I've had my Beta fish (Leo) for 4 months now. He lives far enough from the window that the sun never reaches him but he gets natural light daily. I read a couple weeks ago that you're only supposed to change 20% of the water in their tanks at a time and even though i'd always changed most of the water when cleaning i decided to give that a try. After about 2 weeks of doing this the water looked incredibly gross because i wasn't getting all of the mess off the bottom so i just went ahead and changed all the water like i usually do. In the last 6 days or so his face has changed from a purply blue color to almost green. It's nasty looking and he's definitely not swimming around as happily as usual, Also, he's stopped making bubble nests. Could it have been the week of nasty water that made him sick? I also added a piece of bambo to his tank.Can anyone help me figure out what to do to make my little Leo better? I've really enjoyed having him around and hate seeing him look so miserable.thx
2007-10-23 15:17:06 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
Is your betta in a real tank or a bowl? Bowls and unfiltered tanks should have a 100% water change at least twice a week. If it's a tank with a small filter, you can do a 25% change each week. So the maintenance really depends on the setup he's in.
I keep my bettas in mini-bow tanks (2.5 or 5 gallons each) like this: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/22435/product.web These come with a filter and light.
While poor water quality may be what affected your fish, there are a few other possibilities. It's getting to be fall, and temperatures are cooling down. Do you have a heater in your betta's tank? They should have the water temperature 76-86oF. Too much outside this range and they start to become inactive and lose their appetite. So that part may coincide with weather as much as your cleaning.
It's not unusual for bettas to change their color a little. I bought one in March that had a white head to start and now it's such a dark blue that if you didn't look closely, you'd swear it was black. Just be certain that this isn't fuzzy, or dull in color - this may be more of an indicator of a health problem than just changing color. If he's in water that's too cool for him, fungal problems are a likely possibility, which can be cleared up with some water changes, medication, and a heater.
2007-10-23 15:45:35 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is your betta in a real tank or a bowl? Bowls and unfiltered tanks should have a 100% water change at least twice a week. If it's a tank with a small filter, you can do a 25% change each week. So the maintenance really depends on the setup he's in.
I keep my bettas in mini-bow tanks (2.5 or 5 gallons each) like this: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/22... These come with a filter and light.
While poor water quality may be what affected your fish, there are a few other possibilities. It's getting to be fall, and temperatures are cooling down. Do you have a heater in your betta's tank? They should have the water temperature 76-86oF. Too much outside this range and they start to become inactive and lose their appetite. So that part may coincide with weather as much as your cleaning.
It's not unusual for bettas to change their color a little. I bought one in March that had a white head to start and now it's such a dark blue that if you didn't look closely, you'd swear it was black. Just be certain that this isn't fuzzy, or dull in color - this may be more of an indicator of a health problem than just changing color. If he's in water that's too cool for him, fungal problems are a likely possibility, which can be cleared up with some water changes, medication, and a heater.
2007-10-23 22:50:27 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Your Leo will be fine, atleast I am pretty sure. It may take a couple of days for him to go back to normal but I would just keep taking all the water out and cleaning everything (rocks, walls, plants) so he should be good in a while. I have a male and female betta so they are doing perfect when I clean there tanks out as mentioned. You are letting the water sit for 24 hours to let water go to room temp right? And adding dechlorinator too. Hope your Leo goes well! ;)
2007-10-23 22:37:18 · answer #3 · answered by Betta92 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I second copperhead completely, I just wanted to add that you should remove the bamboo. bamboo is not actually a water plant and therefore it will die and fowl up the water.
2007-10-24 00:47:43 · answer #4 · answered by Kylie Anne 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
give him a whole new water change all of it, add some freshwater aquarium salt and what conditioner. this should bring it back to normal.
2007-10-23 22:23:14 · answer #5 · answered by Warhammer 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