Flashing Betta But No Symptoms?

HI all,
I’ve had him for a little over a week, nearly two weeks now and I have only noticed my betta start flashing when I came home from work. He flashed 4 times but it wasn’t consecutive. Other than that, he’s been doing amazing and is a really active, curious betta and eats well (I’ve only been feeding him 3 HikarI pellets two times a day... tried giving him freeze dried bloodworms that were pre-soaked but he spat it out). The only thing that’s happened is that he ripped his tail on something or he nipped at it, but it’s healing back slowly. A day after him ripping his tail, is when I noticed the flashing.
I’ll attach some photos of him. He doesn’t look to have anything visibly wrong (no white spots, no raised scales).

I’d also like to add that he is in a 20L/5gal temporary tank while his 65L/17gal tank is cycling. The 20L/5gal tank isn’t fully cycled, but I have been testing the water every other day (every 2 days to be exact). I have been completing 25-30% water changes every time the ammonia goes above 0.25 ppm.

I’m just wondering what might be bothering him and if I could diagnose it early so it doesn’t get too bad.

 

It's not unusual for fish to flash directly after a WC. The slight changes in water parameters apparently trigger the flashing behavior. As long as the Betta is eating and you keep up with the tank maintenence, probably no worries. Nice looking tank & Betta.

 

Hi, I have not got long into the fish hobby but any ammonia in the water is going to effect fish, some fish species more than others.

If you can do your water tests daily and if any spike at all do a water change, I this is some kind of help for you, I started a new thread on here but so far I have not had much help and it is frustrating to say the least.

If the flashing continues with good water you might want to think about flukes/bacteria, as these show no external signs on the body and treat for that but only if it continues when your water is good.

I am sure if I have said anything wrong someone else will correct me, which is good as I will learn too

 

It's not unusual for fish to flash directly after a WC. The slight changes in water parameters apparently trigger the flashing behavior. As long as the Betta is eating and you keep up with the tank maintenence

Oh okay, didn’t know this! Gives me reassurance knowing it could just be a reaction to a WC. I’ll still continue to monitor him just in case

If the flashing continues with good water you might want to think about flukes/bacteria, as these show no external signs on the body and treat for that but only if it continues when your water is good.

I also had a thought it might be flukes, but I just didn’t know how to go about treating my betta. Should I only treat for flukes when my water is good and he’s still flashing or is it alright to treat anyway?

Thanks for the replies by the way, such a big help

 

I would wait until your water quality is good first, give it a little time and watch him, have a look at the signs of flukes so you know what to look for

Where in the world are you, as to what products you have access too if you need to treat for flukes.

I’m in the uk and had to treat for flukes just recently as one of my fish was scratching his gills, I only done the treatment the day before yesterday so fingers crossed for me.

In the uk I used fluke solve but in the US you could use prazI as it’s the same ingredient which is praziquantel and is safe for plants shrimp and your filter, but again wait for a bit to see if it sorts itself out with good water

I have also discovered it is good to add vitamins to the food as it helps keep the fish healthy to be able to fight off sickness

Treating right now would only add stress if the issue is due to the water and then it would open up your fish to more issues, so hang fire and let me know how you get on

 

Where in the world are you, as to what products you have access too if you need to treat for flukes.

I’m in the uk and had to treat for flukes just recently as one of my fish was scratching his gills, I only done the treatment the day before yesterday so fingers crossed for me.

In the uk I used fluke solve but in the US you could use prazI as it’s the same ingredient which is praziquantel and is safe for plants shrimp and your filter, but again wait for a bit to see if it sorts itself out with good water

I’m in Australia. Not sure if there is many medicines specifically for flukes but I’ll go to my LFS tomorrow to see what they have.

Also, best of luck to you in your treatment!!

Treating right now would only add stress if the issue is due to the water and then it would open up your fish to more issues, so hang fire and let me know how you get on

That makes sense. I’ll continue with the water testing and WC as necessary and keep you updated!

 

That would be great, just ask for fluke meds and I’m sure they will have something for you, what I have done lately is bought lots of medications to have on hand just in case I need them as you never know and then if anything does pop up like ich or the like you can start to treat it early then you have more chance to make your fish better.

With the good water and good quality food with vitamins and minerals I am sure you will be ok

 

Formalin is the go to med for gill flukes. Before medicating, be sure to study the Betta's gills. A gill fluke infestation results in noticeable red inflamed gills. It's not good to blindly medicate. It sometimes does more harm than good, especially in a newly set up tank.

 

I do agree with you about the meds, but it’s no harm having them in the cupboard in case you do need them when nothing else works, ie water changes

A201, could you give me some advice on my issue with Platy please, any advice would be most gratefully received

Don’t mean to change the subject here but I have not had much replies on my thread and I’m desperate

 

How is your betta doing?

 

How is your betta doing?

He’s been doing really well! He’s also gained a lot more colour in the past day or so; pretty interesting haha and he hasn’t been flashing at all anymore and i’m pretty sure it was only a reaction to the water changes.

 

That’s great news, so glad to hear it, he will be fine now

 

Oh okay, didn’t know this! Gives me reassurance knowing it could just be a reaction to a WC. I’ll still continue to monitor him just in case


I also had a thought it might be flukes, but I just didn’t know how to go about treating my betta. Should I only treat for flukes when my water is good and he’s still flashing or is it alright to treat anyway?

Thanks for the replies by the way, such a big help

I had the same thing happen to my Betta a few months ago. I treated his tank with Praxipro just incase it was flukes. No problems since.