# help please! Betta floating on top of tank



## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

I purchased him from Petco Thursday (3/6). He was happy, swimming about, eating, showing nice color. This morning, he looks sick--loss of color, lethargic, laying on bottom. Now has floated to top. I've done a 50% water change, added about 1Tbl of aquarium salt. I gave him extra food on Friday before I left. Could this be the issue?


Housing 
What size is your tank? 5 gal
What temperature is your tank? 78
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? some live plants

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1x daily

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? 1x per week (but haven't had him a week yet)
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Seachem prime

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

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 40 (when I came in this a.m.) 20 since water change
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? color is pale
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? lethargic, intermittent heavy breathing, fins aren't clamped, floating on top of tank
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 3/10 at 9am
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? 50% water change. Added some salt (~1 tbl)
Does your fish have any history of being ill? unknown
How old is your fish (approximately)? unknown


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

*More details---any help is appreciated*

31 views, and no help? Maybe I need to give more detail.

He is laying on his side, in his floating plants. He seems to breathing rapidly, but he's breathing. If I nudge him, he will swim around for a few seconds, but he returns to the top. 

I've spent half of my day reading the internet to try to find some help there, but I haven't found anyone with quite the same problem. Most people either haven't bothered to cycle, or check their water, so high ammonia or nitrites might be to blame. My water checks out pretty much perfect. I don't think the nitrates could have done this in 3 days. Especially since he used to live in a tiny dirty plastic cup.

I feel really awful--I spent a good 6 weeks cycling the tank to get it right and he was happy and healthy for 2 days. What could I have done wrong?​


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## Bailmint (Jun 15, 2013)

Is he swimming on his side?


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

Yes. Although he has kind of stopped swimming at all for the most part. When he perks up, he does go upright for a moment, but he lists sideways very quickly.


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## Bailmint (Jun 15, 2013)

Well, I'm unsure because I'm not the best at diagnosing, but I'm going to take a wild guess on swim bladder. The swim bladder on the betta is there to keep the betta upright. Floating to the top, swimming on side, and tipping over are symptoms of SBD. I'm not sure how to cure it, but I did find this on yahoo answers, if it helps any c:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110522201529AAyDBhY


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

Thank you---I suspected that, and I wonder if he overate on Friday since I left him with extra food.

I've taken a picture of him to post, but it's taking forever to send from my phone to my email. I don't know if it will help. I just pray he's alive in the morning and the salt I added does him some good. I hate to think he's suffering at my hands.


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## Bailmint (Jun 15, 2013)

I wish you the luck c: If a new fish over eats it's probably not a good thing xD. I know the feeling, my betta Igneel II had parasites and was a fin nipper and I hated that he had any sort of pain. I hope your boy gets better <3


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

At the moment I would be more concerned about the breathing, is he still breathing gasping for air, and is it constant? I am thinking could have parasites in his gills. What test kit/type are you using?


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

beautiful Betta said:


> At the moment I would be more concerned about the breathing, is he still breathing gasping for air, and is it constant? I am thinking could have parasites in his gills. What test kit/type are you using?


I'm using APT ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Just tested---0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20 nitrate.

He doesn't seem to be gasping, but his breathing is steady and I think more rapid than normal. 

Here are some pictures. The first 2 are from Thursday. The 3rd is from last night. He's floating on the top of the tank. I'm going to go do another water change.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

looking at that and possible elevated breathing I would use a multi cure ASAP. I would recommend ones which contain Malachite Green and Methylene Blue. This will treat most fungus issues plus any parasites. 

The test kit you have if it is strips they are likely giving inaccurate readings and I would try and get liquid ones to check water conditions are not contributing to his condition.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

beautiful Betta said:


> looking at that and possible elevated breathing I would use a multi cure ASAP. I would recommend ones which contain Malachite Green and Methylene Blue. This will treat most fungus issues plus any parasites.
> 
> The test kit you have if it is strips they are likely giving inaccurate readings and I would try and get liquid ones to check water conditions are not contributing to his condition.


My test kits are all liquid, so that's good.

I've got something here called Jungle Lifeguard. It's got 1-chloro-2.2,5.5-tetramethyl-4-imidazolidonone. That's not even close, is it?


