# Twitching/Jittery Betta



## TheAlex19

My girlfriend and I got a male from Petsmart a few weeks ago.
Along with the fish, we purchased a 2-3 gallon tank, which came with pebbles, a fake plant, and NutraFin tap water conditioner for Bettas.

This last weekend, I was gone for awhile and didn't have a chance to clean my Betta's tank. When I got home on Sunday, his tank had white cloudy stuff at the bottom. Because it was late, I planned to clean the tank on Monday.
Monday morning, before cleaning his tank, my Betta was behaving very abnormally. His entire body was jerking around the tank, seemingly out of his control. I was very concerned with this behavior, so I recorded a video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwrvXcfTQlA&feature=channel_video_title

I cleaned the tank and he continued to have these odd jerking motions throughout the day.
It is now Wednesday, and his body is no longer jerking. I have noticed his head twitching a bit, followed by his body twitching. He has also been darting around the rank very quickly. About 3 times today, I heard a splash come from the tank, and when I looked at him, it looks as if he jumped out of the water and landed back in it.

I'm not able to check the pH of my water for awhile, but I use the tap water conditioner that came with the tank whenever I make a water change.

I keep checking him, and he doesn't seem to have white spots indicating ich or velvet symptoms.

Does anyone have any idea what's going on? Any opinions would be great.


-Alex


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## Pataflafla

Does his poop look white or stringy, and does he poop regularly? Shine a flashlight over him in the dark as well to see if you can see any velvet (Should look like a fine gold dust).

What's the water change schedule for his tank? Like how much is replaced and how often.


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## Pitluvs

The only time I have seen something like this in my home is when I took two boys home from the pet store. Sheldon looked like this, his cup had 8ppm reading in Ammonia. Sadly, Sheldon did not make it. 
The other was Twitch (hence the name) and he had Ammonia poisoning from his small tank at the pet store. Could this be a symptom of ammonia poisoning? I know you said it was a while since you change his tank. Something as small as that should be changed (personally) 3 times a week. The ammonia could have done this to him. I am sure someone with more expertise will come along and help you out.

Could you fill this out?? Oh! And welcome to the forum! Your boy is beautiful!

Housing 
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?


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## Pataflafla

You could try 100% daily changes to see if that helps improve his condition just to be on the safe side as well. A week, or even just a few days, of this might be immensely beneficial to him even if he doesn't have any ammonia or parasitic issues if you recent;y purchased him from a pet store.


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## Pitluvs

Would 100% daily be safe or stressful? OFL said every two days would be better to limit stress when Sheldon was sick. 

I did 80% daily with Twitch, I took the water out with a small airline hose and put it back in the same way so I wouldn't have to remove him or upset him. Bare bottom on the tank so poop was easy to clean


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## Pataflafla

For sick fish I usually do 100% daily. I just switch it from all at once to maybe a 70% and a 30% later in the day. All at once can be stressful, so every other day could be beneficial as well. 

I know for my drama queen Ratchet, I do 4 50% changes weekly (He bites his tail with anything more or less and when he's removed unfortunately), but he's in a live planted 2.5 gallon.


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## Betta Slave

Possible gill parasites, I'd say- sounds like it to me, at least. Have had to treat this so many times... treatment is lengthy but easy.

What I'd recommend is daily 100% water changes- make sure his tank temp is about 75 (preferably around 78-80), with one tsp of aquarium salt per gallon for ten days (so once this ten days is over, continue with water changes but don't continue with the aquarium salt). 

To further prevent the parasites if there are any, crush up some garlic, put his pellets in them (assuming you feed pellets- if you don't, buy some ) and put the mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds. This helps the pellets absorb the garlic juice. Then, as you usually would, feed these to him. He may not like them at first, but he'll eat them when he gets hungry enough. Even if there aren't parasites, the garlic will be good for him.


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## Myates

Poor guy.. 

I've never seen that  But if Betta Slave had a fish that did similar actions and it was gill parasites.. I'd go with what he is saying.

He seems to have a large grey patch on top of his body- is he losing color? Is his gills moving rapidly? Are there any differences in his looks, outside his behavior?

That tank is about a gallon.. I have tanks that are 1.75g and they are much bigger and roomier then that one. I would lower the substrate to give him a little more room.. 1 50% and 1 100% water change is needed for that size.
That peace sign.. it looks to be made of metal or aluminum of some sorts.. if it's not ceramic or plastic, it should be removed as it could be poisoning him.


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## Pitluvs

Myates said:


> Poor guy..
> 
> I've never seen that  But if Betta Slave had a fish that did similar actions and it was gill parasites.. I'd go with what he is saying.
> 
> He seems to have a large grey patch on top of his body- is he losing color? Is his gills moving rapidly? Are there any differences in his looks, outside his behavior?
> 
> That tank is about a gallon.. I have tanks that are 1.75g and they are much bigger and roomier then that one. I would lower the substrate to give him a little more room.. 1 50% and 1 100% water change is needed for that size.
> That peace sign.. it looks to be made of metal or aluminum of some sorts.. if it's not ceramic or plastic, it should be removed as it could be poisoning him.


Just to say, I've had two that did this as well 

I have to second the peace sign, I would remove it, personally. There may be leaching going on that's poisoning him causing nervous system issues.


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