[Quinnn888]

Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 10 but split in 2, so he has 5
Does it have a filter?
Yes
Does it have a heater?
Yes
What temperature is your tank?
82 degrees F
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?
Another male betta on the other side of the divider. He is completely healthy

Food:
What food brand do you use?
Omega one
Do you feed flakes or pellets?
Pellets
Freeze-dried?
Yes, bloodworms as a treat
How often do you feed your Betta? How much?
2x a day, 4 pellets each time (trying to gain a bit of weight)

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change?
None, he came home 3 days ago
What percentage of water did you change?
Usually 20%
What is the source of your water?
Pond water/well water
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
Dip out
What additives do you use other than conditioner? What brand of conditioner?
API stress coat, API tap water conditioner

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0.5
Nitrate: 8
pH: 7
Hardness (GH): 90
Alkalinity (KH): 20

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms?
Today, he was okay when I left for school, and was not when I came home
How has your Betta’s appearance changed?
His fins are extremely clamped
How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
He seems lethargic, he will lay on the bottom of the tank and will only move for food
Is your Betta still eating?
Yes, less than usual
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how?
No
Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
Not that I know of
How long have you owned your Betta?
4 days
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?
No he seemed perfectly healthy and vibrant.

I bought my betta 4 days ago, he was completely fine and healthy when I bought him. I left for school this morning and came back from school and he was extremely clamped and stayed at the back of the tank. He seems incredibly lethargic and will only move for food. He will come up for air and that is it. He was all fine the day before. The thing that worries me is that there is another fish on the other side of the divider that I don’t want to get sick either.

(Now)

(the day I brought him home)

 

[Quinnn888]

his fins seem to have loosened up a bit, but he has developed some sort of eye mass His eyes aren’t protruding, but he seems to be rapidly growing white spots on one of his eyes. The other fish in the tank is still fine. Debating on whether or not to put him in a separate container and treat with something. His ventrals have copperish reddish spots on them. His eye seems like it’s growing inside of the eyelid. Almost looks like a blind persons eye, but he can definitely see out of it. He’s become a bit less lethargic.

 

[JackTheCaptain]

Hi, I would get him out into another container. Try some rooibos tea to get things started, it's anti bacterial, anti fungal and will help him with stress.

 

[Quinnn888]

Hi, I would get him out into another container. Try some rooibos tea to get things started, it's anti bacterial, anti fungal and will help him with stress.

Where would I get this tea?

 

[dms]

Hi... try adding tannins into the water. Get indian almond leaf and make strong tea out of it. It's supposed to make betta fish comfortable.

 

[JackTheCaptain]

Indian almond leaf and rooibos tea are both tannins. In my case it's easier to find the rooibos--grocery stores, Natural Grocers, Walmart. Look for an organic unflavored variety, and I float a couple bags on/in the tank water until it's fairly dark

 

[Quinnn888]

Indian almond leaf and rooibos tea are both tannins. In my case it's easier to find the rooibos--grocery stores, Natural Grocers, Walmart. Look for an organic unflavored variety, and I float a couple bags on/in the tank water until it's fairly dark

My local pet store has Indian almond leaf specifically for the bettas, it’s definitely easier for me to get that. Would that work just as well?

 

[JackTheCaptain]

It does work as well, as far as I know

 

[dms]

Are those plants in his tank plastic? You may want to replace them with real or silk ones.

 

[Quinnn888]

Are those plants in his tank plastic? You may want to replace them with real or silk ones.

That’s the plan eventually I wanted to get him settled in while the silk plants came bc I had to order them from online.

 

[Quinnn888]

Update: his bottom fin has split in half, but he’s looking less clamped and seems much more active. I think he will be okay.

 

[JackTheCaptain]

I'll keep my fingers crossed 🤞

 

[ghostking679]

we need better pictures, as someone with a dark grey/black betta I completely empathize with getting pictures it can be damn near impossible, but just really try.

If I had to guess, I would say the nitrites. Based on the fact you have nitrites I'm assuming you are doing in a fish in cycle. Just know doing a fish in cycle while not lethal, can be hard on fish. His tank size should be fine (a bit on the small side imo), temp looks good ( a little warm too, maybe turn it down to 80), the only thing I can think of is the nitrites.

Also do you have any sharp edges or things in your tank? Maybe he ripped his fin on one of them. I had a little temple stone thing that my betta fish has damaged his fin on and also bumped on and got an injury. Taking it out, and his injuries healed and he never got a fin injury.

