My male betta was doing really well when he started to lie on the bottom of the tank for the last week he only rises to the surface to get air. I have been treating him with bettafix for 4 days. He had a white patch below his mouth and around his gill area, and now it looks like he has rubbed it raw. Kinda streaky red in spots. He hasn't eaten any food in a week but doesn't look smaller. He is losing his colour though. Any suggestions. He is only a month old.

Do you have any pictures, or anything you've seen online that looks like what he has? That will help diagnose better. Is the white patch like an open sore, or is it more fuzzy like a fungus? The bettafix is a good place to start, and adding aqauarium salt will also help. One teaspoon for 5 gallons I think, though it will give you a portion on the bottle that you should follow, because I'm not quite sure of this right offhand. Losing color is a sure sign he is sick. Is he too cold? If the temperature is below 68 or so, it's likely low temperatures, or temperature fluctuations (overnight can be brutal if it's col) lowered his immune system and allowed him to catch something. If I've learned anything with my betta, it's that there are two important and often overlooked things you need to keep your fish healthy: aquarium salt and a thermometer. If it's small white spots on his face, it could be ich, in which case continue to treat with bettafix and aquarium salt. If no improvement is seen, you may need to look for an antifungal or antibacterial medication, but until you know for sure what it is, you should not medicate, as you could treat him for the wrong thing. Any more information or pictures you can give would be helpful too <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

no its not fuzzy, just like no colour at all in the spots, now streaky red, but he keeps pushing himself between the stems of the artificial silk plants and then lies there, until he goes up for air again, then back down and he repeats the whole process. I have him under a lamp too

there are so many things it COULD be. hard to tell from what we know right now. Do raise his temps to the low 80s, use the salt and betta fix, and keep an eye. Lots of times lying on the bottom is a swim bladder thing, but then that doesn't explain the streaks. I would not feed until you've got this figured out, since we can't rule out GI problems.

Maybe a fungal or bacterial infection???
From bettatalk: (bacterial infection)
"SYMPTOMS: Betta may have clamped fins, lay at bottom or at surface, not eat, lose its color, turn gray, barely swim around. In more advanced cases, its body may start developing red patches, open sores and all kinds of nasty looking stuff. (Even holes in its head!! YIKES!!)"

Fungal infection: "Betta has white cottony like patches on its body or head. He may be less active, may have stopped eating, fins may be clumped, color may be pale."
HTH!!!
Amber

hi
thanks for reply, he is a little more active , he seems to have bursts of energy where he will swim around almost frenzied like, his color in the spots is changing back to his normal colour, he is still lying on the bottom though, he isn't eating so I haven't put anything in his tank, should I keep the light on all the time thanks

Hi again

his white patches are disappearing but around his gill area it looks bruised the streaks are gone but it is a real purplish color there, any other suggestions his natural colour is a orange with a blue fins but his fins are like strands they aren't open at all

Sounds like it could be a lot of things, like Jilly said. I might guess a bacterial infection, but swimming around the tank in bursts of energy sounds like something in the water may be bothering him. Is he rubbing against the sides or bottom at all? A lot of fish do this when they have ich, because it irritates their scales. If the temperature drops during the night, leave his light on, but put a towel over half the tank so he gets some darkness too. Otherwise, give him an object to swim under for some shade so that he can sleep. Just like humans, I think these guys need sleep to get healthy again. Clean water and aquarium salt is the first place to start with any fishy disease though, and if he's improving, just keep doing that.

no he isn't rubbing against anything, he is either on the bottom hiding in the arch of the bridge decoration or swimming around like crazy, then back to the bottom. his color is really good today and his tail is a lot fuller, I put the towel on half hI removed her from her tank just in case, the other female is okay, but the red one is starting to lose color, she sits in the corner under the lily pad with just her nose out, doesn't go to the bottom, and seems to be gasping is tank but the light is still on, now my little female in the other tank is not swimming or eating. She seems to be gasping for air but no white patches or spots, should I treat her with the bettamix too, she isn't swimming and was sitting on the leaves at the top of the tank as if they were holding her up. Not that i have removed her should I treat the other female with the bettamix just in case or is that bad for her as she doesn't seem to have any symtoms yet. All my fish are in tanks with filters, and I use the betta bowl conditioner too. They eat the freeze dried blood worm. I have followed the instructions about the water and feeding and just about everything so am at a lose of how to make them better.

Ohhhhhhh he died, poor thing just couldn't keep up the battle. The little female has recovered though and is back to normal behaviour. I now have a male betta, orange face, white body and navy fins, tail. With all your advice I have sanitized the tank, filter, put in the salt and a little betta fix to start. Hopefully this one will live a long life. Thanks for your help.

Oh, Jojo, i am sorry about your little dude - you and he did fight it out for as long as possible and you did a great job trying to save him. I think he may have been kind of sickly in general. I am glad your girl is doing better and I hope the new boy enjoys his clean tank. he sounds gorgeous. Give us a photo!

