Betta Fish Forum banner

Is there something wrong with my new beta?

1K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  Myates 
#1 · (Edited)
I decided to have a beta again after seeing a beautiful half-moon with a gorgeous tail fan. I brought home a white half-moon beta today and put it into it's home.

For now, it's in a half full circular "jar" container. After moving it from the bag into it's jar, it started to display odd behaviors that I have never seen. They include:

Very idle, doesn't move much unless I force it to by tapping the glass.
When it settles down, it moves into a slanted.. half belly up position.
When I tried to feed it (as I know healthy betas are like little piggies) it doesn't even acknowledge the food.

I filled the jar with bottled spring water (not distilled) and the jar itself was cleaned with scalding water. The fish itself as you can see is still relatively young. It's tail isn't fully developed, and I was told at the pet store that I would not have any trouble with it despite it's age.

Can someone tell me if it's normal in anyway? Or should I rush him back to the pet store for help? Although it doesn't stay like this for very long, it's worrysome. The only time I've seen a betta belly up like that was when it was sick.



That dot isn't in his jar, it was on the window blinds.
 
See less See more
1
#3 ·
They can survive in temps into the upper 60's although it is NOT good for them. My tank got that cold even with a heater in winter.

did you slowly accumulate the betta to the new water and did U use water conditioner. There might be something in the bottled water that is not good for him.

I got a few that were still very young from petco. I dont think age has anything to do with it.
 
#4 ·
Hmm...this is quite puzzling. He appeared relatively healthy and everything when you first purchased him? How did you acclimate him to the new water? What size container is he in currently? What temp is the container? Any plants for him to rest on...?
Is he showing any other visible signs of illness? Heavy breathing, inflamed gills, fin clamping? Any unusual spots/fuzzy patches(may need to look close since hes so white)?

Also, why spring water? Usually regular tap water with a good conditioner(like Seachem Prime)works just fine, and is a lot cheaper...

Laying to one side at the top is a symptom of SBD:
Swim Bladder Disease (SBD)/Bloat
•Symptoms: Betta has trouble swimming, maybe he can’t stay upright and can only swim on his side.
•Treatment: This is not a contagious or fatal illness. If it isn’t congenital (aka a condition that he/she has had since birth), then it is caused by over feeding or feeding the wrong foods. Bettas will typically recover after a day or two of Epsom Salt treatments (1-2tsp/gal) and fasting. You can help prevent a reoccurrence by switching to a better pellet food, feeding less and offering a more varied diet. To make it easier for the betta to eat and breath, you can make the water shallower. You can offer him/her frozen daphnia (sold at Petsmart) as daphnia will help him/her pass stool. DO NOT FEED THEM PEAS.
But I'm not sure if this is the case....it sounds like something a little more complicated.
The more information you can provide, the better I, and anyone else who wishes to jump in, can help you. I'm very sorry that he seems to not be doing well...he is such a lovely boy. :(
 
#5 ·
There's also something else that I don't think is causing his odd behavior but it might be of importance? On one side of his face, there's this fuzz that's kind of attached.. It's see through and it doesn't appear to be ich (it doesn't look like white specks of anything). The room temperature right now is about 70+ fahrenheit.

No I don't have water conditioner in it because my previous bettas never needed it. If he's still not eating I'm going to rush him to a big box pet store to have him checked out.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Spring water because I don't have distilled water (it also doesn't have any nutrients??) and I didn't have any tap water that has been laying around for a while that I trust. I have been looking at SBD because of the weird swimming patterns. He corrects himself if he tilts too far. Other than the swimming and the fuzz that's floating next to his face, there's nothing wrong with his coat or scales or anything. I wasn't able to see it because the shopkeeper had been keeping the bettas in bottles that were cut open. I also plan to grab some conditioner for it tomorrow morning either way. Is there some kind of all around anti-bac/fungal I can put in his water if it gets worse? and which kind of conditioner should I be using? Salts, or is there anything more "effective" that may also help with possible traces of nitrates?
 
#7 ·
what do you mean by heavy breathing? he's blowing bubbles every once in a while, and stretches his gills. His breathing looks normal, but I moved him by letting him sit around for a few hours until the fish water's temperature was room temp then catching him with washed hands.
 
#8 ·
I mean heavy breathing as in it looks like hes trying to take bigger, deeper 'breaths' with his gills and his mouth.

