And can beta fish change genders? cause mine has a really swollen belly and i don't know if that is just because he is old, If he is sick or if he is changing genders, because he also has a white spot on his stommach like the females do and he has stripes, and i heard that only females have stripes. please help.
2006-08-23 13:45:50 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
I don't feed mine more than fuor times a week and I clean the bowl every two or three weeks and It is about two years old and the lady that had him before me didn't want him so she like never cleaned his bowl and fed him like one or two times a week. those are tough little bugers.
2006-08-23 14:02:19 · update #1
Male Betta's have long flowing fins and the females have short fins with body stripes.
Most Betta's with the best of care only live about a year in captivity, maybe longer in a good working tank, but not long in bowls.
The white spot sounds like an infection of some sort. You can take a picture of it and take the pic to the pet store and they could give you some medicine for it .
2006-08-23 13:50:10 · answer #1 · answered by JC 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bettas can't change genders, and females don't have large belly even if they are full of eggs. Generally healthy betta live 3-5 years. It sounds like he has the early stages of organ failure leading to dropsy. As a result of poor water quality over his life time. He might benefit from weekly cleanings, and maybe a course of melafix, or bettafix. A salt treatment of 1 tea spoon per 2.5 gallon might help as well.
2006-08-23 14:38:42 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Betta tend to live for only a couple years.
I KNOW what you are talking about with the male going stripey. I have seen this when a male is getting old and his color loses its vibrant brilliance. The stripes become more evident and he looks plain.
It's sad, swimming becomes sluggish. As he gets older, he also loses his resistance to disease. A swollen body is a generic form of dropsy, general illness. I've never had a 'cure' for it but when a fish gets dropsy they are on their way out. :(
My goldfish that I kept would life five or 10 additional years after I got them. Male betta would normally be under a year old when I buy them and usually did not last more than two years after that. :(
A random page on dropsy I found:
http://www.healthybetta.com/articles/Illness%20Diagonsis/dropsy.html
2006-08-23 14:02:43 · answer #3 · answered by Cobangrrl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Male Bettas live over 5 years with excellant care and I've heard of 10 but that is very exceptional. They should do well for over 3 years.
Keep them warm ,low eighties with regular water changes. A good mixed diet and try to include some live foods.
2006-08-23 16:13:51 · answer #4 · answered by sly2kusa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used to have tropical fish in a 29 gallon tank, and that i had a clown loach who lived to be over 8 years previous. i could think of if your Beta have been residing under optimal circumstances, it could be obtainable for him to stay that long besides. i could determine that his tank or bowl is saved clean so as that he has oxygenated water in any respect circumstances. so some distance as feeding, a small volume of foodstuff as quickly as an afternoon is optimal to dodge overfeeding and bloat. Does he have spots on him or something like that or is he only no longer eating? that's advisable to bypass to a close-by puppy shop or aquarium shop and enquire as to what you're able to in line with probability upload to the water to suited what warning signs he would be having. stable success!
2016-11-05 11:58:33 · answer #5 · answered by awad 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ive had my same fish for 2 years ,I think if you keep the tank really clean we clean ours every 2 weeks and I only feed them 3x a week they"ll live longer at least mine have.
2006-08-23 13:57:06 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they live longer than 2 or 3 years cause my is going on 3 or 4 and doing just fine. i clean the tank out when it starts lookin dirty and feed it every day once!
2006-08-23 16:42:23 · answer #7 · answered by Dawn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my betta lived to be 5 yrs old i had him in a 10 gal. tank all by himself with lots of plants and caves for him to play in. the fish does get a swollen belly when its old.
2006-08-23 15:42:51 · answer #8 · answered by alex 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
are those the chinese fighting fish that you cant really put more than one in a tank?
if they are, i know someone whos had one for over 7? years i think?
as for the changing genders thing.. i dont know.
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haha after reading some of the other answers, i have a feeling i may be wrong about the 7 years thing. i couldve sworn tahts what he told me??
2006-08-23 13:53:21 · answer #9 · answered by Hearts 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes 1-2 years max..and your guy has an infection or a fungus.most captive betas die in about a year unless
you're VERY careful AND lucky. they get infections over
and over again.
2006-08-23 13:55:23 · answer #10 · answered by dragonwythe 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