I just bought a Beta fish last week. I put him in a gallon glass fish bowl with aquarium gravel and some fake plants. I used Jungle brand Start Right with Allanton water conditioner before I put him in. I'm feeding him Bettamin Tropical Medley Betta food. The problem is the water gets cloudy and has a VERY foul smell the next day after cleaning the bowl, and the fish won't eat his food. What should I do??? I don't know if the fish is sick or I'm doing something wrong.
2007-01-11 17:51:00 · 13 answers · asked by just a girl 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
get a water fillter its not sick proabley but more disgusted by the water.
2007-01-11 17:54:27 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
First I have to say this. Please don't put bettas in a bowl, cup, jar, or glass. They are living fish and although the may survive in such a container they will not thrive.
They really need to have at least a 5 gallon tank that is heated and filtered. I recommend a penguin mini filter for this size tank and a 25 watt submersible heater.
You don't say how you clean your bowl, but if you are going to continue to keep this fish in a bowl you will have to change the water every day with new water of the same temperature, and treated with a dechlorinator (not Jungle Start Right, which is a junk product IMO).
Do not scrub down the tank, or wash the gravel. Simply siphon out 80% of the water and replace it with the new water.
2007-01-12 01:01:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your Betta would love you if you got him a bigger tank. A Betta can survive in a smaller tank but much prefer 5-6 gallons to swim around in. If you do decide to get a bigger tank you should invest in a nice filter and this will keep your tank much cleaner. Also, if you add real plants to your tank it will help with the Bio load. You should also get your fish a high quality food that does not cloud the water. I recommend Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets. These floating pellets will not cloud your water. At this point the fish is probably not sick. It is not uncommon for Bettas to not eat for a few days. If you change his food the water will probably stop souring so quickly. You may also want to add some biozyme to your tank to help boost the beneficial bacteria. Once your tank ages a little bit you will not need to change the water as frequently.
2007-01-11 18:03:04 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
any number of things can cloud the water early on -- clouding could be because the gravel isn't clean or you just dumped a fish in a bowl and made a big bacteria bloom.
most likely if you are feeding him and he isn't eating then you found the problem. uneaten food will cloud the water. try a floating pellet like hikari betta gold and just put one in and if he doesn't want it take it back out. ideally he should eat about 6 hikari baby pellets a day. hikari baby cichlid pellets are supposed to be the same thing if you can't find the betta pellets. you can try holding freeze dried blood worms with tweezers in his face too -- maybe a betta treat will encourage eating.
rinse the bowl and out start over again. is he in a warm place? bettas like it most around 80 degrees. you can put a small light bulb over him to warm him up. there are other things to look for too -- check web sites for betta disease pictures so you know what to look for. right now though just try to get him to eat. warming him up will hopefully do the trick. try getting him a real plant or two. you can grow java fern or any of the anubias species fairly easily in a bowl with little to no light. tie them on a rock or driftwood with some thread and they will root to the rock -- don't bury them in the gravel.
a gallon bowl is fine if its warm. try getting him a betta friend -- well a pretend friend -- put a mirror in the bowl a couple times a day. betta like to flare. i keep mine in divided tanks so they have friends to flare at.
it can take a betta up to a week or two to adapt to his new home so give him time to sulk.
2007-01-11 18:24:44 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My Beta fish is doing great without all the extras- no gravel, no filter- nothing!... just water. Don't get anything that makes the surface of the water bubble, because Beta fish swim up to the top to breathe fresh air from outside of the water- this is hard to do, if the water is constantly in motion. Get Beta Bio-Gold from Hikari. Betas love this food. My Betas all live long.
2007-01-11 18:28:51 · answer #5 · answered by justmemimi 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a million) There are some tricks you are able to, like swimming via hoops, leaping of foodstuff, flaring on command, or in simple terms swimming over in case you tap the glass. 2) 5 gallons, heater, clear out with silk vegetation and different mushy decorations. Bettas are tropical, 2 gallons does not carry warmth all proper and they are very risky at the same time as it contains their water chemistry, in addition they want stimulation, an empty tank will actual bore them and lead them to sluggish. 3) save up with the water variations 25% two times per week for the first 6 weeks (at the same time as the bacterial colonies set up) and 20% per week from them, be confident you manage the water with the conditioner and enable it sit down out for a minimum of a few hours 4) 2-3 pellets 6 situations per week, upload a bloodworm or a brine shrimp each 4-5 days 5) see you later as possible, once you do a water replace, replenish the bucket, upload the conditioning liquid and enable it sit down out until eventually the subsequent replace
2016-11-23 13:28:48 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
your fish should be in a tank not a bowl.
Are you using the proper amounts of your chemicals? do not use a water conditioner, use a chlor out only. Are you OVER feeding. Try not feeding him the next water change see if the water clouds. Sometimes, the water itself has various metals in the water that your "conditioner" is not removing. Change products. Also, use one or the other.
2007-01-11 17:58:41 · answer #7 · answered by danielle Z 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Make sure the tank is out of direct sunlight; boil the water and let it cool before putting it in and do not over feed, get medicine that gives the fish a good slime coat
2007-01-11 17:58:25 · answer #8 · answered by knowledge 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have had a few betta fish over the years and one of the things I've learned is that you can have them with other fish- pocostomus(sp??), those little neon ones, gold fish- search online for some. I found a link on betta care below.
2007-01-11 17:58:22 · answer #9 · answered by kewte_kewpie 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
i have a male beta heres the numbah one rule:
1. dont put 2 males in the same bowl they fight hence the name beta
2. feed him blood worms
3. clean he bowl once a week
4. use bottled water for a week then slowly change to tap
5. i havent done this yet but your not supposed to put them in an aquarium or classic fishbowl they like smaller bowl like flower vases type things.
6. no toys no plants
7. beta fish dont eat that much its best to feed them every other day becuase its the food making the bowl stink not the fish
lol i learned this from experience so i hope you do to. lmao
2007-01-11 17:59:23 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