My Red Fish is Sick - I Think He is Dying!

(jstass) wrote in message . com...

Hi JS. Ok, well there are a few things I can recommend to help your
betta be as healthy as he can in the future.

Hey thanks for the posting. I want the best for my little guy so any
adivce
would be great.

2. What is the tank size?

SIX LITRES / 1.6 GALLONS

This is in the small but acceptable range for betta keeping. You may
find it much easier on you if you were to purchase a 3 to 5 gal tank
(That's about 11 - 20 liters) add a 25 watt heater and cycle it.
Testing the water parameters is vary important for all fish keepers
and cycling a tank will help you cut back on the amount of testing you
do as well as the number of water changes. Bettas do not require a
tank to be cycled but it is so much less work for you once the cycle
is complete.

3. What is the water temperature?

It is not a heated or filtered tank. Basically, I change his water
once a week and warm up the new water to about 70-80 degrees. I also
float him in a measuring cup with the old water for about a half hour
to get him accustomed to the new temp each week.

A betta is a tropical fish and should be kept at water temperatures
between 76F and 80F. Below 75F degrees and your betta can become
lethargic and open to illnesses common at cool water temperatures such
as Ich. Water temperatures under 70F degrees can be fatal to your
fish. Water temperatures over 80F degrees are too warm and may also
stress your fish. Most importantly, your tank temperature should be
kept stable. Your tank or fish bowl should not fluctuate more then
about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) within twenty-four
hours. Try to keep your betta away from hot spots like heaters or cold
spots like windows.

I think heating him up to 80*F once a week (even slowly) can do more
harm then good. Please consider getting a small heater for your tank.
4.What is the ammonia level? The nitrite level? The Nitrate Level?
I have no idea
5. What is the pH? The kh? The gh?
Same as (4)

Water parameters describe the general conditions and compounds of your
water. When your betta is sick, for instance, the first thing you
should look at (after his symptoms) are the water parameters. It's
necessary to observe the parameters regularly. To do this you will be
required to purchase some test kits that, through a simple procedure,
will tell you the parameters of your water. Many fish stores will test
your water for you for free when you bring them a sample. Some of
these tests will be checked daily, some every couple of days and
others weekly. Bettas are most commonly affected by ammonia and
nitrite present in their water. Here's a quick blurb on the two...

Ammonia (NH3, NH4): Ammonia is caused by fish waste in the form of
feces and urine as well as decomposing food and plant matter. It is
extremely toxic to fish, especially bettas. Prolonged exposure to even
small amounts of ammonia (.25 ppm) can cause irreparable damage to a
bettas gills causing gill burning, weakening of the immune system, fin
damage and death. Ammonia poisoning is worsened by alkaline water (pH
above 7.0). To avoid ammonia poisoning fully cycle your tank before
adding bettas. In an uncycled tank, 100% water changes must be
performed before any ammonia becomes present. It also helps to take
out any uneaten food or decaying plant matter before it converts to
ammonia.

Nitrite (NO2): Autotrophic bacteria consume ammonia and give off
Nitrite as a waste product. Nitrite, though slightly less toxic then
ammonia, is still very dangerous to aquarium fish. It is an
intermediate compound that is formed after ammonia becomes present in
the water and before other bacteria are able to consume it. It becomes
present when aquariums are going through the Nitrogen Cycle. To avoid
(NO2) poisoning, fully cycle your tank before adding bettas. If you
choose not to cycle your tank do not use a filter. Filter media houses
nitrifying bacteria, which introduce nitrite to your tank.

We always want to keep ammonia and nitrite levels at zero in a betta
tank. The only way to know is to test. You can purchase test kits at
all fish stores. When purchasing an ammonia test kit buy the kit that
comes with two bottles and a test tube (vs. 1 bottle). The reason is
it give more accurate readings when using certain water conditioners.
I'm not familar with Al's so I'm not sure which is required. You're
safe with the two bottle kit.
6. Is the tank cycled? (Referring to the Nitrogen cycle)
A cycled tank means you have successfully completed the Nitrogen Cycle
also called the Biological Cycle. As mentioned earlier, fish produce
ammonia, which cannot be detected by the human eye. Even if your tank
appears crystal clear, there can still be toxins present causing your
fish stress unless your tank is cycled. The nitrogen cycle introduces
helpful bacteria that ingest the toxins (ammonia and nitrite) and
produce, themselves, a less harmful byproduct (nitrates). Cycling can
safely be done before you add fish to your tank in a process called,
appropriately enough, Fishless Cycling or after your fish have been
added. Waiting until your fish are in the tank puts a great deal of
stress on them and many often do not survive the cycling process.
There are products such as BioSpira that allow a tank to cycle in a
very short amount of time with little or no impact on the fish. For
more information on tank cycling, visit
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/bi...rogencycle.htm
The benefits of cycling your tank are stability and upkeep. Once the
tank has been cycled you will only have to occasionally check for
nitrates to make sure the tank is still cycled as well as complete
only 20% water changes once a week. This process allows your fish to
live in stable water conditions with little change in pH, temperature
and zero ammonia. The smaller the tank, the more difficult it is to
maintain the nitrogen cycle. Larger tanks (10 gal or above) can stay
cycled for many years but tanks smaller then 2.5 gallons are very hard
to maintain. I don't recommend cycling any tank smaller then 5
gallons.

