what is wrong with him

[keeki23]

my friend gave me this beta fish , so i dont know how old he is .. but i wash his bowl one a week , and feed him everyday .. i take good care of him but not he has this thing on him and i have no idea what it is , its grey and theres blood i think , and im pretty sure he lost a fin.. its been there for over a week now and to be honest i dont even know if im taking care of him this right way because i didnt buy him but i do want him to get better ...

[Oldfishlady]

Sorry you are having problems...got some questions....

How big is the container, any filtration used or live plants, water temp and heater, what kind of additives used if any, like dechlorinator, and gravel, decoration used and can you post a pic?
What kind and how much food and how is he acting and eating?

[mjbn]

if your using a "bowl"... You needa be doing like daily 100% water changes.or else you'll be poisoning him with ammonia.

[KBoone]

mjbn, I think it is unfair to tell him that he needs to do daily water changes without knowing what size "bowl" he's using.

I've only ever kept my Bettas in bowls and they only ever died of old age. :) The key is making certain it is a large enough bowl (1.5 gallons or larger) and keeping live plants in them. The live plants create a natural cycling process that replaces a filter in a smaller environment.

Also, you need to be very aware of the air temperature in the house as you can't use a heater in a smaller environment. I can often curb this problem with the fact that I am naturally cold and my house is usually in the mid 70s anyway, plus I use a flourescent plant light for my bowls since they house live plants. Even though they are flourescent, plant lights generate a generous ammount of heat.

I add water to my bowls throughout the week as needed and do a weekly change of 100%.

It might also be relevent that I am very careful about feeding. My fish get fed one pellet at a time. Not only is this good interaction between me and my little friends, but I'm absolutely certain that there is no excess left in the bowl to rot and pollute the water.

Again, I've never had a sick Betta.

Note: I only say this about 1.5 gallon or larger. If you are keeping it in anything smaller. . . GET A BIGGER BOWL! :P

[keeki23]

To be honest, I am not sure how big the bowl is. I don't have any type of filtration, and there is a plant in the bowl, also some rocks. I usually have the water at room temperature, thats what I was told to have the water at.
I give my fish a pinch of the food a day, is that too much? Here is a picture of the bowl, the food, and I tried taking a picture of my fish but it's kind of blurry.

Also, I clean his bowl once a week, thats not enough??

[KBoone]

keeki, I immediately see two problems. Bettas are not huge on flakes, though some will eat them. Plus, they really pollute the water and are hard to clean out of the bowl. Find some good pellets especially formulated for Bettas.

Also, room temperature is fine if your room temperature is in the mid 70's.

The size of the bowl looks fine. . . for now. Though you are likely going to need a bigger bowl as that Betta looks fairly small (young.)

And the thing about the plants. . . for any real benefit in a bowl, they need to be LIVE. You should look for one that requires low to moderate light. Anything higher will require a light. Which is fine, if you want to add a light. :) My light is set-up under my cabinets and my bowls are placed under it.

I'd try to increase the room air and see what happens. It might even require that you find a warmer room in your house. At least until you can rule temperature out as being the problem.

[mjbn]

yeah I know, I'm sorry but when I hear bowl,i think of those tiny ones like.5 G. Haha my mistake

[KBoone]

Also, once a week is fine if you have a live plant to help filter the water! I'd do maybe 50% and 100% (at minimum) if you're not going to use a live plant.

[keeki23]

Wouldn't it be bad if I switch the food now? Like, will my fish even eat it because I have had him for a bout a year now, and I have always given him flakes. I will for sure go buy him pellets and a new plant if that will help him get better. Also, the thing on top of his back, does anyone know what that is? I'm pretty sure he lost a fin, but when I took him out of the bowl yesterday it looked as if it was bleeding, or something.. There was red.
And when you say 50% to 100%, what do you mean? Leave 50% of the old water?? By the way, thanks for everyones help; I really appreciate it.

[TheJadeBetta]

Can you get a closer picture of it?