keeping bettas alive and HEALTHY

[amzingaly]

Hey all! I seem to have a problem with keeping my bettas alive and healthy. currently i have one betta but i've had several in the past. They all have been kept in 5 gallon tanks with a heater and water temp at 78degrees. All the tanks have had filters and live plants and i always use a dechlorinater. Somehow my bettas always get sick with fin rot or something else i can't identify. What am I doing wrong?

[eemmais]

How often do you do water changes? Fin rot is from bad water quality...

[Kuronue]

^1+

Also, what are you feeding him? Poor quality food can also make them more prone to illness.

[amzingaly]

i try to do water changes once a week but sometimes i don't do them for 2 or 3 weeks. also i am feeding him aqueon betta food.

[eemmais]

Okay, you should try to do 50% every week. Do you know what the nitrogen cycle is? Just do a google search, you'll find tons of articles. Aqueon is not a great food. If you read the label, wheat flour is listed as one of the first few ingredients. I suggest omega one or new life spectrum. You want to look for a food without a lot of fillers (like yeast or flour).

[Bombalurina]

Another thing I'd suggest is checking your source water for ammonia or extremes of hardness or pH. Just in case. :) But definitely do try for a 25% change minimum per week.

[amzingaly]

Ok I'll definitely try all that thanks everybody!

[sunlight]

If your tank is cycled you need to do 50% weekly water changes with gravel vacuum, filter media rinsing in the old water WITH a water change, walls cleaning. If there is any uneaten food from him always remove it from the water never let it sink to the bottom.

I am going to give you a few links from Oldfishlady about how to take care of the cycled tank and water changes.
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=115758
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=107771
Or if you don't want to cycle you can do 1-50 and 1-100% water changes every about 8 days. But you have to acclimate your betta properly to the new water