someone help me with my betta pls?!?

Question

so i got my betta a few days ago. hes in a 10 gallon tank filled up half way. when i got him, his head, especially near his gills, is white. i thought it couldve been ich so i went to the petstore and got some aquarium salt. the instructions says put one tablespoon per 5 gallon, and i put half tablespoon because i didnt know how the fish was gonna react. i dissolved it first and put it in slowly. this morning i noticed that the edges of his fins are white and the the tip of the bottom fin is clearish. his fins werent exactly great when i bought him. and there is this lump that is near his gills that i havent noticed before. what is wrong with him and what should i do? should i change the water? and the temperature is like 74 btw

Answer 1

well it sounds like finrot to me
and most of the bettas you get to buy from petsmart or petco have it because of bad waterconditions
I just recently purchased 5 females from petsmart (rescue bettas), and they all had finrot
after watching them closely for 4 days, i decided to start treatment with Maracyn TC
Before you do so, you should do a 50% waterchange with a gravelsiphon and add the medication
treat for 10 days and not just 5
you will see getting your bettas fins better after about 4-5 days
once the 10 treatment is completed, do a 50% waterchange and another 25% after 3 days, and then do weekly partial waterchanges once a week of 25%
refill with conditioned water

Also fill up your tank completely so your filter can work properly, which you hopefully have
also the temperature is suppose to stay around 78-82 degrees at all times as well


Also don't be worried about the discoloration of your water, it will kinda get a reddish color once treatment is started
also a foam buildup will be there as well on the watersurface




Hope that helps
Good luck



EB

Answer 2

It's hard to say everything that could be wrong, but it sounds like he was probably sick when you got him and it has progressed (maybe due to the stress of a new home or because the new tank is getting dirty and toxic). The aquarium salt will definitely help. Since he hasn't reacted negatively to it, I would up the dose to the full tablespoon per 5 gallons. I would also buy a heater to get his tank to 80 degrees. The cold water he's currently in will only make his condition worse. Also get a chemical testing kit that will show you the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels of your tank. If he's experiencing ammonia poisoning due to an uncylced tank, you'll have to start doing daily water changes to keep him from dying while the tank cycles.

This website has a good section on Betta illnesses to help you pinpoint what is wrong and help you figure out the correct medication to give him::

www.bettatalk.com

Answer 3

Your betta should have a heater. He will be more active and healthy in heated water. I have a female betta in a 5g and I have her water set at 80 degrees. She is very healthy and active. I would spend the money and get a heater. Make sure you get a heater that you can adjust though. Some heaters for smaller tanks only heat it to a certain temp or else they just raise the temp 1 or 2 degrees above room temp. Also if you don't have a thermometer, get one. Check what the temp is in the current water your fish is in. Then set the heater for a couple degrees higher than that. Keep an eye on the thermometer for the next 24 hours or so to see how accurately the heater is working. And slowly raise the temp up to around 80 degrees over a few days. That way you don't shock him with water that his isn't used to and also you can check how the heater works. My heater is set at 82 degrees in order to heat the tank to 80 degrees.

Answer 4

The fin problem is probably the beginning of fin rot. Keep his water very clean and warm. The salt will certainly help.

Is the white in specks, or is it just white all over? If it's in specks, then yes, it's probably ich. Salt will kill it, or you may want to get ich medication. If it's white all over, and looks fuzzy, it could be fungus. In that case, you'll need an anti-fungal med.

Answer 5

I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with your fish. Try searching for "ornamental fish diseases" or "Betta fish diseases" and see if they have any pictures that may help.

Also, the water temp should be between 76-85 degrees, usually the higher end is best. Betta's thrive in warm water.

Hope he gets better for you!

Answer 6

its advanced ich and ...possibly cancer yes fish can get cancer its just an uncontrolled cell growth but i think hez gone put him out of his misery he probably has parasites too sorry bud=(