# Strange white thing on my fish



## amacarm44 (May 24, 2011)

Housing 
What size is your tank? maybe 8 ozs
What temperature is your tank? not sure
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?no
Is your tank heated? no
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish?1-2 times a day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change?weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 75%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?none - i only set tap water out for 24 hrs before changing

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?no

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?color is great - a dark red. but she has a white something hanging from underneath
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?she hasn't eaten in a week. she may try one then spit it out
When did you start noticing the symptoms?the eating a wwk ago. the white stuff, today.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?no
Does your fish have any history of being ill?no
How old is your fish (approximately)?don't know


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## SillyCone (May 7, 2011)

You mean like your tank is 0.2 L?

That's way too small, you should try to buy a at least 1G tank for him, they are quite cheap and can give the life of your betta way better.

The normal condition is 2.5G for a betta to live happy, but 1G might be a good start.

And since you don't have a thermometer I suggest you buying one as well, they are also quite cheap, try the floating ones, the sticker ones aren't as precise as you would want.

Also, the ammonia level might be way too high on your fish, a good way is to do daily 100% water change for now, since the aquarium is waaaay too small.

Your fish might be suffering some diseases you don't even know, *please try to get a photo for us* ASAP.

Pellets are fine, but if it isn't eating try buying something to perk it up on proteins, like bloodworms.

Also buy Epsom Salt in the pharmacy just in case we might need. But get us the picture please.


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## Punki (Apr 30, 2011)

Sounds like a fungus, and 8 oz is way too small, one water change a day with tap water thats been treated is really below minimum for that. Fungus is from poor water conditions. Really anything larger then what its in now is good, As sillycone said 1 gallon+ is good but it will still need water changes everyday or at least every other day. Fungus can spread really fast, my first betta showed it and died overnight but i had no experience with bettas at the time, hopefully yours can pull through. If you have access to some aquarium salt put one teaspoon in a gallon jug of treated water, let it dissolve and slowely add the new water into his old water so he doesnt get shocked. If you have a tupperware bowl or a small cookie jar or even the cup it came in try to slowely transfer the fish to that container in the salted water, change it everyday for around 8-10 days with fresh treated aquarium salted water and hopefully the aquarium salt will kill the fungus before it takes over. 
Once you get the fungus under control run up to the store and buy him a bigger tank if you can, a kritter keeper is pretty cheap or better yet a clear showoff sterilite bin can hold 3 gallons and its only 5 dollars, and buy some water treatment for your tap water so its safe for your fish. Good luck


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## DarkMoon17 (Apr 16, 2011)

Can you get us a picture? 

That tank is miserably small. Get a glass vase or something that is bigger and put her in that. Even a large plastic tupperware is better. In anything less than 1.5 gallons you should be performing daily 100% water changes. She is probably not eating because of poor water conditions. Try offering her frozen blood worms (Petsmart/Petco sells them). 

Bettas are also tropical fish and require a temperature over 75*F so you should get her a heater if possible. 

You will most likely need to treat her with Aquarium Salt 1tsp/gal with 100% daily water changes. You should consider buying some sort of dechlorinator to make water changes easier (so you don't have to leave water out over night).


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## Twilight Storm (Apr 14, 2011)

If you have a female Betta she will have an egg tube which is white and sticks down in front of her anal fin a mm or so. That is normal.

I agree you should get her into a larger container, a gallon is fine, especially if you are treating her for anything. Even a half gallon glass bowl of some sort would work for now. Like they said it will take a bit longer for the fish to make the water quality dangerous to herself if she is in a bigger container.

I would get a bottle of dechlorinator. They are only a couple dollars and if you find one that uses a small amount like the Top Fin dechlorinator it uses two drops per gallon, and gets rid of chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals. 2 fl. oz. treats 600 gallons and costs around 2 bucks making your fish water safe in minutes. (Any of them would work though, some call for a lot of drops per gallon though which make them more expensive overall.) 

I am not an expert in fish disease. Maybe ask OldFishLady? (or others, not knocking any of you knowledgeable people out there OFL just saved a family members Betta with her advise when the odds were stacked against him for me personally) 

The clean dechlorinated water should help some until you can get a definite answer on why she isn't eating. 

Try to get the water temp at least with maybe even a digital meat thermometer or something if you have one? (I don't know if they go low enough though.) 

Best wishes, and I hope your little girl feels better soon (sorry if I repeted myself, and others, in my post. I agree with the info and I post REALLY slow.)


