fungus??

[brita]

two questions
what is fin clamping?
and my betta has a silvery edge to both gills and a light grey colouration on the bass of his fins on his belly just under his gills - fungus maybe?
i change water 2 times a week with salts and he has two barbs as friends.
i put the filter on for a couple of hours a day - he hates it
feed him kangaroo and pellets and flakes

thanks Brita

[Pataflafla]

Clamping fins is when they hold their fins close to their bodies instead of letting hem relax or flex.

For a filter, it's best to leave it on at all times because the good bacteria that builds up on it die without airflow to them and all the unconverted ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates that are bad for your fish are allowed to flow back into the tank once you shut off the filter.

How big is the tank you're keeping your betta and barbs in. Anything less than 10 gallons is often not a good idea for bettas and other fish (I believe barbs like to be in groups of 6 or more, so you would want to get a few more of them to evenly spread out aggression between them, but you might need a bigger tank to do such).

Salts are not needed all the time for bettas. Long term use of aquarium salt tends to cause more damage than it does good.

For the clamping and pale coloring, it might be bad water conditions and/or cold temperatures and stress. How much water are you changing, what temperature is the tank, and how big is the tank?

Try doing a 50% change now to see if that improves anything for your betta within the next day or two.

[brita]

thanks - they in a 12 liter tank ... i have not noticed aggression in the fish infact one of the barbs has taken to sleeping on the Bob (betta) leaf with him .. but will keep filter on ... and the tank my be too cold i live in alice springs (desert) - middle of australia and the aircon is on constantly

thanks again will look at those things first Bridget

[Aus]

Hi Brita, always nice to meet a fellow Aussie. I just said in a post yesterday how Alice Springs is a great place to visit. Hot, though!

How does your betta like the 'roo? I heard it was safe to feed tiny pieces of beef heart and meats without oils or added fats. Roo is really low in fat and free of hormones and all the other garbage beef and poultry are full of (which is why I eat kangaroo often) - so I'd say it was even better than beef heart for the fish.

My Sid's tank is about the same/a little bigger than yours, and he totally hated the filter pump (Dymax) until I figured out it was adjustable. I put it on the very lowest setting and he thinks it's great, it doesn't blow him around the tank and he even plays in the bubbles.