# Betta Checkup!



## AmazingBettas (Feb 28, 2017)

So you know how whenever your dog or cat or bunny (etc...) is sick, you take it to the vet? Well I was thinking, you can't exactly take betta's to the vet...
Now I know about a lot of betta illnesses, but I'm not exactly very good with identifying them/curing them if possible
Anyways, my point is, I'm going to post recent pictures of my betta and I want two things from you guys;
1. Does my betta look healthy? (I'll also be filing out the form just incase anyone needs it since this is a checkup )
2. Could anyone list any betta illnesses, if they're common or not, what causes them, how to cure them, and possibly include pics so I can know how to identify it?
Thanks! Just trying to keep my lovely little princess as happy and healthy as possible! Plus, I'd like to have her for many years, if I can 

(One picture of her tank is also included) (And my computer was being a bit glitchy so I may have put in multiple of the same pic on accident)

Housing:
How many gallons is your tank?
2.5 Gallons 
Does it have a filter?
Yes
Does it have a heater?
Yes
What temperature is your tank?
I keep it around 78ºF-80ºF
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?
None 

Food:
What food brand do you use?
Omega One and TopFin
Do you feed flakes or pellets?
Pellets and bloodworms (Omega one pellets, TopFin bloodworms as a once a day treat in the afternoon)
Freeze-dried?
The pellets are not. The bloodworms are.
How often do you feed your Betta? How much?
Three times a day. Morning, 3-4 pellets, afternoon, one bloodworm, night, 3-4 pellets

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? 
(obviously me betta isn't exactly ill but I perform water changes every other day)
What percentage of water did you change?
I don't know what percentage exactly. I change half a gallon every other day and it's a 2.5 gallon tank
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
Dip out. I have no vacuum.
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner?
I use Aqueon betta conditioner and TopFin bacteria supplement

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water *before* the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia: I don't have a water test kit and it's ben a couple weeks since I went to PetSmart to get it tested. I'm going to buy a test kit soon.
Nitrite: 
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness (GH):
Alkalinity (KH):

Symptoms and Treatment:
(I deleted some of the questions since, again, my betta isn't exactly ill...)
Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
Sort of, yes. She's had SBD, weird kinda fuzzy white spots on her that lost their fuzz but haven't 100% gone away (been like that for weeks) and I've noticed she also has kinda like a little dent on her one side... You can see it very clearly in one of the pictures.)
How long have you owned your Betta? Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?
I got her September 24th, 2016 as a baby and no, she was fine.


----------



## AmazingBettas (Feb 28, 2017)

It didn't include all my pics... Here's the rest of them. (The first one you can see the patches of gray where she's missing her blue scales)


----------



## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

http://www.bettafish.com/99-betta-fish-diseases-emergencies/73332-betta-fish-disease-treatment.html

She looks to almost have a bent spine, but it's not sever and can't be cured so I wouldn't worry about it. Do you soak the bloodworms in tank water before feeding?

A few tips, if so....

1. Get a vac. It will help 100% and make *your* life easier. Also, invest in a turkey baster for the days that you don't do water changes.

2. With a filter, you don't need to be doing a water change every other day when you get the test kit. If you can, get the liquid ammonia and the test strips for everything else.

3. I know you got better pellets (yay!) but freeze-dried isn't the best for Bettas (especially ones with a history of SBD). I would personally either cut out on the bloodworms or get some frozen food. My fish love it, and as soon as I run out of pellets I'm going 100% frozen. I might even start some live cultures like BBS or blackworms for my fish.

4. The Aqueon water conditioner is okay, but most members here recommend Seachem Prime. It is slightly more costly, but it is, in the long run, much more cost conservative at only 2 drops per gallon. Is there a reason you use the bacteria supplement? How long have you been using it? We can't tell if you have a cycle going without a test kit, but I personally think it better to simply do a water change more frequently. I haven't heard of stuff like that working.

Other than that, she looks good! I'm still not sure what the dots are.

3.


----------



## AmazingBettas (Feb 28, 2017)

You know, I was wondering about her spine! Personally I love it and it makes me happy and feel like I have a little friend that's like me because I was born with pretty bad back problems and have had a bent spine my whole life. 

Ok I was thinking of getting a vacuum but I have an under gravel heater and also I don't want to harm my live plants :/ Like I said, I'm still pretty new to this and I've only had live plants in there for two days so... If I'm worrying too much or being paranoid, tell me hahaha

No I don't soak the bloodworms first. Didn't even know I should have been :O Ok, I'll see about getting her some frozen food. Thanks!

Liquid ammonia? What's that? Lol.

I use the bacteria supplement because several of the employees in the PetSmart fish section recommended it when her ammonia was a little high and it has seemed to help a lot.