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## amacarm44 (May 24, 2011)

*Is she laying eggs?*

I think my fish may be laying eggs. There are lots of something that looks like bubbles at the top of the tank. My fish will go up to the bubbles, put some in her mouth, then spit out white bits that stick together.

If this is what I think it is, how often do female betas do this? And what, if anything, should I do?

Thanks!!


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## amacarm44 (May 24, 2011)

*Tank size*

Sorry - the tank is not 8 OZS....rather i measure it with cups - i meant 8 cups!!


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

Your tank is roughly half a gallon. She probably made a bubble nest. II really would recommend getting a tank a little bigger..1/2 gallon tanks can be difficult to heat and it will require 100% water changes daily...You will also need to use a water conditioner..Leaving water sit out for 24 hours isn't enough to remove all the bad stuff .


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## DarkMoon17 (Apr 16, 2011)

Don't worry, it is normal for female bettas to lay eggs. Some will lay them and others will just reabsorb them. How often they do it depends on the betta. 

You should still consider getting her in a larger heated aquarium. The belief about bettas being cold water puddle living fish is a myth... They come from a very hot country where the water is over 78* pretty much year round and they live in shallow bodies of water that can stretch for several square miles. Not exactly a puddle.


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## amacarm44 (May 24, 2011)

*i'm a beginner! help *

Thanks to everyone for your help! This is my first beta so I have a lot of questions.

Can two females live together? How about a male and female?
And can any other fish/animals be in the same tank?


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

Could we have some pics of your betta? 

How did you determine her gender? was it on the bowl you bought her in? Sometimes females are actually males called plakats...just thought maybe it'd be a good idea to have a good clear pic, so we can assure you she is indeed female.

As far as tankmates, many of the experienced betta owners on here have betta "sororities", which is a school of female bettas...usually 6 or more...and they need at least 10 gallons. I think most people here would recommend continuing to learn about your first girl before attempting a sorority, as they can be stressful and difficult to handle =)

As far as a male and a female together, thats a HUGE nono...bettas are solitary creatures, and males are SUPER aggressive and will attack any other bettas. 

As far as other tankmates, plenty of people have different kinds of shrimp and snails, and there are some other species of fish that are okay with bettas, however the tank should be much larger if you wish to house other species and again, many here would suggest you learn as much as possible about and get used to your original betta first. You might find that you enjoy having the one! Bettas are absolutely packed with personality, and you can have quite a relationship with them. They're also very smart and will greet you, get excited when they see they're about to be fed, and some seem to try and make you feel better when you're down! I have a friend (who isnt on here) who's betta will wake her up if he gets hungry when she's sleeping by ramming into his tank side hard enough to make a light clicking noise haha

I personally wish to see pics! we love to show off our babies here and see those other people own!


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## orphansparrow (Apr 30, 2011)

amacarm - it's great that you came onto this forum! it is full of many knowledgeable and friendly people.


these are the things i believe you should do ASAP.

go to a petstore, or walmart..walmart is cheaper usually.



buy these things (these are the must-have basics):

* a 2 gallon tank or bowl 

* a heater that is 10-25 watts, or a heater that is recommended for use on 2 gallons and up 

* a thermometer 

* aquarium salt 

* water conditioner - (very important!) 

* separate 1 gallon container (like a pitcher, water jug, etc.)



then go home, and:

* rinse out your new tank with hot tap water, wipe dry with clean rag (this is just to remove anything that might be on your new tank)

* fill up your 1 gallon container with water, add the water conditioner (see directions on bottle for how much to add)

* let the container filled with water sit for an hour or so to get to apx. room temperature

* pour the treated water into your new tank

* put the thermometer on or in your tank

* put heater inside tank. do not plug it in for apx. 20 minutes. (it needs that time to aclimate to the water temp.)

* plug in heater.

* add your fish to it's new tank!



the water will be cleaner, warmer, and the fish will have more room to swim around.

if you feel that there is something wrong with your fish, follow all the above instructions, but ALSO add 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt to the water in the container. let the salt dissolve (apx. 15 minutes or so), then add this water to the new tank.

good luck!


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## DarkMoon17 (Apr 16, 2011)

It should be noted that you should not use Aquarium Salt long term, it should only be used when your fish is sick. Overuse of Aquarium Salt is detrimental to the fish and also allows the betta (and disease causing bugs) to build up a resistance to its effects so it won't work when you need it too


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