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

Bailmint said:


> I wish you the luck c: If a new fish over eats it's probably not a good thing xD. I know the feeling, my betta Igneel II had parasites and was a fin nipper and I hated that he had any sort of pain. I hope your boy gets better <3


Thanks--keep your fingers crossed. He's still with me, and your Igneel is too, so that's a good sign.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

I don't know about other contents, I only know what I would use and have used successfully to recommend. I don't know what jungle cure actually treats because I am in Australia and we don't actually get that here. Does it treat parasites (white spot, Ich) and fungus issues?


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

beautiful Betta said:


> I don't know about other contents, I only know what I would use and have used successfully to recommend. I don't know what jungle cure actually treats because I am in Australia and we don't actually get that here. Does it treat parasites (white spot, Ich) and fungus issues?


 
Sorry about that---didn't notice where you were located. It says it's "extremely effective against ick and fungus"


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

It should be ok then sorry I get confused with the US terms as well, we call ick, white spot. And if that is what you have at hand at the moment I would use it.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

beautiful Betta said:


> It should be ok then sorry I get confused with the US terms as well, we call ick, white spot. And if that is what you have at hand at the moment I would use it.


I ran out and got some stuff with victoria green, which I understand from some quick googling in the store, is the same as malachite green. It's in now, I changed his water to hopefully get the nitrates down in case he's overly sensitive. He's going back in the tank in a few. Fingers tightly crossed. He's a fighter, to hang on this long, so I hope he makes it. My colleagues here at work think I'm mad. Why would I try so hard? It's only a fish? :evil:


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

No you are not mad, we spend a lot of time appreciating their beauty and unique personality's and when they are sick we hate to see them that way. People who have never owned a betta or cared for it properly would never know that.

Hopefully that treatment will help. Keep us posted on how he goes, I will keep my fingers crossed for him too.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

beautiful Betta said:


> No you are not mad, we spend a lot of time appreciating their beauty and unique personality's and when they are sick we hate to see them that way. People who have never owned a betta or cared for it properly would never know that.
> 
> Hopefully that treatment will help. Keep us posted on how he goes, I will keep my fingers crossed for him too.


Thanks---one more quick question---if there's a swim bladder issue, will this help at all? Should I add aquarium salt as well?

It's nice to talk to people who understand. They claim to be "animal people" here, but the things they say! Our office manager was talking about the betta she got for her 3 year old--she flings it in a bowl and rarely changes the water. She said "I don't care if he's happy!" and laughed. :roll: I hate to be dramatic, but it's a living creature. At the very least, what does that attitude teach her kid?


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

Pictures from a few minutes ago. There's something black dragging from his anal or pelvic fins--can't tell if he's pooped or it's some kind of rot. I don't know if you can tell from these what it is.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

To be honest I am not convinced he has a serious SBD his tummy isn't particularly big, and just might be his illness affecting his SB at the moment. I personally wouldn't use salt at the moment, but I am not a lover for using salt as a treatment in freshwater fish, although I do understand it can be used successfully for SBD. Its not ideal his floating but I wouldn't bombard him with too many things at once, and I am not sure if it is safe to use salt with this medication anyway, I know some can be mixed but I don't know that info.

As for dealing with the possible SBD, I would try to feed him frozen Daphnia, (not freeze dried) Daphnia actually acts as a laxative for betta's so if he is suffering from SBD due to being blocked up that should help open the flood gates and release any pressure on his SB, resulting in a functioning SB, lol.

I need to go to bed, its 1 a.m here, I will be pottering about for a few more minutes tending to other pets, and will quickly check back before logging off, so if you need anything else just ask. Otherwise I will check back in, in the morning.

good night.

Your manger is awful concerning her attitude to her kids fish, but I expect it is in his/her room in a tinny cube on a side table and something s/he can watch well s/he goes to sleep if it has a little light. So I doubt she even really thinks about it. Apart from when it dies and she will probably just tell her kid they don't live very long and just promise to buy another one.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

Thanks again. I'll just wait and see and I'll update you tomorrow. Your help has been great--I really appreciate it. I won't keep you up longer


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

Sorry cant see an awful lot from the pictures. He may well have pooped and if he has been blocked up it might look a bit strange.

