She doesn't appear to be sick or dying, she just keeps floating to the top of her bowl! Is there something wrong with my fish or the water?
2006-08-30 15:31:53 · 34 answers · asked by bremo 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
She is a betta... and yes, it's a female
2006-08-30 15:34:56 · update #1
This is refferred to as swim bladder disease. There are three main things according to the posts and articles I've read that can lead to swimbladder disease. Constipation due to overfeeding, bad water quality and/or bacteria. First, do a 30% water change, taking care not to stress the fish by having the water temp as near to the tank as possible. After your water change you should not feed your fish any food for a day. On the second day feed your fish a fresh pea. Frozen peas thawed, popped out of the skin, and cut into bite size pieces. And then do another water change so that any uneaten peas do not contaminate your water. If you don't use aquarium salt this is a good addition to most tanks. The recommended dose is one teaspoon per gallon, or one tablespoon per five gallons
2006-08-31 03:13:22 · answer #1 · answered by iceni 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Floating Fish Tank
2016-11-04 07:26:27 · answer #2 · answered by brook 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A healthy, happy fish will never continuosly float to the water surface. She is either dying, sick or your water quality is really bad. The only kind of fish that can really live in a bowl is a beta fish so if she's not a beta then she's probably going to die from not having enough oxygen in the water. Betas can live in dirty water with very low oxygen levels because they have a special organ that allows them to gulp air at the surface without harming their gills. Also, in their natural habitat that is basically what they have to do to survive. I would recommend doing a full water change in your bowl and to get a tank with a filter if your fish is not a beta a soon as you can to circulate the water. If it is a beta, change the water anyways, and keep an eye on her...she is probably sick. Good luck!
2006-08-30 18:53:41 · answer #3 · answered by Kira 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A betta can breath air from the surface of the water, and will actually drown if it can't reach the surface. So bettas tend to take a trip to the surface once or twice every minute. If the betta stays at the surface for long periods of time this is very abnormal for a betta. Generally it's the result of a swim bladder disorder cause by over feeding, poor water conditions, or disease. The condition is not harmful, but what ever caused it may be very harmful.
Are you cleaning it's bowl/tank regularly? Are you feeding her once a day a very small amount (about the size of her eye), and skipping a day? I'd advise not feeding her for a day, then feeding her a bit of a peeled cooked pea. (This will flush out her digestive track.)
PS- Please read the below links for details on betta care.
2006-08-30 21:10:34 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our Betta kept floating to the top of the water to breathe, and even though I tried to do what I thought was right he still kept having the same problem. Unfortunately one of the saddest days came when he did not have the strength to keep to the top and just went down and hid under an ornament and died right before my eyes. It was devastating, as I loved him so much. But what made it worse was on reflection I think it was my fault, as I think I overdid it with the water conditioner, as the worse he got the more I put in thinking it would help the water quality but now think that that was the problem as he gradually got worse the more I put in. I didn t think that at the time until now too late. After the shock of him dying, realised he was swimming really well each time I changed the water and hadn t added the conditioner. I didn t leave the water to get dirty at any time so think it was that I added too much conditioner, as I thought it would neutralise the urine, etc, but maybe it did something to the oxygen levels. So sad and I am still upset with what I have done and will never forget him. I thought if I could help save any other persons fish by letting them know I would. Also my niece always used bottled water for her Betta and it had an extra long life.
2016-03-10 09:47:03 · answer #5 · answered by Christine 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's the water, and you fish will dye soon if you don't do something fast. It sounds like there is no oxygen in the water. You need a pump to supply the water with oxygen. You fish will love the difference in it home.
2006-08-30 15:41:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with "iceni". Sounds like your fish has swim bladder disease. I have tried the thing with peas, but it did not work with my goldfish. If that does not work go your your pet store and pick up some medication. This may or may not help. depends on how long it has been sick before it was noticeable. My fish lived nearly two years upside-down after I first noticed it had this disease.
2006-08-31 09:12:21 · answer #7 · answered by ...... 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is the fish gulping? Fish rise to the surface and gulp if there is not enough oxygen in the water. You got a little bubble pump thingy in the tank, right?
2006-08-30 15:35:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your betta may need more aeration in her tank, but if that is not the problem, she may be looking for some live food. A betta in the wild would not last long doing what she is doing.
2006-09-03 04:25:06 · answer #9 · answered by smiley0_1_1999 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What kind of fish is it? How big is her tank? How often do you change the water, and when you do how much of it do you change? Is there an air stone or some kind of filter on the tank?
Answer these questions, and we can better assist you!
2006-08-30 18:50:50 · answer #10 · answered by sly2kusa 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