I'm going from my own experiences. Yes there are many, too many, people who do what you say, it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do or that its healthy for the Betta. Would you want to live in closet your whole life? All I know is that when mine went from 1g containers that were unheated to the tanks they have now they became much more active & their colors brightened up & there have been no health issues as there were before. As for the salt, I never used table salt only Aq salt, dissolving it in a glass of water before adding it to the container, later finding out salt wasn't necessary. You can use non-iodized salt with no additives. Obviously it is your fish & completely your choice how you choose to care for him, as I stated I can only speak from my own experiences. I wish you & your Betta luck.
Thank you for all your help. I don't know if a heater and a larger tank are financially feasible right now, but I will be looking into it.
One of the reasons they recommend getting a water test kit is not because of the quality of your tap water, but the continued quality of your tank water. Fish naturally produce ammonia in their waste, too much ammonia build up can cause ammonia poisoning, ammonia poisoning can cause all sorts of health issues in your fish, including extreme stress. Even if there are no physical signs of poisoning such as red and inflammed gills, and red streaks, loss of color, etc, it can, in the mild stages cause behavior changes because it is irritating your fish. Also, the chlorine in your water can do this as well if none or not enough conditioner was used. My uncle once forgot to put conditioner in his water and all his fish freaked. Fortunately, it didn't kill them, but needless to say, they were not happy.
on another note, your betta was fine up until now because the algae kept the water clean. removing them meant that you removed the only thing that will eat ammonia in your tank. the ammonia build up has led to your bettas current conditon. to allow him to get better, get a larger tank, or change out the water every day to every second day. all of it. or allow the algae to grow back again
Quote:
Originally Posted by TabsV
most people I know that have beta fish have them in smaller containers in the bottom of a living plant, and they've lived happily for years.
TabsV hi and welcome to the forum you have gotten some great advice and trust me these people know what they are doing ! I am a first time Betta owner and these people helped me so much and my Betta is healthy, this is the best forum on Betta that I have found. I hope you follow their advice and that your Betta feels better soon !!!
on another note, your betta was fine up until now because the algae kept the water clean. removing them meant that you removed the only thing that will eat ammonia in your tank. the ammonia build up has led to your bettas current conditon. to allow him to get better, get a larger tank, or change out the water every day to every second day. all of it. or allow the algae to grow back again
or get a living plant
Thanks. I had been told I needed to get rid of the algae because it was so bad that strands of algae were hanging off my fish, and within 48 hours of changing the water, it would be thick, and green, with a layer of algae slime so thick on top of the water that he couldn't get at his food.
I've just bought a bigger tank (with a filter), a heater and some medication. He's finally staying still enough that I could snap some pictures and noticed there are white discoloured spots on his head and body. I'm hoping once I change everything over this will help, and add te medication.
He is very pretty and so great you got a tank with a filter and a heater he will love the warmer water, is it adjustable or preset ? I would start out with a water temp of 76 and float him in the new tank in a bowl and slowly add the new condtioned warmer water slowly to the bowl every 15 mins for a hour so he can adjust to the warmer water. What type of med did you get ? Before you add any med I would wait and see how he does in the new tank and keep the water clean and you may not even need any med for him.
Also getting a good brand pellet would help him like New Life Spectrum and freezedried bloodworms are for treats only once a week and only a couple cause they can cause bloat. Any type of pellet would be better than feeding him the dried bloodworms. Good luck please ask if you have any more questions.
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