betta water oily?

Question

My Bettas water bowl has an oily substance on the top and a semi opaque water. Ive changed his water with pure clean water, room tempature, and washed his rocks. He doesnt poop to much, and i watch him until he is finished eating, so i know he doesn't not finish his food. Nobody but me feeds him, so hes not overfed and the extra poop and pellets dont fall to the rocks. Is he sick or is there something wrong with the tank? I have a 15 day warranty on him, but i want him to stay healthy. His color is normal, and he's not flaking or spotty. He had no worms on him or in his bowl.Theres no substances being put in. Should i get plants or snails or something??? PLEASE HELP!!

Answer 1

First, I agree that a larger tank would be a better choice for your betta. I keep most of mine in 2.5 or 5 gallon tanks with a heater and filter.

That said, the "problem" may actually be the water conditioner you use to remove chlorine/chloramine of you use one. You can check this easily enough by putting some in tapwater in another container and see if you get the same film without the fish. If not, try adding a few of his pellets. Since most pellets are made with fish, and the fish contains natural oils, this may be the source.

Since he's relatively new, the cloudiness is just bacteria reproducing because of the ammonia the betta produces as part of his wastes. The bacteria use the ammonia as an energy source, so when there's more ammonia than they can use, they multiply quickly, and this make the water appear cloudy. This is called cycling, and will happen if you get a tank as well. In a tank, you would change only about 1/4 of the water each week, because you want the bacteria to reproduce to process the ammonia, but in an unfiltered bowl, you should do 100% changes every 2-3 days to keeping the ammonia levels at a range where your fish can tolerate them. If this gets too high, he'll get ammonia poisoning. It's a little harder to identify this with a betta, since one of the symptoms for most fish is that they go to the top of the water and look like they're gasping for air, but bettas naturally surface-breathe. Here's a website that gives you other symptoms to look for: http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/ammoniapoison.htm

Here's an excellent website about keeping bettas: http://www.bettatalk.com/

Answer 2

no surprise to me at all
A minimum tank of 2.5 gallon is a MUST, for a Betta to be healthy and especially happy
These tanks come already with the basic setup in a kit, the only thing you usually have to buy is a heater

Recommendation
2.5 gallon tank with Filter and Heater(temp set between 76-82 degrees)
gravel or marbles
Real plants
any decoration that has no sharp edges as not to cut up his fins
a thermometer
a Betta conditioner for the water
a gravel siphon for weekly partial water changes of 25%
Refill cartridges for your filter (needs to be exchanged about every 4-6 weeks)

That's about all you need for your betta to be happy and healthy
And don't forget, don't put the tank near a window where the sun can get to it, that is the main source for algae growth
And last but not least, leave the light on for 10-12 hours during the day, and turn it off at night for 12-14 hours


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB

Answer 3

It will do that if you don't use a filter. For a healthy fish, even though bettas can breathe air on top of the water, please get them a filter. A betta should also have at least 2-5 gallons of water. In the wild they are only in little ponds a short period, and can still jump pond to pond. It makes me sick to see the way bettas are treated. He will be fine, just get a filter or clean the water every other day or more.

Answer 4

if you dont have a filter, the water will tend to do that, it also could be a sign that your tank isnt fully settled. Your water parameters are alittle off, but that comes with bowls.

Answer 5

hey!! my sisters betta was the same way! i was worried it was my fault but it kept getting oily and dirty after i cleaned it! i got really frustrated! i then surveyed where the bowl was being kept and told my sister to move it to another space!!! i havent had to clean it unnecessarily since then! and its A LOT happier! try it! if that doesnt work call a vet and see if he can give some answers