I got home from work a little while ago and checked on my Bettas. All good. I gave them a pea to share (broken up) and when that vanished I gave them some pellets. Then two minutes later I checked on them again and Scarlett was hovering by the surface, and I notice that her gills are working very hard. I checked on the other girls (same tank - same water), they seemed fine. I could see that Scarlett was "breathing" from the surface every 10 seconds (very odd) and when she did a bubble came out her left gill!!! And the side fin right there is pulled in. Uh oh... I didn't see any damage - no nips or anything - and her fins weren't clamped at all, the rest were fully extended. Still, bubbles shouldn't come out her gills...
So I scooped her out. Put her in a fish bowl with only 1.5 inches of water, so she didn't have to work to reach the surface, and I kept checking on her every minute or so, when something weird happened...
After 5 min, I looked in and there was a piece of the pea and 4 pellets in the water! It had been clear before. Scarlett's gills weren't struggling. She wasn't coming up for air more than normal. And I may be wrong about this, but she seemed seriously pissed about being in that bowl - swimming all around like she was trying to get out.
Fine by me. Back in the main tank she went. I watched carefully to see if she was going to be okay, and I kid you not, she is back to normal!
So, tell me, what in the world just happened there?
So I scooped her out. Put her in a fish bowl with only 1.5 inches of water, so she didn't have to work to reach the surface, and I kept checking on her every minute or so, when something weird happened...
After 5 min, I looked in and there was a piece of the pea and 4 pellets in the water! It had been clear before. Scarlett's gills weren't struggling. She wasn't coming up for air more than normal. And I may be wrong about this, but she seemed seriously pissed about being in that bowl - swimming all around like she was trying to get out.
Fine by me. Back in the main tank she went. I watched carefully to see if she was going to be okay, and I kid you not, she is back to normal!
So, tell me, what in the world just happened there?
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