See what he's like in a few hours, sometimes these treatments can work miracles, I had a betta, I had, had him for a few days fine and then he went down hill, he was laying on his side on the bottom of the tank and gasping for air, he didn't have any actual visual signs of parasites apart from the breathing, water was fine. I thought he will die if I do nothing so I dosed the tank up with a multi cure. And went to bed half expecting him to be gone by the morning. He was up swimming about and looking for food. So just goes to show how parasites can affect a fish, they must have been in his gills which was my suspicion before treatment.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

I can't see anything weird or stringy or fuzzy myself around his gills, but who knows. I guess if he has parasites, he came from Petco that way. I wanted to get one from a breeder since I suspect most bigbox pet store fish are sickly anyway, but there aren't any around here that I know of.

He's trying very hard now to swim and stand up straight. I'll try picking up some daphnia on the way home and see if he'll eat it tomorrow, and I'll just hope for a miracle.


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## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

I had kind of a similar situation where I got my desktop fish for work on a Monday and then literally came down with H1N1 flu on Tuesday. I was too sick to even think of leaving the house. I had a friend put a little food in for my Jetta, but I wasn't able to get into the office until Friday, and I had to drag myself in for that. He was looking kind of pale and lethargic, but I thought it would be worse to move him and try to bring him home. I did a 100% water change, and I left him for the weekend.

The next Monday I came in to a pale, patchy, sad, lethargic fish with slime all over him. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't swim, spent all day just darting up for air and then going back down to the bottom of the tank and laying there. Thanks to the advice from the good folks here, I turned his heater up to 84, ran out and got some rooibos tea for his tank, and of course did another 100% water change. By Wednesday of that week, his color was back, he was swimming around happily, and he was eating. I really didn't think he was going to make it, but he bounced back and is currently glass surfing like the OCD freak that he is (which reminds me to change around the decor with today's water change so he stops that). 

These fish are resilient and can bounce back literally overnight. I will keep my fingers crossed for you!


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

Thank you for that story. These are all giving me hope. I wish I had some rooibos tea, although maybe I shouldn't mix it with the other meds. Don't want to overwhelm him.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

Well, very sad news this morning. He lost his very courageous fight overnight. I feel like I failed him. 

So, to prevent this happening again--if I were to go back to the store for a replacement fish, what should I do first to insure that the next one doesn't fall victim to the same issues? The water quality itself has tested perfect for about a week and i don't necessarily want to go through the whole cycling process again if I can safely avoid it. Will any parasites still in the water have been killed by the malachite green? Or should I empty the tank and refill it with clean water? Would adding a rooibos tea bag be good when adding a new fish, to help with any stress?

A lot of questions, I know, but I don't want to kill another one. 

And thanks again for all the help--if he had any chance at all, I think your advice helped him fight for as long as he did.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

I am so sorry to hear that, I was really hoping he would pull through. Although we cant see what other issues may have caused his illness. To be honest the Malachite would have knocked back the beneficial bacteria anyway so cleaning the water out and decorations wont really affect anything, and I think it will be the safest way to proceed. And please don't blame yourself, you did your best for him.

Adding Rooibos tea bags will certainly not harm a new betta in any way, just make sure you buy the ones that are caffeine free and natural. Or you might even be able to pick up Indian Almond leafs at your pet store. 

When you buy a new fish avoid ones that look overly thin or bloated, and make sure they can swim easily not just constantly sitting on the bottom or floating at the top. You ideally want one that will look comfortable in the middle range of the water, and one that's breathing normally, clear eyes, and clean body and fins and try to pick one with perfect intact fins that don't look clamped. You want one that will respond to your nearness that they are alert enough to notice and want to interact somewhat. It doesn't have to go mad but just be aware and show signs of interest.

You probably know this but when you get him home, tip out some of the water in his cup into another container or down the sink, and then float the cup securely in your tank allowing the cup water to reach the same temperature as the water in your tank. It will probably take about 15 minutes but check by dipping your finger in the tank, then the cup. Once the tank and cup feel the same start adding some tank water into the cup and leave for 10 mins and repeat the process of waiting and adding water about another two times, after the last added water wait the 10 mins and then tip out as much water as you can in the cup into a different container but still allowing the fish to be comfortable in a small amount of water, and then return the cup to the tank and gently tip on its side allowing the tank water to gently fill into the cup, the new fish will likely be eager to swim out the cup and that's fine let him. He may well go a little pinky reddish on his fins with the upset of being moved to a new environment, he may want to rest for awhile and adapt a little more this will be perfectly normal. But he will likely be off exploring straight away.

