I just got a betta fish and i think he's sick

[prettykitty123]

I got a Betta fish for my 3 year old neice on Friday. My neice named him Swimmers. Its the first time I have ever taken care of a fish before (I mostly take care of cats), and i am worried about one particular thing with this Betta.

Its been 3 days and Swimmers still won't eat anything! I have given him 2-3 pellets twice a day like it says on the container (TetraBetta floating fish pellets), but at the end of the day, none of them are eaten. He also hasn't been wanting to swim around very much. He swims to the top of the fish bowl and then sinks to the bottom, like he doesn't have the energy to swim normally to the bottom of the bowl. A friend of mine came over to check on Swimmers and said that most likely he is suffering from fungus. She gave me some fungal powder medicine, which I used today.
I also changed his water, because I had read that you should change Betta fish bowls every other day to every 3 days. The bowl I have is a large 1.5 gallon fish bowl I got at the local pet store, because I thought the fish bowls that are just for Betta's looked too small, and i didn't have enough money to afford a huge 5 gallon tank. I also used Betta water conditioner.

I am not sure what to do! I don't want Swimmers to die so soon after buying him, especially since my neice likes him so much.

[DoctorWhoLuver]

Is his tank heated? Are you positive he has fungus? Can you post pictures?

[prettykitty123]

Originally Posted by DoctorWhoLuver

Is his tank heated? Are you positive he has fungus? Can you post pictures?

I can post a picture tomorrow. Unfortunately, no. My bowl isn't heated. I didn't have the monty for a heater at the time, so i have just been keeping my apartment very warm to make sure the bowl water stays at room temperature. I used warm water when changing his water today.

I do have this type of gravel/crystals that are supposed to absorb amonia and waste. I can't remember the name of them, but I found them at Petco.

[Tikibirds]

1.5 gallons will be ok but ONLY if you keep up on water matience. I would suggest 2 water changes a week. One should be a 100% where you clean out the gravel to get any uneatten food and poop out of there so it won;t pollute the water. The other water change should be a 50% where you just change out the water. If you remove him, be sure to slowly acclimate him back into the water. If he is just plopped back in there and the water is too hot/cold from what he is used to, he can go into shock :( Some people may suggest 3 water changes. IMO - that's a bit excessive. It doubt it would hurt though. If you can get a bigger home for him, that would be wonderful but I know alot of people don't have room or funds to do bigger tanks. However if you really want to give him more swimming space and funds are low - those clear plastic storage bins walmart sells work great I've used them and then just upgraded to a real tank when I had the funds to do so.

Why did the friend suggest a fungus? Does he have white fuzzy patches on him which would indicate a fungus?

his problem may be simply that he is too cold. Bettas are tropical fish and should have water temps between 76-82. If he does not have a heater, that should be one of the first things you get when funds become avalible. Ebay or Amazon may be cheaper then an actual petstore.

Sometimes it takes a few days for them to warm up to their new home and some bettas won't eat for a few days. Are there any places for him to hide in and explore in his tank?

Any other physical symptoms - like white dots, fuzzies, stringy white poo..anything like that? rapid gill movement?

you might want to cover the bowl, some bettas will jump put of them. If you have saran wrap, that would work but be sure to poke holes in the top so he can get some air in there.