A white fuzzy spot on his face? Does it perhaps sound like this?
Columnaris
•Symptoms: White spots on mouth, edges of scales and fins, Cottony Growth that eats away at the mouth, Fins rapidly disingrate, starting at the edges
Gray areas around head and gills, As the disease progresses the gray lesions may change in color to yellow/brown/red, Lesions often occur in front of the dorsal causing a “saddleback” appearance, Lethargic, Loss of appetite, Clamped, Gasping for air
•Treatment: There are 2 versions of Columnaris: chronic and acute. Chronic Columnaris can take days to progress while acute can kill within a day. It is contagious so isolate sick fish. If more than one fish shows symptoms then treat the entire tank. Perform daily 100% water change in small tanks or ¾ water change in larger tanks. Make sure to clean the gravel. Treat with Aq.Salt: add 1 tsp/gal Aquarium Salt 3 times, 12 hours apart so that you end up with 3 times the normal concentration. Do NOT raise the temperature as it thrives in temps over 85*F, however, lowering the temperature does not seem to help fight it. Combine salt treatment with Mardel’s Coppersafe, Maracyn I & II, API Erythromycin, OR API Triple Sulfa, combined with Jungle’s Fungus Eliminator (if possible).
I'm not sure about using spring water, I've never thought about it or looked into it....might wanna hop around google, or wait for answers from someone who knows more about it, but I'm fairly certain that whatever your little guy has he had before you purchased him, likely do to whatever poor care he was subjected to in the pet store :/
I personally wouldn't bother taking him back to the store for treatment by the way.....the trip will only stress him more, possibly making his condition worse. Plus, its best to take whatever any petstore employee tells you with a grain of salt and do your own extensive research....most of them have no idea what they're talking about.

Is there a trace of Nitrates? Do you know all your levels? If so, what did you test with?
Also, what size container is he in?
 
#9 ·
They aren't spots, it's like something that kind of floats beside it. Like mucus or something like that. The fins and body are very healthy, there aren't any lesions or tears, no spotting or bloating in the belly. I wasn't going to take it back to the store I bought him from, but to a legit franchise who knows what they're doing. From what I know, spring water retains it's nutrients because it's not filtered and people drink it instead of tap water because it doesn't have the additives tap water has. He's a newly arrived betta and was only there for a few days (I was told to come back on wed/thur for a new shipment of bettas).

The bottled spring water comes from an actual spring or rather a bunch of different springs and goes through disinfection and filtration before being bottled but nothing is added to the water.

His container is small at the moment, but it is 3x bigger than the little bottle he was in before. I'm afraid to add more water for the time being.

His breathing is calm.
 
#10 ·
Like a sort of slimy-mucusy looking thing? Maybe it has to do with his slime-coat....
....Or maybe its an external parasite of some sort?
Any chance of getting a pic that could focus in a little more on that particular area?

I believe spring water is alright, from what little I've heard....its the distilled/RO water that you need to add minerals too or something. Like I said, I'm not sure....I've only ever used dechlorinated tap water.

Are you sure it doesn't say on the container how much water it holds?
If its something around a gallon, for the moment I would suggest giving him a leafy silk plant to rest on, and mixing up about a teaspoon of Aquarium Salt in a bit of fresh water if you have some and slowly start pouring it in after its all dissolved. Also, look into getting a small heater and a thermometer as soon as you can to get him into some warmer water(78-82 degrees being ideal)which should help as well. When in doubt; Warm, clean water and a little AQ salt is usually the way to go.

I'm afraid I can't give a better Diagnosis/offer any further advise without a good picture as the description doesn't sound like anything I've seen before.

You could try sending Sakura8 a PM; shes a bit more knowledgeable in diseases then I am, and I believe shes online currently...she may have a better idea what might be going on with your guy, and know some other way to treat it.
 
#11 ·
Personally I would get some type of water conditioner like PRIME or STRESS COAT and use tap water instead of using bottled water as it may have something in it not good for fish.
 
#13 ·
I'm so very worry for your loss :( He was such a lovely little boy, from what I could see in the pic even.
I think he probably had some issues before you even got him....that happens quite frequently, sadly. Sometimes we can help them, and sometimes we can't.
I wish you the best of luck in the future with your fish, and I hope that you will return with pictures of him/her when you find a new little friend :)
 
#14 ·
I'm sorry for your loss =( Sounded like he had fungus and with the shock of the move, was too much for him.

For future: Never use bottled water, there are beneficial bacteria and nutrients in tap water. Use tap water (even if it hasn't been sitting over night) with the proper chemicals to rid of chlorine over bottled water. Water should be 76 at the very lowest. 78-80 is prime. They can survive in the lower temps for a while, but they will always end up lethargic and sick at some point if in it for extended time. You don't want anything less then 1 gal. With 1 gal you will be doing 1 50% and 1 100% water change per week. Keeping him in a smaller container is okay for a short time, but you will need to up the water changes to 100% every other day until you get a bigger home. Also, tapping on the tank/glass will add stress. Instead just run your finger along it or talk, it's less startling.

Again, I'm sorry you lost him, he looked like he was a sweetie.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top