Don't ever feed him freeze dried and always pre-soak your pellets and you should be fine.

And keep a close eye on the Ammonia, Nitrite levels. I would recommend checking for them twice a day, morning and evening that way they will not have a chance to peak to high.

I wish you all the best in getting a new boy and I hope you will post your pics.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

I will definitely post pictures. And thanks for the good advice.

Just one little (stupid?) question, because now I'm neutoric and want to make sure it's right. Are you saying I don't need to cycle again? Should I just change out the water and go ahead with a new fish? 

I assume because bettas can survive in uncycled bowls this would be the case, but I want to make sure I do it right.

EDIT: Just for my own edification, I just tested the water. Ammonia is 0, but it looks like Nitrites are at 1ppm and nitrates at 5ppm. Yesterday morning, it was 0,0, 20. Around noon, I added the malachite. So, why would nitrites spike? And why didn't the malachite kill all the bacteria?


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

People do tend to think malachite will always destroy all the bacteria. when I had community tanks it was very rare I needed to treat, but I didn't find we had any issues with ammonia after a treatment, I think once you have a established cycle it will knock it back, but not totally destroy it. Just curious the water normally goes emerald green so how can you accurately test the water, oh just thinking does your filter have carbon, that will remove the treatment from the water unless you remove the carbon from the filter. All medications normally say to remove any carbon in the filter. But your water should be still green, unless Victoria Green is different.

I just assumed you were planning on doing a fish in cycle after cleaning everything, which you can do but what with the beneficial bacteria being knocked back it will be like starting again although not everything will die so it is likely to establish itself quicker, I think. But you will need to check like I mentioned twice a day just to check the Ammonia, Nitrite levels are still ok.

Having a filter is the only real way to go in my opinion as you can never create a stable environment for fish in unfiltered water, you need to do constant water changes just to keep the water safe, and that is stressful to the fish. Once a tank is fully cycled you will then be able to settle into a routine of maintenance water changes.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

I turned off the filter after about 15 minutes---I belatedly realized I wasn't supposed to run it with the meds in there. The water did turn kind of a bluey-green, but today it's not really looking very green. The water in the tubes certainly didn't have a greenish cast. I got it in a pill form---the local store was out of the drops, which I would have prefered. Obviously waiting to order some would have taken too long. So I really hope that the meds were good. I'd hate to think I bought them and they did no good whatsoever. 

Okay, so my plan is to drain the tank, and start fresh. Fish in cycle. I'm strongly considering taking it home too--even if I'm gone all day at work, I'm home 7 days so there'll be no more of this weekend and holiday stuff. The cats will love me for it  Instant cat TV!


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

My cats were never that interested in my betta's, and when I would feed them one of my cats would always want to drink the water. Betta's being Betta's one swam up to investigate the cat, my cat got worried and backed off, lol, I think cats have a sense of what is off limit because it belongs to you. That's not to say they wouldn't have go for it when you weren't watching, but their smart enough not to do anything in front of you. lol


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

Oh yes, they generally save their naughty behavior for when our backs are turned .

I cleaned the tank out with salt, then bleach, then rubbing alcohol. Rinsed about 1000 times. Bought new gravel. Boiled the decorative rocks with salt. Rinsed all of that about 1000 times. So, I think it should be clean and sterilized 

Set up the tank in its new spot at home, and only 2 of the cats seems interested at all. Maybe once there's something in it besides gravel, but there's a lid on it, just in case they decide that it will be fun to stick paws in.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

Sounds like nothing would have survived the clean out. LOL I certainly would have cleaned down if I didn't know the reason for the death, and what with being so quick. And it is great your tank as a lid, that will keep the cats little paws out, and the betta in, lol.

When are you planning to introduce the new fish?


