My male betta is acting strangely.

**fjolliff** · 03-18-2013, 05:29 AM

He's doing much better today. When I got home with his medicine he started swimming around to greet me. He's resting atm, so I don't want to push him. He keeps swimming around every so often which is much better than the last 2 days.

The nitrites today after the water change were 0ppm, I think that was what it was on friday, the trouble I had was the nitrates though.

If I use a cuttlebone to soften the water, will it bring down the pH and reduce the alkalinity, it's still high today and I did another 1/2 water change.

**Tiari** · 03-18-2013, 11:48 AM

Ph of 7.9 is fine, do not add anything to lower it. It is better to have stable Ph, than a shifting Ph. Continue water changes daily, until the Nitrates are low, under 10ppm. This is likely the best "cure" for your fish. Make sure you are cleaning up any debris at the bottom of the tank and in the substrate, and gently rinsing filter media in removed tank water. Sometimes very high nitrates can come from a build up of sludge in these areas.

Also, Betta like temperatures around 80-82 degrees.

**genocidex** · 03-18-2013, 02:49 PM

if you can test for ammonia then i would. what meds did you buy for your betta?

first cuttle bone will increase hardness, but with 7.9ph you wont have much change. thats my experience. 2ndly all fish like stable parameters vs ideal parameters. what i mean is if the ph/hardness are not whats ideal for them then just leave it be.

also 7.9ph might be caused by ammonia. whats the ph out of your tap?

**fjolliff** · 03-21-2013, 04:02 AM

Originally Posted by genocidex

if you can test for ammonia then i would. what meds did you buy for your betta?

first cuttle bone will increase hardness, but with 7.9ph you wont have much change. thats my experience. 2ndly all fish like stable parameters vs ideal parameters. what i mean is if the ph/hardness are not whats ideal for them then just leave it be.

also 7.9ph might be caused by ammonia. whats the ph out of your tap?

The meds are API BettaFix. It was the only thing that the specialist at Petco would recommend out of their stock. I've moved him to a smaller tank to medicate him (mostly for cost reasons).

Today I noticed Ich on him,and his caudal fin has a white-ish fuzz around it. His dorsal and anal fins are also "matting" together today and yesterday. He still flutters his pectoral fins and just a few minutes ago he swam to the top of the 1gal I have him in. Of course, a bubble spooked him back to the bottom on his second attempt and he hid in the corner under a leaf...

He's really been weak though. Mostly sitting on the bottom of the tank. We have to keep the filter off most of the time so that it doesn't suck him to it. We have an airstone in the tank to help him so he doesn't suffocate if the oxygen gets low. We also put some aquarium salt for freshwater in to help fight the Ich.

I know that I'm going to pay more attention next time, it didn't take long for him to get sick. I was just caught up in the ghost shrimp having eggs and then the neons getting ich.

The betta hasn't eaten in two or three days. Even then it was only one small pellet. Is there a way to make sure he can get the food in case that's his problem? Or should I just keep giving him one at a time for now and hope for the best?

**genocidex** · 03-21-2013, 04:47 AM

if he isnt eating pellets try to get him to eat some frozen blood worm.

about the ick, you should boost the temp in the tank to around 85 and keep that air pump going. this will accelorate the icks life cycle and kill it before it can do some big harm. not sure of the other symptoms tho.

keeping the filter off is a bad idae, as the bb in the filter is dieing causing more of a problem.

that bettafix is garbo for any of this stuff. its ment for superficial wounds on the betta. over dosing this (possible) would cause your betta to suffocate in the water.

you might want to look into that white fuzz being a fungi? make a new post with a pic of it. im sure we can help you

seems like your betta is very weak and im hoping for his health good luck.

BTW in the future bettas do great with air driven filters, they cause less circulation and are great for smaller tanks.

**fjolliff** · 03-21-2013, 10:57 PM

Here is my darling. He's such a trooper. His fins look downright painful today.

tail fungus1.jpg
tail fungus2.jpg

**Honey Badger 1** · 03-21-2013, 11:15 PM

I looked in your profile and only found one small 3 gallon tank listed, are all those fish in your signature in that tank?

**fjolliff** · 03-22-2013, 06:16 AM

Originally Posted by mommy1

I looked in your profile and only found one small 3 gallon tank listed, are all those fish in your signature in that tank?

No! No no no. We have the tetras, ghost shrimp, and snail in a 20 gallon! I must have forgot to correct that. Sorry. I have my betta in a one gallon while he's sick just to save money on treating whatever is wrong with him. I might move him back to the three gallon once he's better and swimming around again. He likes hiding in plants and such. Right now we only have one live plant in the three gallon so we don't kill it with the neons' salt treatment.

**fjolliff** · 03-23-2013, 04:47 AM

Yesterday I started keeping the temp up at 70-80. Today we have it at a steady 80 but this morning we noticed the white fuzz on his side, and tonight its on his pectoral fins and his head.his dorsal and pelvic fins look like shriveled little clumps, his anal and caudal still have some shape. I asked the guy at petco and he said to keep using the finrot medication... It's awful how my betta looks right now and I haven't been able to do anything to stop the progression of whatever is wrong with him. He can barely swim! Right now he keeps just floating (tail down and vertical) around the little quart bowl he's in. He's refused to eat for days now. I just gave him a bloodworm and it floated right by his mouth and he didn't even try to eat it.