ok so my girlfriends mother has a betta. she cares about the fish a lot but really knows nothing about taking care of it. i don't fault her for this but feel bad for the fish. it has a nice little tank maybe 2 gallon? i believe she's had it for maybe 3 or 4 months. i also believe it's only had about 3 water changes in that time, all by me when i was over. i've made an agreement with her that i will get and setup a heater, thermometer, and anubias in the tank if she will promise me to do a water change once a week. i don't think the fish looks healthy at all. i don't know a lot about bettas so maybe this is a normal way for the gills to look. black and sticking out? could be normal but it looks weird to me. any suggestions that i could tell her, or do to give this thing a better life would be greatly appreciated.
Betta help please
- Thread starter planted29
- Start date
even tho bettas are extremely hardy, they still do need good water quality
its nothing weekly water changes wont fix, good goin on that deal
its nothing weekly water changes wont fix, good goin on that deal
first off... she NEEDS! to do water changes at least 2 times a week and about 25% at a time... if its only a 2 gallon tank she should be doing daily water changes of 15%.. the plant was a good idea and i dont know if you have the filter and heater in or not if so then thats better but she still needs to be dong the water changes and make sure that the water going in is the same temp as the water in the tank... too much of a change in temp will kill them... if the betta looks sick to you and is lathargic then i would maybe put in some bettafix in but try the daily water changes first... i dont know the color of the fish but the fins should nto be out all of the time.. if its a light fish that now has black fins it could be a fungal infection...
Don't forget a good dechlorinator, such as Seachem Prime.
Removes chlorine, chloramines, and detoxifies ammonia and nitrites for up to 24 hours. Water changes are so important to his health. Keep up the good work in you efforts to help her betta boy.
Removes chlorine, chloramines, and detoxifies ammonia and nitrites for up to 24 hours. Water changes are so important to his health. Keep up the good work in you efforts to help her betta boy.
Are his gill contantly out or does he flash them every once in a while? If it is constant then this fish is stressed. Water changes are a must atleast weekly with a good dechlorinator. Once he gets the fresh clean dechlorinated water he will do much better also make sure he is getting a variety of food flakes, bloodworms, brine shrimp and a fast day once a week to clear his bowels. A filter and a heater set a 80 degrees is a must as well. Hope he improves with your care. Can you post a pic of the betta. Important lesson for your friend to research info on care of fish before buying one.
sorry, but when my betta did the whole flaring thing for the first time, I wanted to change his name from Gregor to Scary-Dino-from-Jurassic-Park.
coolest thing ever!!!
oh and Gregor is a deep red and his gills look black too. and he's doing just fine.