My little red fish has passed on. I can't figure out what was wrong with her. She was fine eating, swimming, and was so curious, came right up when you looked in the tank, but she started to sit on the plastic leaves at the top of the tank last night, gasping for air, and she died during the night. It was so sudden. I really liked her. She was really tiny and bright red and just so curious about everything. I still have my new male betta and one other female left. The seem to be okay. I have put them both on wardell pellot food but am not sure how much to feed them. the bottle says as much as they can in eat in 2 minutes a couple of times a day. They both attack the pellets when I put them in like they are starving but I don't want to overfeed them. Also I have a water conditioner which is salt so should I buy bottled water instead of tap. and is there any harm in putting betta fix in each water change or not. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi jojo! I'm really sorry to hear about your little girl betta. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
This is what I know about bettas (Don't worry it shouldn't be very long LOL)
As much food as they can eat in two minutes could be 20 pellets, my guy only gets 3 pellets twice a day. And it's totally normal for them to make you think they are starving!
Salt and water conditioner are different, IMHO the best conditioner has a slime coat and dechlorinator in it. As for the salt, some people choose to use salt and others don't find it necessary. Personally I didn't use it until my guy got a touch of fin rot, and then got a little hole in his tail from the darned plastic plant. The salt healed both alot quicker than without it. It is supposed to help if the fish is stressed out too.
About the water, alot of people have a bucket/container on hand with aged water. It's usually tap water that has been left to air out so that it can get to room temp/tank temp and the chlorine can evaporate. Lastly I'm not sure the exact reasoning, but you're not really supposed to add Bettafix with every water change. It's like a med, you only use it when you need it, not as a prevention. I hope this helps. FW <img src="/images/graemlins/fish.gif" alt="" />

I should clarify, it is a water softnor on my house taps, so should I use the tap water because it has rock salt in it, or bottled water with the conditioner. thanks

Tap water is fine, it's what most people use. Bottled water can be quite expensive!

The food companies would have you believe that you need to dump a bottle of food into the water for your fish (they want to sell lots, so why wouldn't they tell you that), and I used to even feed my first upwards of 10 pellets a day (!) but they really only need 2-4. You can give them in one feeding or spread throughout the day. I like to give mine one pellet at 11, 5, and 11 again to space them out and make him think he's not so hungry, hehe.

So I have these two betta's a male and female but I haven't come up with any names yet. The male has an orange face, white body, blue fins streaked with red, the female is black and her fins are blue. The male is shy and the female is very curious and friendly. Any suggestions fish lovers in the betta world.

Hi jojo. I heard a cute fish name recently. How about "Sushi"? Don't think I'm cruel, I just thought it was toungue in cheek.

Sorry, I kind of went backwards and just read eliseaboo's post. I should have clarified that it seems alot of people use Bio Bettagold food, and I have read the amount is 2-5 pellets a day for it. I use a different brand that has smaller pellets and so I give my betta about 6 of them. FW

That's my bella pet's name!!! lol! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I kinda like that, I am going to change the spelling though, sushe for the male and sushette for the female, talk about a play on word haha thanks

My fish has a shredded tail. I put some betta fix and aquarium salt in, anything else I can do. I noticed it last night. He has red streaks in his tail, is that normal. I read a post that says red streaks are not normal. He only had a couple when I bought him but now he has a lot more but he is bigger now.

Fin rot...the bane of every betta owner!

Aquarium salt and a round of betta fix should fix him right up <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

what do you mean by red streaks, then - that's just his normal color, or the anrgy red lines that indicate spreading poison in tissue?

his tail is blue but he has a lot more red streaks in it, this morning his tail is shorter, yesterday it looked shredded, this morning all the raggy ends were gone, it looks even as if you cut it with scissors, the one on his back is way shorter today too, he has no red on his body, just his tail the one on his back, he is eating really well, and has an enormous bubble built, swimming around, and comes right up to you when you look at him, but his tail is getting shorter, I put more betta fix in this morning but didn't put any more salt in. Should I get more stuff, he is constantly going under the filter, do you think it is ripping his tail by the suction.

What size tank/filter do you have?

Try this to see if it sounds like any of these:

http://www.healthybetta.com/illcure.html

i know i havent been around lately...in months and months....i have a ferret now and i am forced to care for her more often than the fish. shes cute tho! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

i always use melafix for nebbie. I have found it is the only thing that makes his malady go away. it comes back every few months, but i make it go away again. melafix is a really good investment. i am able to eyeball his doses now. i cant believe he is still kicking, he looks so old. on the other hand, amy has never been sick. i saw a tiny bit of raggedness in her fins one time and treated her with bettafix as a preventative measure, and nothing else.

it is very sad how unhealthy the pet store bettas are. they seem to be the breeders rejects. i think the only reason i have amy is because she was showing signs of a red wash. too bad for them it is magenta and purple! hehe.

anyhow, try the melafix for the white stuff. nebbie gets better within a day or two, but you have to continue the treatment for a whole week for it to stick. and there is a LOT in the bottle, it will last many bettas (unless you have a 3 gallon tank like me).

my vet here in pittsburgh has a BIG red male betta in a 15-20 gallon tank in her office. he is in there with a fish that looks like an angelfish but the fins arent as long. it was really surprising, the betta is probably 5 inches long, including fins. he is so gorgeous, you can tell he is old and well lived.