HELP : my Siamese Fighting Fish (betta) !

E

eylk

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Aug 5, 2007
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Hello,
I have a Female Siamese Fighting Fight (Betta). It hardly moves and spends most of its time near the surface of the water. Unlike its companion female who explores and moves around, this one seems lazy. I do not notice any other fishes giving it trouble.

It has white spots on one side only(near its eye) and also on its... 'forehead', the part on top and in the middle of its eyes. It does not seem to be Ich as the fish does not rub itself against anything and I have treated it with Ich Medicine. Is there such a thing as natural pigmentation problem?

I have found no other signs of disease on it, no wounds, rots, worms and the rest of the scales and body look just fine. The only problem is that it seems lazy, lethargic and most of the time just starts aimless near the surface.

What can I do ?

Thanks
 
Do the white spots appear to be fuzzy? 'Cause it may be fungus. I've had those spots occur on a few of my gouramis before. They start out small but then progress rapidly in its full-fledged fungus-y glory. D:
 
If it looks like grains of salt, then it is ich. If it is cottony and has the appearance of fluff, then I think it is possible body fungus. Both are bad and need to be treated to save the fish. Can you provide a picture?

Marinemom
 
Its not fuzzy and the white spots are bigger than grains of sand. I will try to get a picture ASAP. Also, I treated it ich and fungus medicine..

The tank is about 32 Gallons(Uk) or 37 GAllons(US). The filter I am using is the Eheim Pickup --> http://www.eheim.com/pickup.htm

I do not have a test kit, but Im pretty sure the tank has matured and the other fishes are doing fine.

I got 2 bettas on the day I started this thread. The 'sick' one started acting as it is since it came here.

Thanks
 
it could just be a strange marking, i have a pair of fighters and mine are exactly the same, the male is really quite lazy and tends to just hang around in one place, unless he sees his reflection or his lady friends swims past, then hes full of it
 
When I get new fish, sometimes they get a white area somewhere on their bodies. It isn't grainy but not fluffy and fuzzy either. IMO it's due to the stress of being placed in the new environment. Exactly what it is, I can't be sure, but I suspect some type of fungus.

My betta had this for about a week after I got him. He wasn't lethargic and didn't display any other symptoms though. I kept the water in tip top shape and it cleared up on it's own.

Since your betta is lethargic, it may have gotten the best of him. Follow the treatment advice the others give you, but it's very important that you get a test kit and test your ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I would do regular water changes and keep the nitrates very low (I'd aim for below 10ppm atleast, maybe even 5ppm) until the fish gets better.
 
By the way, it's often very difficult to make an exact diagnosis, especially when you're first starting out. Sometimes my fish have symptoms that don't match up exactly with pictures on the internet or what people here describe, like the white spots that aren't grainy or fuzzy.

Always address water quality at the first sign of illness. It doesn't end with the tank being established (cycled). Things build up in the tank that must be removed through water changes on a regular basis, preferably weekly under normal circumstances.

You said you're "pretty sure" the tank is matured. Did the tank already have fish in it? For how long? If it had nothing in it before the bettas, and you don't even own a test kit, I'd venture to say it is not matured (cycled), and this would be a major contributor to your problem right now. Go get a test kit ASAP.
 
it can take several months for a tank to cycle.. especially when using fish to do it. you really should get a test kit.. that could give us a clue as to what the problem is. there's no way to know if the tank is cycled for sure without a test kit.

does it look like salt grains, but just a little bigger?
 
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