# Please help my betta is very sick he sits on the bottom!!!



## zizzof16 (Apr 24, 2009)

he mosly sits on the bottom of the tank all day. he will eat 1-2 pellets of food a day and his fins look like the are yellow( he is blue) and they seem to be getting smaller (like they are deteriorating). the only fins that he uses most of the time are the two front ones. we tried using the drops for the water called beta fix but it doesnt seem to be helping.


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## TianTian (Apr 14, 2009)

How warm is the water? How big is the tank? 

75-82 degrees F. is IDEAL for Bettas to do well. Any lower and they'll be lethargic. 
It also depends on how much space there is for him to swim in.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

If the fins are deteriorating, it may be finrot.


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## Chicklet (Feb 9, 2009)

I have one betta male here I bought several months back.
He came with problems and is now blind in one eye because of it,
He also had a bad case of fin rot, 

Fins curled up, long finage got metallic balls looked like bubbles attached and looked awful,
I tried several medications on him, He'd get better, then relaps, kept doing that, back and forth we went, 
would look great for a few days then back it came. 
Nothing I used seemed to fully fix him up.
I got pissed off and ended up dropping all medications, NO MORE!
Put him in a 3 gallon tank, and did a 90% water change every day, without fail. in about three days he was looking the best he had in ages, In a week he was as good as new, 
He now gets a 50% water change every other day, sometimes more

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I also add AQUARIUM SALT to all my tanks!


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## LaniBaby (Apr 14, 2009)

i also had a fish with constant fin rot. I'd have some good results with jungle fungus eliminator, but as soon as i took him off it, the fin rot would come back. it was persistent for the duration of his life. I also noticed that the best treatment was no medication and very clean water. betafix doesn't do a whole lot from what i've heard. it's pretty weak. 

you could try the jungle fungus elimintor, then switch him to super clean water. don't forget the stress coat and the aquarium salt! i think the salt makes a big difference.


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## Campbell (Apr 12, 2009)

I would clean most of his water once a day, leaving him in the tank during the change. Aquarium salt might also help. Some just seem to be more prone to fin rot. Hope he gets well soon!


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## zizzof16 (Apr 24, 2009)

thank you for your suggestions . i have him in about a 1 pint jar right now because he has trouble getting to the top of the one liter vase i have for him . oh and where might i getjungle fungus eliminator?


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## zizzof16 (Apr 24, 2009)

and is fin rot curable............. and also how do i get lik super clean water i mean i can nececarely afford much at all. are you talking about getting a filter?


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## Chicklet (Feb 9, 2009)

No a filter isn't gonna do much good for such a small tank, except take away much needed room.
Clean , Means clean fresh water, The best medicine you can give a betta/fish


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I currently have my male Betta in a 1 gallon vace with a plact growing to provide more oxygen. 
Is this a healthy enviroment for him?


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## trotfox5 (Apr 26, 2009)

The plant's good and the 1 gallon is okay. He won't be super happy but he'll be comfortable and fairly happy. This is nearly my exact setup that i've had for sometime now!


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## Campbell (Apr 12, 2009)

crowntail lover said:


> I currently have my male Betta in a 1 gallon vace with a plact growing to provide more oxygen.
> Is this a healthy enviroment for him?


It isn't the ideal conditions, but it will do. So long as you do frequent water changes and proper temperature is maintained. The plant wont do anything for his oxygen intake because bettas breath with a special organ (I forget the name, but it starts with an L) and they get all their oxygen from the surface. The plant is still a good idea though because they like hiding spots, unless the plant is really large because that would limit his space in an already small space.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Labrinth.


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## Campbell (Apr 12, 2009)

dramaqueen said:


> Labrinth.


Yes, thank you!


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

zizzof16 said:


> he mosly sits on the bottom of the tank all day. he will eat 1-2 pellets of food a day and his fins look like the are yellow( he is blue) and they seem to be getting smaller (like they are deteriorating). the only fins that he uses most of the time are the two front ones. we tried using the drops for the water called beta fix but it doesnt seem to be helping.


Bettafix= crummy med that doesn't work and can actually damage the labrynth organ

1 pint is pretty small. I'd try to upgrade his container to 2.5 gallons and try treating his finrot with 100% changes every few days. If he can't swim to the top, you can always lower the water level and fill it up more as he gets better. If he is still getting worse despite the clean water then I would try using Fungus Clear which I have had great luck with.

The only other thing is the temperature. Bettas need a constant temperature of 78-82 F which is optimal. I keep mine at 80. If your house stays any lower than 76 F you will need a heater for the tank. The 25 watt visi-therm stealth heaters are accurate and can be used on small aquariums. They are well worth the investment ;-).

I hope this helps.


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## zizzof16 (Apr 24, 2009)

For the year that i have had him i have used straight bottled spring water with nothing added. Is that wrong? What do you use and do you test your water and add drops?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Is spring water dechlorinated?


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## Nataku (Feb 22, 2009)

*mutter grumble asdfjshfd_springwater_saljsdja_liesssssss_*

Okay, guys, please get this through your heads : Spring water is an advertising gimmick. Water that comes out of springs is not "Omg crystal clean and safe!" No.
No no no. 
Spring water is generally extremely high in TDS (total dissolved solids aka dirt and minerals) and has lots and lots of things living in it. If they took it straight out of a spring, stuck it in a bottle and you drank it you'd have dissentary quicker than I could find a stick to shake at you. And there's a bo staff sitting behind me I could shake at you. 
"Spring water" is chemically treated just like the water you get out of your tap. In fact, in my case, it IS the water I get out of my tap, because I live in Florida, and that "spring water" comes from Florida aquafirs, which is also where the wells that we get our local tap water draw from. Many of those bottled water companies bottle the water locally. It isn't from a spring guys, not directly. It's from a tap. That tap? It has local city or county water in it. It's been run through a plant, it's been filtered, it's been treated with chlorine (or chloramine). 

The one saving grace that hasn't killed more people's fish using bottled 'spring water' for their fish tanks is the fact that chlorine evaporates. Yeah, that's right, water will dechlorinate itself if you leave it to sit exposed to the air. Bottled 'spring water' is normally left to sit long enough in a bottle on a shelf that the chlorine in it breaks down and dissapates. But guess what? You could get some water out of your tap, leave it to sit for a day in a bucket, and it would do exactly the same thing. Shocking, I know. Also, bear in mind that that chlorine was acting to makes sure things that got in that water died. No more chlorine = no more anti-bacterial agent = some funky stuff growing in your water.

You are far, far better off just using the water straight out of your tap and using that money you saved from buying bottled water to get a good dechlorinator.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I didn't think it was dechlorinated. But I asked to be sure.


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

For that reason I would get some dechlorinator (I use the API stuff, but others really like Prime and Amquel as well). You just don't want to leave anything to chance, and if you just use your tap water you'll save money with the bottled stuff.

As far as testing the water goes, for an uncycled tank all you really need is a pH and ammonia liquid test kit (far more accurate than strips). You can test the pH of your tap water just to make sure it is within the safe range, and use the ammonia test right before a water change to make sure that your current schedule is adequate.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I agree about not leaving anything to chance. I never really thought about getting an ammonia test kit. That's probably a good idea, Kim.


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