Beta Fish- dull, flits about the tank, lost appetite

Question

Blue Beta   QUESTION: Hi Jaymie,

I read through your advice to other Beta owners but am yet to figure out what's wrong with my Beta. First of, I am residing in India at the moment and its pretty warm out here with temperatures ranging above 20 C. I own 2 male Beta fish that I keep in separate fish bowls. My room is bright enough with open windows and I keep both tanks close together so that they give each company. I have had both fish for almost 5-6 months now and they were both happy making big bubble nests. But I have moved house twice since and my blue Beta started changing color. At first he developed a reddish shade just like my red Beta,yet he was just as active and building bubble nests as before. Now he has stopped eating. I feed them dried tubifex worms that they were fed in their pet store. I've changed the brand of the food so they some sort of variety. For a week now my blue Beta looks duller than usual and sits on top of his castle towards the water surface. He kept flitting around the tank all of a sudden and so I took out all accessories so he didn't hurt himself. Now he's just sitting at the bottom of the tank.I give them a lot of attention and they respond well but my Blue Betta seems really down. I have checked for spots and raised fins but everything seems normal- no bloated tummy either. Its just his changing color, lack of appetite and 'depressed' look that I'm worried about. I got him dried blood worms now but yet he refuses to eat. The red Beta is normal, happy and building his bubble nests so I don't know why the Blue one's changed. I change water every week and we get ground water directly which isn't treated as its non chlorinated. I also make sure the water temperature comes to normal room temp before putting my fish in. Should I start rearing some drosophila larvae if his food quality is not good enough? Please help.

ANSWER: Pearl,

Thank you for the photo it makes thing so much easier. In the photo I noticed that he is suffering from fin rot. This is usually brought on by bad water quality. I also noticed he is in a bowl. Betta's, along with all other fish, do not belong in bowls. When Betta fish became popular years ago they were sold with vases and small 1 gallon bowls. Since then a lot has been learned about these beautiful fish. Yes, they do come to the surface to breathe, but he should be in a 5 gallon tank with NO filter and a heater. I know that it is summer and that the weather has been getting warmer, but these are tropical fish and need their water to be at 80 degrees at all times. In the evening and night hours the temp drops in the room so the water temp also goes down. The continuous temperature changes are not good for any fish. If the heater is set and the water gets to the temp it will shut off but when the temp drops the heater will kick back on. I am thinking that the water temperature is the main reason for his problems. Also having the two males bowls next to each other all the time can stress the fish out and that will bring on other illnesses and problems. It is ok for them to see each other for 15 mins or so a day but that should be the maximum time. I think if you get a larger tank and add the heater you will see a huge difference in him. If you have a flashlight shine it on him from above. Do you see small white spots (Ich) or does he look like he has been sprinkled with gold duct (velvet)? If so, let me know so that I can help you out better. Make sure you are changing his water every 3 days as long as he is in the bowl. Also, test his water weekly for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. The first 2 need to be at zero all the time and the nitrates should be no higher than 20ppm at all times. Let me know what the flashlight test shows if anything.

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Blue Beta (Gabbar)   QUESTION: Thank you for your response. I hadn't realised he could have fin rot! I changed his water again and he seems a little better. Will change it twice a week now till I get them a bigger tank. Is it okay to get a tank with a partition in between and add accessories so that they cant directly see each other all the time? (Since I'm a bit short of space out here :( ) Its difficult to get aquarium accessories out here so I'm not sure about if I can  get hold of an aquarium heater, but I will look for one. Is there anything I can do till then to keep them at comfortable temperatures? I checked him  using a torch for signs of Ick or Velvet but didn't see anything obvious. Have given him a precautionary treatment for Ick just in case. As for testing the water too, I don't think I'll be able to find the apparatus in local pet stores. He does seem better after I took out some accessories and gave him more space. Hopefully a bigger tank does the trick. :) Keeping my fingers crossed. Thank you for your advice!

Answer
Pearl,

It looks to me that you have a Veiltail Betta. His tail should be a lot longer than it is. As for a tank with a divider, that would be ok if you could find one big enough for the both of them. I have 30 gallon tanks with 5 males in each one. I made my own dividers with plastic canvas found at Walmart or other craft stores. I put them in the tanks using the plastic slider clamp found in packages of report folders at Staples. You can either attach them using aquarium safe glue or you can just set them inside. The weight of the water should hold them in place. The canvas comes in many different colors and add life to the tanks. I do not see Ich or Velvet on him, so I would stop using the medication. It is never a good idea to treat a fish with medicine unless you know whats wrong with him. You might want to try adding aquarium salt to his tank to help with the fin rot. Remember to only add the salt to the new clean conditioned water going into the tank during a water change. Make sure the salt is dissolved completely before adding it to his water or you can burn him. The box will tell you how much salt to use. It is 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons but you do not have to use that much. 1 teaspoon or a little less for 1 gallon of water.You can also get any medication at your local fish store that treats fin rot. DO NOT use Bettafix or Melafix because these medications can harm your fish. I would try the salt first. Add it to every other water change. Just remember, these are tropical fish too much salt will harm him. If possible, a heater would do wonders for him.