Yeah, I have no clue what's with the blue scales missing or the dots but she isn't rubbing against anything or acting any different so I'm just rolling with it, hahaha


----------



## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

I'd skip the gravel vac and just use an old airline hose as a vac. There's two reasons for that, one is your live planks, they won't appreciate having their root system constantly messed with. Two, is that a gravel vac will empty your tank of water extremely fast. I got the smallest one that I could find and it empty's half the water in my 5 gal tank if around 2 minutes. One word of caution, if you do get one, take your girl out the tank when you using the gravel vac, or be extremely careful using the vac. Betta's have been known to get too close and get vacuumed up. I only used mine when I was doing a major, deep, cleaning, because it empties the water so fast, I normally just use the airline hose which does a decent job.

Your girl is very pretty! Are you sure that he's missing scales and it's not just her color pattern?


----------



## Fishingforcats (Mar 1, 2017)

Is there anything abrasive in your girls tank? Maybe a picture of the tanks its self would help. It does appear to me that she is missing scales but I don't see any signs of infection (maybe due to the pwc schedule).


----------



## AmazingBettas (Feb 28, 2017)

OK I'll see about getting an airline hose 

Thanks! I find her quite pretty, myself  Yeah it really looks like she's missing scales because some old pictures I have of her didn't look like she was missing scales there. Here's a picture of her tank and a picture from a month or so ago (sorry I know the picture isn't that great but I didn't have a very good camera until recently...)
(also here's a pic of her as a baby because she was just so tiny and cute XD


----------



## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Is that a plastic Easter egg? :0

(not that it's bad, but I'd be careful.... Cute idea!)


----------



## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Moving to Chat since this isn't about a sick Betta.


----------



## Fishingforcats (Mar 1, 2017)

AmazingBettas said:


> OK I'll see about getting an airline hose
> 
> Thanks! I find her quite pretty, myself  Yeah it really looks like she's missing scales because some old pictures I have of her didn't look like she was missing scales there. Here's a picture of her tank and a picture from a month or so ago (sorry I know the picture isn't that great but I didn't have a very good camera until recently...)
> (also here's a pic of her as a baby because she was just so tiny and cute XD


Oh ok, that makes more sense. ^^ I can't think other things besides what the others have said. She looks very healthy.


----------



## AmazingBettas (Feb 28, 2017)

Yeah, oh well, she isn't rubbing against anything or acts like she's in pain so I guess she's alright


----------



## AmazingBettas (Feb 28, 2017)

So, um, exactly what is liquid ammonia? And is bacteria supplement bad or something? :/


----------



## Fishingforcats (Mar 1, 2017)

Liquid ammonia is just ammonia. Some fishkeepers (such as myself) have used it for fishless cycling. If you happen to go this route then you'd have to make sure that its pure ammonia with no additives. A popular source is Ace (I forgot the exact name though). Bacteria supplements help jump start your aquarium cycle or add bacteria when you do a large water change (so you don't crash your cycle). Supplements include Tetra Safe Start, Marineland Total Care, Dr. Tims One & Only, and more. There is debate in the fish hobby on whether these work or not. What I can say is that some people seem have have more luck on certain ones.


----------



## AmazingBettas (Feb 28, 2017)

Ok so I don't need to buy liquid ammonia then cuz it'd like kill my fish or something? XD
Ok, I'll just keep using it then since it seems to work


----------



## Fishingforcats (Mar 1, 2017)

Yea don't put the ammonia in when you have any fish in.


----------



## cakes488 (Dec 2, 2015)

AmazingBettas said:


> So you know how whenever your dog or cat or bunny (etc...) is sick, you take it to the vet? Well I was thinking, you can't exactly take betta's to the vet...
> Now I know about a lot of betta illnesses, but I'm not exactly very good with identifying them/curing them if possible
> Anyways, my point is, I'm going to post recent pictures of my betta and I want two things from you guys;
> 1. Does my betta look healthy? (I'll also be filing out the form just incase anyone needs it since this is a checkup )
> ...


These missing scales are you sure it's not a color change. The missing scale area looks just like the coloring on her head.


----------



## AmazingBettas (Feb 28, 2017)

cakes488 said:


> These missing scales are you sure it's not a color change. The missing scale area looks just like the coloring on her head.


I don't know, I've never seen a betta color change and I'm still pretty knew to bettas so... *shrug* Lol


----------



## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

I meant the liquid ammonia test LOL sorry for the confusion.


----------



## Fishingforcats (Mar 1, 2017)

Oh that makes more sense. Sorry about that. ^^ API makes probably the most recommended liquid test kit in the fish keeping hobby: Freshwater Master Test Kit. It'll test pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. They can be expensive in store but Amazon has them for around $20. Its actually cheaper in the long run going this route. You can perform a lot more tests with the API test kit (so it'll last longer) and it's more accurate than test strips.


----------



## Redberry22 (Jul 27, 2018)

*My beta fish questions*

My beta fish has some different coloured spots on her head. And 1 little spot on her tail like a lighter version of her colour. Though she is very playful and always follows my finger. I feed her 3 blood worms or pellets everyday is it enough? We clean her tank every month fully. And every 2 weeks 1 quarter of her tank. Her tank has live plants, hideouts, lots of decorations of all different colours. We have conditioner we put in her tank but no heater or filter. We keep water to room temperature. What do you think about our male beta fish?


----------

