Betta showing signs of disease

Hey guys,


I bought my girlfriend a betta a while back, and recently he just hangs around in one corner of the tank, not moving unless provoked. He is also showing dark spots on his fins, which are starting to look a little tattred around the edges. I do weekly water changes on the tank and obviously there is no heater or air supply as... um... it's a betta.

Could this be fin rot, or something else perhaps? I've added some General Aid to the water just as a precaution for now...

 

Sounds like your Betta needs a salt bath. You might consider airating the water, any fish needs oxygen.

diplopstomiasis

 

That's true, but as bettas have the ability to take oxygen from the air (water surface) it can generally be kept in a small tank with no dedicated heater, filter, light or air supply. I know the conditions are not ideal, but if thousands of bettas are living in these conditions every day, why would this particular one be giving issues?

 

Indeed. But remember that water condition is the main reason for fin rot, blackspot etc on Bettas. Getting the water perfect would ensure a healthy betta.

 

Thanks! Should I add salt to his tank water, or should I only keep him in it for a few hours? How much salt? He's got a 4L tank

 

SALT BATHS are effective old remedies for many fish diseases, including Ich. Add one tablespoon of common salt (sodium chloride) to a gallon of water at the same temperature as the aquarium, place the affected fish in this for five minutes; remove if the fish shows stress. Use only common salt and NOT iodised salt.
Stronger salt solutions at four tablespoons of common salt per gallon of water may be used as a swab or dip-bath. Do not place the fish entirely in this solution strength, but rather wrap the fish in a clean, moist cloth and dab the affected areas with the solution.
Adding one teaspoon of salt to a gallon of aquarium water makes a bath in which the fish can be kept for longer periods- watch for stress and remove to fresh water of the same temperature, if stress occurs. The addition of salt to the aquarium water at the rate of one teaspoon per gallon of water is also a useful preventative measure against Ich and Oodinium. Even concentrations of salt as low as 500 mg/L (0.05% solution) are effective controls for Ich in circulating systems. There is no harm to bacteria in biological filters at that low concentration of salt .

Compliments from Watershed.

 

Excellent, thanks I'll give that a try!

 

Hi

Keeping bettas in 4l bowls without a heater and filter is just plain irresponsible.
Sorry but this is how I feel. Bettas do best at 25C and since its getting winter we have
bigger temp drops at night.

The excuse of hundreds of other bettas living this way is no excuse.

Treating fin rot with a salt bath and putting him back into those conditions will
help you nothing.

Bettas need heated water, good variety of food and clean water as most other fish do.

Gerhard

 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

 

well unfortunately i gotta agree with Vis here. i always say would you like to live in a cupboard all your life? anyway he might just be getting cold its been decidedly chilly at night in pta. To be honest 20L tanks dont cost much or take up much space so there really isnt any excuse, house him properly and he will probably start to do better just from that. oh and how often are you doing water changes? in something that small it should be every other day at least.

 

4L + no filter = everyday.

Shibby, I am not having a go at you its just that this is somewhat of a sore point to me. You could easily get away with a 1ft tank and a very small HOB filter + 25W heater. Then he will be as happy as rain.

 

My Betta has his own 1FT and 50w heater with one of these corner filters powered by a air pump and he is very happy in there.
He is constantly making bubble nests and looking to attack me if I get to close. He even fights with the food at feeding time...

 

1 foot tank R45
Small internal filter R70
25w heater R110
Betta happiness? PRICELESS

 

50W heater R80

But back to the problem. Get the bettas in a decent setup. Make sure the water is perfect and the betta should slowly recover.
If not, I have used Tetra general tonic to heal fin rot before.

Gerhard

 

That's what I've currently got in there. Hee seems to be doing much better. He'll just have to cope till the end of the month. May 1st is my girlfriend's birthday, and my sister, who works at a LFS in Centurion, bought my girlfriend a 1ft as a gift. As for the filter and the heater, I'll sort that out.