# something possibly wrong with my bettas gill membrane



## TheParasiticBandaid (Oct 18, 2011)

i joined this forum to get your opinions because i have searched the internet over for the answer to this and can not find it! ive always kept bettas, they rarely get sick on me so im a bit stumped. i spend a lot of time watching my fish too so i was surprised when this suddenly started up.

my fish is living in a two gallon bowl, recently upgraded from a one gallon. thats when the problem started. bowl has a heater and the temp is usually 74 or 75F i cleaned the old bowl once a week and he has only been in the new bowl about three days. recently bought a bowl filter with low current that i will be adding soon too.

his gill membrane is flaring unevenly, but i read some fish can have deformed membranes and its possibly normal. i have had this fish for about 1 to 2 years and have never seen him flare until now, even with a mirror he only ever flared his fins. one side flares out bigger than the other, and there is what looks like a hole in the gill cover. im noticing a small amount of red, possibly his gills, but theres not really any swelling. he is his usual self. active and happy, eats like a pig and is costantly playing in his plants. i notice no unusual behavior at all. he isnt rubbing his head against the plants or wall or anything indicative of a parasite :/

when he flares its not because of a mirror, his gill membrane will just pop out at random times for a few minutes at a time while hes hanging out watching me. he is able to retract it back to normal and can go for a long time before i notice it happen again. he is a relatively small crowntail from petco, perfectly healthy when i bought him, and is around 2 or 3 years old. thats including the possible year that he spent at the pet store. no cloudy eyes or swollen eyes or clamped fins or anything. no fin rot or ich either.

is this possibly just a deformity? he seems healthy and has had no behavioral changes or anything. but i want to make sure. ill go buy him antibiotics if i have to. he is an amazing little fish with a ton of personality! dances for breakfast and dinner as usual 

so what do you guys think? any ideas?


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## GreenTea (Jan 31, 2011)

Hi and welcome to the forum. If he doesn't act ill, he probably isnt! It probably is just a unique feature of your betta. If he has trouble breathing or starts acting ill I would be concerned. Also in a 1 or 2 gallon bowl without a heater you'll want to be doing two water changes a week - one 50% and one 100%.


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## TheParasiticBandaid (Oct 18, 2011)

heehee thank you! im glad to be on 

ah ok just thought id double check . he has holes in the gill cover and gill so i wasnt sure. Ill keep a close eye on him for a while and see if it gets worse 

i have him in a two gallon bowl and he has a heater and will soon have a filter once it arrives in the mail :3. its a small little filter and im excited to try it out


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