Hi all. I adopted a betta yesterday from my roommate last year. She is moving away and I took him. Always loved this little guy... except she didn't take good care of him. :( My roommate came back to the city our college is in and gave this guy to me. He was living in a 2.5 gallon bowl and it had a lot of nasty crap on the bottom and I think he has a fungal infection. There's a large white spot on one side of his body (about the size of of a fingertip) and he is very lethargic. Staying at the top of his tank and all; but he is eating! My boyfriend knows more about fish than I do (he has a Congo puffer, two dwarf puffers) so he's treated him for fungal already after giving a visual diagnosis. I just want to be sure this is what he has. The little guy's living in an emergency 5g plastic tank. Going to be putting him in a 10g with light and filter and bubbles soon. Will be doing water tests later probably.
Housing
What size is your tank? 5g plastic reptile tank
What temperature is your tank? I will be stealing a temp monitor later :3 The apartment he's living in is really hot and stuffy (due to expensive A/C), so probably warm??
Does your tank have a filter? Not yet. Going to upgrade to a 10g with filter.
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No. Upgrading to one soon.
Is your tank heated? Once again, not yet. (Does a stuffy apartment count? :3)
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Just decorations
Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Betta pellets. Brand I was given was "Aqueon." I can give him freeze dried blood worms if those work better. Maybe I can steal some frozen blood worms from my boyfriend's puffer fish :P
How often do you feed your betta fish? As of yesterday, two pellets everyday.
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? When healthy, I'd do 50% a week. I read to do 100% everyday if he has fungal though in the FAQ admin post.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? Just got him yesterday.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime and fungal treatment
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:
^ I'm going to do this soon probably
Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? As previously mentioned, there is a large white patch on one side of his body. Loss of color.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Hanging out at the top of the tank or on the bottom. Not swimming a lot. Still responding to some stimulation (finger wiggling on the side).
When did you start noticing the symptoms? When I adopted him yesterday.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes; my boyfriend added in fungal treatment and we're going to vitamin soak his food. Should I treat him for IP or ick just to be sure?
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not really. I didn't really observe him that much as he wasn't my fish until yesterday.
How old is your fish (approximately)? About 10-11 months.
Sorry if I didn't include enough information. I tried to get some pictures but the camera I used is sucky. :\ Let me know if I need to provide any information, and thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide. :) I really want to get him healthy again -- he's really cute, fun to watch, and I've always had a soft spot for betta.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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