Betta Rescue....Question

[lafaye247]

Hey everybody! I'm going to give a little background info on my story....

A teacher supply store near me (I'm a teacher) had bettas in TINY containers for sale at the beginning of the year. I didn't buy one, but several were purchased for the front office and several other teachers bought one. Well, after I got a betta for home (not from the teacher store) and fell in love with him, I decided to help the pitiful ones at school that were in nasty water....probably less than 2 cups of water total in the tiny container. So, I bought some 1 gallon aquariums with under gravel filters for them. I know 1 gallon is not ideal, but it is better than what they had....and they don't have room for four 5 gallon aquariums in the office. The ones in the office are doing so much better now!!! They have pretty colors now and seem to be enjoying having some room to swim

After I fixed up those fish, one of the teachers gave me money to get her betta (that was living in the same kind of TINY container) a one gallon aquarium. I put her fish, Swimmy, in the aquarium and noticed a few things...this is where my questions start. I noticed that his fins are all clamped together and kind of ragged on the bottom...I'm thinking fin rot. So I put some aquarium salt in the water and have changed over half the water the last two days (I just got the fish two days ago). I tried to tell her what she needed to do to help him, but she told me to keep him and doctor him up. So...hopefully the salt and water changes will help him with that. Anything else I should do?? He does not have a heater....I don't think she's willing to spend the money on one either, so i'll have to work with what I have.

My major concern is that today when I tried to feed him a few pellets, he acted like he couldn't eat them. She usually fed him these pellets, so it's not new food. he went up to the top to eat them, but then couldn't get the whole thing in his mouth ....then he spit it out and it went to teh bottom. He did this with several pellets I put in. Is there something wrong with him?? What should I do?? I know he's not my betta, but I feel bad for him. I sure don't want him to die in my care!! (Even though I'm sure his environment before coming to me this week led to most of this). Any advice you can give me on feeding him would be good. Sorry for such a long post, but I felt like I needed to give some background info. Thanks!!

[TigerLily]

If he's having trouble with the pellets, maybe you could try breaking them up into even smaller pieces. You can also try and pre-soak them to soften them up some.

[MollyJean]

It sounds like he's just cold. Is there any way to check the temp in his tank? Are his fins still clamped?

Yeah I would try what TigerLily said and break up a few pellets, see if he eats them, but don't get too worried, they can go a week or so without eating. How often and how much is he fed, anyway?

[dramaqueen]

A 1 gallon tank needs to be changed twice a week, 100%. Also, he may be cold.

[lafaye247]

I got to school today and his fins look a lot better...less clamped. still ragged, though. He is swimming around a lot more today too! :)

I tried breaking up some pellets, and he still couldn't eat them. So, I tried a few freeze dried bloodworms and he ate two of those. It's almost like he can't open his mouth big enough to eat the pellet even when it's broken into tiny pieces. He goes after it and tries to get it, but then it falls to the bottom after he's messed with it some...then he won't go after it. It's really strange! I know he can't eat the freeze dried bloodworms all the time, so I don't really know what to do at this point to make him eat the pellets.

Thanks for your suggestions! If he was my betta, he would have a heater But since he's not mine, I can only suggest it to her.

[Tragedy]

You COULD try some of the flakes, they break up easier- if you think he might take them. My betta didn't go after the pellets for the first 2 days, but he went after the flakes. Luckily he eats both now.

[lafaye247]

Good idea! I forgot that I have some of the flakes at home....I quit using them for my betta at home because they are so messy! I will try them for Swimmy and see how he does with those. I'm taking him home over the weekend so I can keep changing his water to hopefully get his fins and overall health better

[Hadouken441]

Tell your friend its important to get a heater and if she cant go through the trouble of getting a heater then whats the point of even getting the fish??? Theres a pad one i use for my hospital 1 gallon that only 12 bucks and petco///petsmart and it keeps him right at 79-80. One tip about the heater that i found out is to get the water the temp you want first THEN put the heater in. The heater wont heat up cold water but it keeps temperature the same once its at where you want it