sick beta???

Question
My red beta is moving very rapidly in our 2 gallon tank.  He seems to have a "knot" in his stomach/near tail area.  He keeps going up for air and then going back down to the bottom.  There are a lot of bubbles on the top of our tank.  This is the 3rd beta we have gotten our 3 year old daughter so I REALLY want to keep this one alive.  Please help... Nicole

Answer
Hi Nicole;

Make a water change and see if that helps. All fish need weekly 25% water changes. The bubbles are usually from a male betta building a bubble nest but if he's been sick, it's unlikely he was feeling like doing that. Bubbles can also be from excess ammonia or nitrites. It means his water is dirty. The partial water change will help. If there is any leftover food or obvious waste on the bottom, siphon that out too. Gravel vacuuming is a good thing to do weekly with the water change. There can be leftover food or waste down there you can't see.

If you have just done a water change and this all started happening after that, the water temperature may have been different and shocked him, or maybe you didn't use a water conditioner with the new water? Chlorine, chloramine and other tap water chemicals can really hurt your fish. A good water conditioner can instantly resolve that issue. If it has been a long time and you finally cleaned the tank, the difference in water chemistry with the new water could have the same effect. Weekly changes keep it more consistent.

His physical problem could be a constipation issue that has led to a swim bladder failure. Here is more info about that and how to treat it;

http://www.petfish.net/articles/Bettas/swimbladder_betta.php

I hope he feels better soon...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins