My Betta fish

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Celura

Celura

Crazy Betta Lady
Jan 16, 2004
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I had a little glass fish bowl I used to put my Betta fish (Sushi) in when I would clean his regular bowl, and it got mistakenly thrown away. I have since only had to clean his bowl twice, and used a glass measuring cup with clean distilled water.

The two times I have put him in this cup, he just sits there and then flops over on his side. Then he starts gulping at the top on the water about 5 times, then sinks back down. Upon transferring him back to his regular cleaned bowl, after a few minutes he is fine and back to his normal bossy self.

So it's my assumption there's some sort of residue or soap or something on this measuring cup that's bothering him? How harmful can this really be? I'm worried, as Sushi is my first Betta so I'm new to the Betta thing. I will not use the measuring cup again and will get him a new container for his changings in the future.

Any input is helpful. Sushi and I thank you in advance. :)
 
tricksterpup

tricksterpup

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Apr 16, 2001
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Jim Soos
Jenny,
Not a big a real big fan of bowls for bettas or any other fish. You really should not need to remove your Betta when doing water changes. You should only remove a portion of the water and not all of it on a regular basis. Just remove 25 -40% of the water on a weekly routine and replace it with freshwater. But if you must keep him in another container, buy one specifically for him and only use it for this purpose. Use no soap or cleaning liquid on this container.
But I do recommend a tank for your Sushi, a great size tank would be a 5 gallon tank that can be picked up at Walmart for under $40 for an entire setup. You can get the Minibow or Regent 5 setup, that contains everything you need, filters and lights. If you buy the minibow, for a light pick up the screw-in Power compact bulb that walmart sells for $4. The light is brighter and will show off your pets colors nicely.

jim
 
DEmigh

DEmigh

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Dec 5, 2003
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Do you use a rinse aid in your dishwasher?

But maybe the bigger problem is going into clean distilled water straight from his nice dirty bowl ;)

True distilled water has no disolved minerals. Oxygen transfer across the gills is helped by disolved electrolytes. Bettas have an additional respiratory organ (I think its called the labyrinth) that allows them to take oxygen directly from gulped air.

When you refill his normal home, do you use distilled, treated tap water, or something else?

I'm trying to get some more details here, and hoping one of the Betta fanatics will read your thread and jump in...
 
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kveeti

kveeti

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Jun 12, 2002
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My bettas are in a filtered tank, so I’m not sure…

As Demigh stated, perhaps the sudden different water composition in the cup threw him off? Did you make sure it was the same temperature? There could have been some residues as you surmised. By all means, buy him his own new cup. If he’s just in his cup for a short time while you clean, I would fill it with the old bowl water, then before transferring him back, I would fill the temporary cup 50/50 with the new water to get him used to it.

How big is his home bowl?
 
Celura

Celura

Crazy Betta Lady
Jan 16, 2004
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Jim, I would definitely do that if I was able to get a full aquarium right now. I'm not at this juncture, however. :(

David you are right, it is called the Labyrinth and they do use it to breathe from the top. :)

I live in the country and have a well and a water softener. I use regular Cascade detergent in the dishwasher and a rinse aid.

I use distilled water only, never anything from the tap in his bowls. His regular bowl is never washed with soap, and I never had this problem until I used the measuring cup. His changing bowl was never put in the dishwasher, but naturally the measuring cup was.

If you want to see what his bowl looks like, I'll attach his picture.

Thank you all for jumping right in to help us. It is appreciated! :)

sushi.jpg
 
PumaWard

PumaWard

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Jul 23, 2003
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If you put him in a cup of pure distilled water it is not good for him at all. Distilled water has no other minerals or gases between it's water molecules so it will take cells from your fishes body and place them between the water molecules, (this is why your shouldn't drink distilled/deionized water).

Also, was the cup the same temperature as the bowl?
 
DEmigh

DEmigh

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By process of elimination, it would seem that the measuring cup is the cause of the new problem. Can you dedicate some other container, preferable an opaque one, to this purpose?

I presume your well water is bacteriologically safe for human consumption. I've depended on well water in the past, and there was a tap on the well house that by-passed the water softener so we could water the garden.

Instead of distilled water, I would imagine that Sushi might be a happier camper in straight well water.

Maybe tricksterpup and/or kveeti will comment on this idea.
 
Celura

Celura

Crazy Betta Lady
Jan 16, 2004
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Wow, I was told by the pet store and his previous owner to use distilled water. What should I be using?

I never checked the temp. :( What should it be? I read up on it when I first got him and I recall the text said the water should be mid-70s. The water jug is kept in a cabinet in the house, so it would be room temperature.

Again, I'm new at this Betta thing. I was told I wouldn't need to worry about any of that with a Betta, and I guess I stupidly believed what I was told. I have done some limited reading on it and up until now it seemed I was doing everything ok. I know how to take care of a regular freshie tank but like I said, I was told those rules didn't apply with Sushi.

I'm glad I know about this place now, so I can learn what I'm doing wrong!
 
DEmigh

DEmigh

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Changes in water composition should always be gradual, so if his previous owner was using distilled water, you would have to follow suit for a little while anyway.

Check out the species profile from the Aquaria Central homepage. It'll give you some specs on betta keeping as well.

Edit: Specifically, dGH up to 25. That's some pretty hard water, a far cry from distilled.
 
Last edited:
PumaWard

PumaWard

In loving memory of Meeko
Jul 23, 2003
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It's not your fault, you thought they were a reliable source.

In truth, bettas need just as much care as any other fish. They need clean, fairly warm water or many of them will fall ill.

You should probably slowly adjust him to your tap water, conditioned of course will conditioners that will remove chlorine and chloramine. This is what I would do. 1st and 2nd water changes, have 1/4 be tap the rest distilled. 3rd and 4th, 1/2 tapwater 1/2 distilled. 5th and 6th, 3/4 tap and 1/4 distilled. The rest would be completely tap.

Also, check your tap to see what the pH and hardness is. If it's above 8 ph and 12 degrees hardness then use a 1/2 to 1/2 mixture. HTH
 
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