daily until fish are cured. The ingredients are Formalin & Malachite Green. The man at the store assured me it would not harm the fish even if they don't have Ick.

I would presume that if and when they are cured I need to completely change the water and clean the rocks, etc. Do you guys agree?

If these live or if I have to get two more, I am going to get a small 7.5 watt heater that Petco says will work fine in a gallon bowl (acutally, my bowls are a little over 1 gallon) because I've read that the water temp fluctuating as mine does can cause sickness.

In addition, I am picking up a test kit tomorrow at Petco so I can be sure the pH of the water is correct.

Do any of you have any suggestions for me on what could be wrong with my Bettas and what else I can do to help them get over this problem?

BTW, they eat all their food so their water doesn't suffer from the problem of rotting debris.

Thanks for any help!

Good News! My red Betta is much, much better today. He is swimming around and his fins are almost flaring when he sees the little girl figurine that sits beside his bowl. Not a full flare, but certainly a lot more than he has been doing.

The blue fish is not doing so good. He is still hanging out at the top of the tank and his appetite has diminished.

Following the directions on the Quick Cure, I'll change 25% of the water tomorrow and repeat the 3 day treatment cycle. Keep your fingers crossed that both fish will completely recover.

My red Betta is perfectly normal tonight. He is swimming around and flaring like crazy. He's blowing bubbles like crazy and seems to be super happy. Needless to say, I am walking on air I am so relieved and happy to have him back to normal.

AND...the blue fish is much better tonight. He is swimming around more, ate a couple of pellets tonight...first in two days....and he is now lying at the bottom of his bowl instead of hanging suspended at the top.

I changed the water in both bowls yesterday because there was some kind of crud floating around in it...uneaten food I think from when they weren't eating and I couldn't catch all the food.

I am going to continue the Quick Cure on the blue fish, but suspend it on the red one. He's had it for 4 days, but I'll keep the blue one on it for another 2 and hope he's completely well by then.

Wow, you are a GREAT betta parent! Kudos to you - really - you are a doing all the right things to try to cure them. Really, just so you know - bowls aren't the greatest home for fish - all the above is why. In an aquarium with a filtration system - they have a better chance of survival - for betta fish you just have to get a filtration system that doesn't make a strong, fast water current because of the betta's long, flowing finnage. Prevention is better than the cure. Everybody suffers with the sickness and the attempt at curing it. Each betta will need his own aquarium, of course, like you do with the bowls because, although they love each other, they are hard-wired by instinct to fight each other. In their own separate living quarters, everyone's very happy to see each other!

Hi Mary. I bought two 1 1/2 gallon aquariums last night. They both have a whisper quiet charcoal filtration system and I also got a 7.5 watt heater for them. There is very little movement to the water so they should like their new home. Got them up and running last night about this time, but they were supposed to sit for 24 hours so I won't actually move the fish into them until morning. It's gonna be a chore to get them set up because of the electrical connections I have to run and the pump for the filter has to be ABOVE the aquarium so I have to invent something to make that work. There isn't a shelf above where I'll put the tanks.

Anyway, thank you for your encouragement. Keeping Bettas has been quite an experience so far and I couldn't have made more mistakes if I had tried! LOL

How are your Bettas doing? Please don't think of it as a chore! It's also fun and helpful to read some books on betta care and freshwater aquariums! Where's your closest local public aquarium? I find a visit is magical and inspirational even with our fishie kids at home!