mee2

Hello,
Somebody please advice....I got a male betta at the pet store 10 days ago. He is in a 2 gal bowl, with gravel and a plastic plant. I did a first water change after a week and also changed the water conditioner from Kent Freshwater to Aqua safe (as I was told this was a better product). The very next day I found the fish behaving strangely. Movements were erratic and jerky and it was either listless and unresponsive laying either on top or bottom of the tank or "flashing" (rubbing itself against plant - in quick jerky movements). I also noticed a thin film of cottony stuff on its body. The pet store advised me to use Maracyn - a quarter tab every day - which I have been doing together with a quarter tank water change. I use a small syphon to get the water out and refill the tank using reconditioned water. I am nor sure how much of the gunk gets of the gravel though with this method - the water is murky at the bottom most days with the meds. Today is day number three of the treatment and there are no signs of improvement. He is eating okay - I feed 5-6 pellets once a day. Should I add salt? Temp in the house is 80 degrees - so I figured water temp should be fine. Please help.
Thanks!

0morrokh

Yes, you should add salt(aquarium salt, NOT table salt!), about 1/2 teaspoon should be good(remember to add 1/4 of that for quarter water changes). The temp. is fine, but be sure to keep the room your Betta's in the same temp. because you can't use a heater in a bowl. Bettas are pretty sensitive to water cleanliness, so you might want to remove the gravel because it's hard to keep clean. You got your Betta 10 days ago? If you set the tank up right before you got him, it has not finished cycling. Go to www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm to read about the nitrogen cycle. Use the product Cycle to speed up the process and keep up the water changes. Also, I'd try Aquari-Sol instead of Maracyn--it described a parasite exactly like what you were describing on the package(I keep some because I'm getting Bettas, too). About his diet, pellets are pretty boring and may not have enough protien, so I recommend feeding freeze-dried bloodworms & freeze-dried brine shrimp at least several times a week. And I highly recommend the site www.bettatalk.com, which tells you everything you need to know about keeping Bettas and is an awesome site.

Hope this helps!

P.S. Thanks for keeping your Betta in a nice big bowl instead of those tiny ones some people use--your Betta will appreciate it & live longer, too.

fletch

Do you realy have to add salt to your tank? Ive heard of adding salt to fresh water tanks before but my fish seem realy happy in just normal freshwater. what are the benefits of salt?

0morrokh

Of course you don't HAVE to add salt to your water, but it just helps keep your fish healthy. Like, if your fish get stressed and lose some of their slime coat, it helps to replace it, which helps keep them from getting sick. Also, it can help treat some diseases such as ICH. For most freshwater tanks, 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons is good (I use a little less for Bettas). You can get cartons of it really cheap at pretty much any store that sells fish.

fletch

ok, so if i go through a bad patch i should try salt, yeah? whats ich?

Jason

ich is white spot

mee2

Thanks for the advice - betta has recovered necely and is doing fine and busy building bubble nest. Think the salt and medis did the job

0morrokh

I'm glad your Betta's better! They're sure tough little fish. The first Betta I got actually managed to fall down the drain while I was transferring him to his bowl. My dad got home from work about an hour later, took apart the pipes, and got him out of the dirty water and put him in his bowl...and he survived the whole thing!

lokky.funky

Keeping a betta in a small bowl would require a lot of monitoring and water changes (as required). Btw, are you using any filter?? in the bowl...

chickadee

We are trying to encourage the practice of keeping of Bettas in small bowls to cease due to the lack of filtration and heat. It is just not a good or decent thing to do to a tropical fish.

Rose