7. What kind of filtration are you using?
Since your tank is not cycled, it's good that you are NOT using a
filter. If you choose to cycle the tank you will need to get one.

10. What are you feeding your fish? How much are you feeding him?

Hikari Betta Bio Gold pellets. Though a few months ago I also got
Freeze Dried Bloodworms. So generally I give him three Betta Bio Gold
Pellets once a day, (that's what the store told me to do.) I also
read that you should not feed him one day a week, so I try to do that
too. The blood worms I have used I guess as a treat. Maybe once a
week I'll throw in a few in the evening.

You are not overfeeding your betta and that's great. Some betta's are
vary sensitive to dry food and others are not. I had a betta who
couldn't even eat a single pellet without bloating. As mentioned in my
earlier post, pellets can cause bloating, constipation and swim
bladder disorders in some bettas. To avoid this you should soak all
pellets in treated water (just take a little out of the tank) for
about 10 minutes so they swell to their full size before entering the
betta's stomach. Some pellet food swells 2x or 3x their origional size
causing blockage and ultimately swim bladder disorders. Even better
yet, consider changing his diet to the more moisture rich frozen or
live foods I mentioned in my earlier post.

Don't think so. Do you recommend that I start adding some aquarium
salt?
I personally don't believe betta's benefit from aquarium salt. In some
cases it can do more harm then good. There are exceptions (like when
you are cycling a tank) it can help take the ease off stress caused by
nitrite. You will read that some people will disagree with me but I
believe that betta's do best when kept in clean water with only
conditioners as additives. If someone can prove to me that salt really
has benefits, I would consider using it, but until then...

Over all, your practice is pretty good. Now that you're armed with all
this knowledge I'm sure your betta will do great. Please don't be
overwhelmed with all this. Everyone learns all eventually. (hobbiests
that is) The best thing you can do is rescue a betta from a store. The
conditions there are aweful. It's pretty much a death sentence, so by
taking him home, you're saving a life. There are much better off with
you then in any store cup.

Best of luck
~ACKislander



While it could be Swim Bladder Disorder (SBD) it's hard to say without
looking at the other water parameters. But I'll tell you a little
about it anyway.

Bettas are prone to SBD because of two reasons. First, bettas are
easily overfed. Most fish food containers direct users to feed what a
fish can eat in 2 minutes. This is dangerous advice for a betta.
Bettas are serious overeaters and will eat themselves until they are
ill. Their stomach is only as big as one of their eyeballs and
shouldn't be fed more than that at a time. An adult male betta can eat
about 3 bloodworms twice a day. Over eating is the main cause of SBDs.
The second contributor is dry food like pellets (betta bites,
bio-gold, ect); freeze-dried food and flake food. Even though these
foods claim to be "made for bettas," they in fact, are not. They are
not designed for a betta's short digestive track and loaded with
fillers like wheat meal, soybean meal, oatmeal, and brown rice; all
things a betta cannot digest. Compared with frozen or live foods,
which contain 89% moisture, dry foods only contain about 10% moisture
leading to digestive problems like bloating, constipation and SBD. The
recommended diet for a betta is high protein, easily digestible meat.
Some examples include, frozen bloodworms (or in gel), daphnia, tubifex
worms (frozen only), mysis shrimp, beefheart, white worms, brine
shrimp, grindal worms, live fruit flies and glassworms. Some are more
nutritious then others and your betta should be given a variety. For
instance I'll give my betta bloodworms 4 days a week, brine shrimp
once or twice and some mysis shrimp when I feel like it. This variety
insures a balanced diet.

Here's the good news. . . If your betta is in fact diagnosed with SBDs
there are some things you can do to treat it. I haven't found much
luck with medications but cutting his food intake down to the proper
amount and weaning him off dry food usually works. Some bettas will
never fully heal from SBD and will spend the rest of their days
swimming funny. As long as they can reach the surface for air they are
in no pain and should not be euthanized

Just a note to what blove said.. Yes bettas at stores are sold as
adults but are usually around a year old. (not 3 or 4) A healthy
betta can live over 5 years when kept in a clean stable environment.
Your betta is very likely still young and can recover.

Any other recommendations would be great.

JS