The eye growth thing can be a non-issue or really serious. My betta developed some weird splotches on his eyes, but they were normal for his scale type. They developed fast and then stopped. I will upload a picture of what they look like, focus on the little splotch on top of his eye. See if this is similar to your betta. Keep in mind, the splotch is the same color as the color of his scales. His scales are black under coat with a pinkish copper grey top color/sheen. The splotch is that same pinkish/copper/grey.

Your fish is beautiful! I love black bettas, so I really hope you can help him get better. More pictures would really help us.

 

[Quinnn888]

hi, unfortunately both of my betta boys passed today. I woke up and calix had died (the white one I had to seperate the black one from), he was all fine last night and I had checked water parameters and everything. It was all good. He didn’t have any disease or problems visibly. I blame myself for his death since I must not have noticed something. With Jupiter he definitely had popeye, but it was most definitely farther along than I thought. I came home tonight just a def minutes ago and he was dead. I suppose what I did wasn’t enough. I’m going to clean the tank all out and let it cycle for a while. Just focus on Arlo and Neptune now, and make sure they stay healthy. I’ll get one more when I feel ready and think the tank will be good.

 

[JackTheCaptain]

Oh, I'm so very sorry 😞

RIP SIP baby boys 💖

 

[dms]

hi, unfortunately both of my betta boys passed today. I woke up and calix had died (the white one I had to seperate the black one from), he was all fine last night and I had checked water parameters and everything. It was all good. He didn’t have any disease or problems visibly. I blame myself for his death since I must not have noticed something. With Jupiter he definitely had popeye, but it was most definitely farther along than I thought. I came home tonight just a def minutes ago and he was dead. I suppose what I did wasn’t enough. I’m going to clean the tank all out and let it cycle for a while. Just focus on Arlo and Neptune now, and make sure they stay healthy. I’ll get one more when I feel ready and think the tank will be good.

hi, unfortunately both of my betta boys passed today. I woke up and calix had died (the white one I had to seperate the black one from), he was all fine last night and I had checked water parameters and everything. It was all good. He didn’t have any disease or problems visibly. I blame myself for his death since I must not have noticed something. With Jupiter he definitely had popeye, but it was most definitely farther along than I thought. I came home tonight just a def minutes ago and he was dead. I suppose what I did wasn’t enough. I’m going to clean the tank all out and let it cycle for a while. Just focus on Arlo and Neptune now, and make sure they stay healthy. I’ll get one more when I feel ready and think the tank will be good.

SIP betta boys. I'm so sorry for your loss 😪. Please don't blame yourself...these things are more often invinsible to the eye than not...even for those who have been keeping bettas for many years.

 

[Skwirlygurl]

I know this is a very sad day for you. I'm so sorry for your loss! I do have one suggestion though... since you use well water, you may want to seek a professional testing which will check for metals as well as nitrates and pesticides. Depending on where you live, there can be a lot of "runoff" from farms, and more and more, people are using fertilizers and chemicals on their lawns and it all ends back up in the ground water. It actually sounds like your new boy had a hidden, infectious illness (and I would speak with the pet store about what happened!!! They will likely offer to replace at least one of your fish and if that's what you want, you should hold out for both). But do be careful with well water. There are so many things in it that a regular aquarium tester doesn't even look for. Do you drink the well water? If you are a minor (you mention you're in school) please ask your parents about it. If you are in college and renting, ask your landlord. If the water turns out unsafe for fish, it is definitely unsafe for you to consume (and vice versa) so be careful!

 

[Quinnn888]

I know this is a very sad day for you. I'm so sorry for your loss! I do have one suggestion though... since you use well water, you may want to seek a professional testing which will check for metals as well as nitrates and pesticides. Depending on where you live, there can be a lot of "runoff" from farms, and more and more, people are using fertilizers and chemicals on their lawns and it all ends back up in the ground water. It actually sounds like your new boy had a hidden, infectious illness (and I would speak with the pet store about what happened!!! They will likely offer to replace at least one of your fish and if that's what you want, you should hold out for both). But do be careful with well water. There are so many things in it that a regular aquarium tester doesn't even look for. Do you drink the well water? If you are a minor (you mention you're in school) please ask your parents about it. If you are in college and renting, ask your landlord. If the water turns out unsafe for fish, it is definitely unsafe for you to consume (and vice versa) so be careful!

hi, so yea we actually did all of these tests just recently to make sure the water was safe for the cows, since we live on the farm. We have had some issues at the other property a few roads down and tested the water for anything due to some infertility issues. We made sure to check our house while doing it. I’ve had fish for years in this water, and they’ve all been happy and healthy for as long as I can remember. That’s a great suggestion though. I had the same thought and asked about it on day two of their problems to make sure. (Btw we do drink the water, it gets treated and is a man made pond)