Judas issick

[creativek14]

Hi I'm Kara, new member on this website:)
I need some help,I have just lost one fish this week (my baby boy Rience) to Velvet. First time it has ever happened to any of my fish. Now My other fish Judas is acting strange. He never opens his tail fully anymore and at the same time, he has random spurts of energy. When i go over to his tank he acts perfectly normal, but when I walk away he drifts to the bottom of the tank and stays wherever he lands, even if its face first. He has a white thin film over him (not completely visible unless you watch them like me), I'm not entirely sure how to explain it. I see the starting stages of it at least, and he now wont swallow his food (i put in one of those vacation feeding pellets to make sure he gets some food into his system). Please help, I don't want to lose another fish, I'm still greiveing over Rience.
thank you for any assistance
-Kara

[Sakura8]

Hi Kara, welcome to the forum. I'm sorry you've already lost your Rience and you're now having problems with Judas. Can you fill out the sticky? Click on the link. The more information we have, the better we can help you. For now, I'd suggest you do a partial water change, about 50%. Be sure you add water conditioner and if you can, make sure the water you put in is about the same temp as the water already in there.

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

[creativek14]

Housing; well my fish is in a regular fish bowl, about medium size with plenty of room for him. The temperature is room temp,we don't have a heater, and there is no filter or aeration rock and no he lives the bachelor life.

Food ; He eats pellets, they're easier to buy around here, and I feed him once a day

Matinence; I clean the tanks once a week. I put in completely new water each time. When I make the water I add water softener andlet it sit from 24-48 hours to ensure all the chlorine is gone.

Testing water: I never have tested the water.

Symptoms; His appearence is his fins won't open as wide as he used to open them. He's become more sluggish, though still eager to see me. I noticed the start of this a few days ago, and I didn't think it would turn to this. I put aquarium fish alt into the tank, i'm afraid todo anything else at this point. I've only had him for two months and he has never been this ill before. I'm not entirely sure of his age either.

[Sakura8]

Thanks for the info. First, if you can, a little heater will really help Judas. Bettas are tropical fish and need warm waters around 78-80 degrees farenheit to thrive. If the water is too cold, they become sluggish and lay around a lot.

Secondly, how many pellets to do you feed at a time? The best way to feed a betta is to offer several small meals throughout the day (breakfast, lunch and dinner!). Offer 1-2 pellets each time, no more than 6 maximum. And I just want to warn you that too many pellets can cause constipation, which can lead to some serious problems. One way to avoid this is to offer fewer pellets and substitute frozen or freeze-dried bloodworms or brine shrimp. Just a teeny bit, no more than half a worm or a tiny crumble of brine shrimp. A betta's stomach is about the size of his eye. Super tiny.

Do you know how many gallons your fish bowl is? If it's only a gallon or two, then you'll want to change the water at least every other day, preferably more. You can change 100% every other day or, if possible, change at least 50-75% every day. The more fresh water your guy has, the healthier he'll be. Is water softener the same as water conditioner that removes chlorine? I use API Stress Coat but there's also Seachem Prime and Tetra AquaSafe, as well as a few others.

If you can, I'd really advise you get an ammonia test kit. You can get strips that are less expensive but might not be as reliable or you can get a liquid drop kit. If you can test the water for ammonia at least once a week, this will help you to know if the level gets too high. If there's too much ammonia, Judas can suffer from ammonia burns and get infections or get ammonia poisoning

It sounds like Judas probably has ammonia poisoning and the best way to fix that is to do a 100% water change every day for a week at least. Also keep adding the aquarium salt for a few more days. It's 1 tsp per gallon. The aquarium salt will stimulate his slime coat, which helps him stay healthy and fight off diseases.

For now, don't worry about getting him to eat. You can keep trying but if he doesn't eat his pellets within ten minutes, remove them so they don't dirty up the water. I think he'll get his appetite back when he gets into clean water. It might take a few days, though.

I really hope Judas recovers quickly for you. I can't promise anything 'cause it does sound like a more serious case of ammonia poisoning but I really hope he gets better. Keep up with the water changes and if you can, get him a heater. Hang in there.

[frogipoi]

It sounds like he is chilly :D Hang in there Judas!

[creativek14]

My room is pretty high temp for them, but we'll move him by the turtle tank we have to keep him warmer. Do you suggest getting a heater for them? I have two other fish who are perfectly healthy, so idk what is going on :/

[Sakura8]

I'd suggest a heater for each tank with a betta, if you can afford it (I know, I never knew keeping bettas was so expensive either). In the summer when your room is warm, it's not an issue but if you live in an area where it gets really cold in the winter, each betta will need a heater to survive. Because they live in warm waters, bettas don't do so well in cold water. They become very listless and lethargic, laying around a lot because it takes all of their energy to simply stay alive. If they get into warm water, a healthy betta will be a lot more active.

For fish bowls, there is a heater from Zoo Med that seems to work all right.

There are also small submersible heaters from Marineland that work as well.

Clean and warm water will help Judas a lot.

[creativek14]

thank you so much :) I'll try to get one tomorrow as soon as I can go out :)

[dramaqueen]

Do those bettatherm heaters need to be buried under gravel or can they be laid on the bottom? I have kritter keepers. Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread.

[Sakura8]

I think I'd bury it at least a little so the fish didn't lay on it and get a belly burn. Maybe even put a fabric leaf over it or something. They do seem handy for kritter keepers - very few heaters are short enough to go in those.