What's wrong with my betta fish?

Question

My betta fish has been really strange lately -- not moving much, keeping really close to the top of his bowl water -- but he's still eating. He looks slightly faded in his color as well (it looks like he has tiny some bubbles on his black coat, making him look dark grey). The only possible explanation I have is that when I changed his water, I put him in the tap water before adding the pH balance and chlorine remover. I added the chemicals to balance the water within seconds, but I think it already affected him. It's been almost a week now with no improvement... how do I make him better?

Also my fish is not old... I just bought him a month ago. I really think it has to do with the situation above, not his age...

Based on bettalover's answer, I assumed he has ich and bought a chemical from a fish store that claims to clear ich by putting on drop in each gallon of tank water each day for 3 days. It's called QuickClear. My fish is moving a bit more, but still not much, and he's even lighter in color now. Is it possible he's getting worse because of the medication? Normally how long does aquarium salt take to clear up ich -- 3 days, or more?

Also I looked for aquarium salt at the fish store, but he said it was for tropical fish only... so is this the same salt?

(By the way, I don't believe he is too old. He was fine a week before this, was moving a lot, had no arching of the back, and he was not lighter in color. )

Answer 1

I think that may be the reason. Do a 100% water change and add the chroline remover a few minutes before you put him in.

Other conditions to maintain:
• tank size. Your 'bowl' is probably less than a gallon. You said that he's been swimming in the same water for a week. In a bowl that small, you should be doing water changes 2 or 3 times weekly to keep the ammonia levels down. Upgrade him to a tank of at least 2 gallons. The bigger you can go, the better.
• water temperature between 75-80 degrees. Cold water makes them lethargic/sick because they're tropical fish. Keep his tank in a warm room, away from windows and drafts (do not leave him in natural sunlight or you might have a cooked fish). If this means investing in an aquarium thermometer and a water heater, then by all means, invest.
• Places to hide. Bettas can get stressed to the point of illness if they have no places to hide. Add some silk plants (not plastic because it will rip your betta's fins), or small terra cotta pots turned on their sides, shot glasses turned on their side, or store-bought aquarium decor.

If you adjust his enviroment accordingly and he still doesn't perk up, buy a carton of aquarium salt (a good additive to have anyway) to supplement his water when you change it. Aside from keep nasty fungus away, aquarium salt (DO NOT USE TABLE SALT) helps reduce stress for your fish. The dosage is 1/2 a teaspoon per gallon, but check the carton to make sure.

EDIT: I just realized that you said he 'tiny bubbles' on his black coat. That sounds kind of like ich. Check out http://bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm to see if any of these symptoms sound familiar to you and treat accordingly.

Answer 2

Well unfortunately the environment which you have provided is not healthy for a betta. He will not thrive in a bowl. 1. Betta's are tropical fish. They are native to Southeast Asia where it is consistently warm so the Betta's preferred temperature range is 78F-82F. Much higher than room temperature commonly is, especially this time of year so an aquarium heater is necessary in most cases. - When fish are kept in a temperature that is too low they will be lethargic, unlikely to eat, and susecptible to disease. 2. ALL fish kept as pets should have filtration. A filter not only aerates the water, but it is responsible for the break down of fish waste. Fish waste is given off in the form of ammonia which is toxic. When you have a cycled filtration system beneficial bacteria enhabits the media and breaks down ammonia into nitrite (which is also lethal) and finally into nitrates which are much less harmful and easily kept at a manageable level by performing weekly partial water changes. 3. A 1/2 gallon bowl is too small for any fish. Many consider the minimum for a betta to be about 5 gallons. It provides enough swimming space, is safe to heat, and makes for a more stable environment than smaller volumes. - Also, bettas are known jumpers and may jump out of uncovered bowls. So a proper tank with a full lid is important.

Answer 3

If he is ill, a TINY amount of marine salt in his water (a small pinch to a gallon of water) is good to clear Ich and other problems. Have used it many years in small amounts to rid my fish of many issues. If he has fungus (white tufts) also add something with Furan or Furazone in it, that worked for me. Remember to change water to keep fresh, and stop treatment when the fish is better. .Bettas are labyrinth breathers (they don't need all the expensive pumps/filters for water oxygenation, they can live in still water as long as it isn't too dirty). The older a betta is, the more hunched his back tends to be.l worked for a tropical fish distributor years ago and these are the methods we used to keep our huge amounts of fish healthy..but in a larger scale.

Answer 4

What I do is I always have a gallon milk jug of already conditioned water ready, the exposure to tap water can be dangerous

Answer 5

How old is this fish, Sounds like he could be old, but the things on is black coat? is it salty looking or fuzzy looking??? if so it is eather ICK ( wich looks like salt) or Fuzzy it could be any number of disease.

Answer 6

you cant make him get younger. All those are a sign of age in a fish

Answer 7

get new food ,and use bodeld water.

Answer 8

here is a good website:http://www.flippersandfins.net/faq.htm