I think our beta is sick

Question
Hello Karen, Our beta is a happy vibrant fish, however in the last few weeks we have seen a cloudy film cover the bottom of his tank. we cleaned out the tank a few days ago but it seems to be returning and in more spots. He still eats, like a piggy, when we feed him. That also worried me a bit. He almost jumps out of the water to get to his food that we put in...Is that normal or part of the cloudy stuff affecting him??? Also at the same time we noticed the cloudy puff forming we noticed white bubbles collecting at the top of the water. The tank we have him in is about 5 gallons I believe.Can you please help?? We love and don't want to lose our Herbert!!! Thank you so much in advance for you help!
Kelly & Cope

Answer
Hi Kelly,
Sounds like a common type of fungus that develops in aquariums when excess biomatter (such as built-up debris deep in the gravel, leftover food, plant debris) encourages it to grow. Once it takes a hold, it needs some persistence to get rid of it. And the best way is to keep doing water changes (thorough gravel vacuuming) daily on the tank until it clears. Always make sure replacement water is treated with a water conditioner and the temp is equal to or just a bit warmer than your tank. The bubbles collected at the surface are also a sign that there is excess dissolved pollutants in the tank, it will coat the bubbles and make them less fragile to popping. *Unless of course your betta has been contributing to some of the bubbles with his bubblenest making habits typical of most all male bettas. :-)

It is indeed a good sign that he is so willing to eat. Bettas can be tough little fish, but definitely try doing at least 50% water changes to get rid of the white film.

I do hope this helps!
Karen~