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

beautiful Betta said:


> Sounds like nothing would have survived the clean out. LOL I certainly would have cleaned down if I didn't know the reason for the death, and what with being so quick. And it is great your tank as a lid, that will keep the cats little paws out, and the betta in, lol.
> 
> When are you planning to introduce the new fish?


Hopefully by the weekend. My OH is away until Wednesday night, so when he gets back, we can go pick out a fish together. We're going to give a small local petshop a try. It can't go worse than at the big box store! And I really hope I nuked whatever was in the tank. I'm wondering if the live plants brought it in. The floating plants they sold me were actually kind of stinky. That can't be good. I rinsed them before adding them to the tank, but still. I'm wondering if silk plants would be better than live for that reason and it being a small tank. But I really like the idea of live plants.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

To be honest, I personally think live plants are more hassle than they are worth if you don't have the proper set up for them to thrive and stay alive, sure they look good when they first go in, but unless you have expensive co2 systems and the correct lighting the plants often die adding to ammonia and poor water condition. plus there is the potential to introduce parasites into the aquarium. Members here have had success with natural planted tanks which I did look into at one point but with worrying about buying the correct soil that wouldn't be dangerous to my fish I didn't bother in the end, there is athread for NPT tanks if you are interested. I did attempt to keep plants, and using plant food tabs in the substrate to feed plants. Most rotted away but my tank was already mature so my Beneficial bacteria was able to cope with it. And the plant everyone told me would die, did do well and took root. But then my filter pump broke and I had to do a make shift filter and couldn't close the lid and turn the light on, so it too died without the light. And because I was leaving the light on for quite awhile for the plants the light actually caused a bigger algae issue than the small algae issue I did have, and was why I got the plants in the first place, lol.

He is in a different tank now and I don't even have a light on it, and have gone back to his silk plants. Now that I don't even have a light on at all I don't have any issues now with algae. It was never really bad, but I like clean tanks with not a trace of Algae, lol.

I have attached a link to my Betta log and you can see my set up there if you like.
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=360625


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

That's interesting to know. I was just thinking it's difficult to find actual aquatic plants--I garden, but I must admit I don't know much about aquatic gardening, so I kind of trust the pet store to sell me something appropriate, which is a huge mistake. But I didn't even really think about all that goes into keeping them alive. I think I just assumed they get nourishment from stuff in the water and the beneficial bacteria or something. The guy at the pet store of course told me they'd just live in the sand and be fine. :roll:

So, based on what you've said, and recent bad experience, I think I'll just go with silk. I did read that thread on natural tanks and it would be awesome, but in the future with a much much bigger tank. For now, I'll keep it simple and just worry about keeping a fish alive. 

Your betta is gorgeous, by the way---his fins are stunning. I'm sure it was quite a jaw dropper when he ripped his tail off. He seems to enjoy his tank and he looks amazing.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

Yea, you really only want the hassle of plants if you have a large tank, I did when I had a 5 foot community tank, I had the co2 system on that tank and the plants thrived, had a lot of rare plants in there too, it did look good, but for single desk top Betta tank not worth the hassle as you can make it look pretty with silk plants and they say the fish don't really know the difference anyway, lol.

Thanks for the comment on my boy. It was shocking seeing his beautiful tail lying on the tank floor. My boy is a very laid back boy he never flares, he never has, he has just had his breakfast, was waiting in happy anticipation, it's a wonder no one as called a Betta Homer like the Simpsons character, they sure like there food like him, lol. Since his feeding has been upped he looks a bit fatter now, I took some pics yesterday I will have to upload them soon.

I am sure you will be fine when you get your new boy, you know so much more now.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

Hey if the fish won't know the difference, and my tank won't look cheesy, then silk it is! I was trying to make a little eco system but I guess that was silly, since the plants aren't doing anything except dying. 

Ha ha, Homer. I didn't realize Bettas were greedy fish. I thought I'd just had piggies in the past . I have corgis as well, and those dogs will eat until they pop if you let them. Even our very skinny boy (who was totally not food driven in his puppihood, when it would have been handy for early training!) is always on the lookout for scraps. Leave it to me to pick yet more constantly hungry pets.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

LOL, I have two dogs, Apricot toy poodle, so not the type of dog you ever imagine getting for yourself when your younger and think of little old ladies, lol, have a big dog (White German sheppard, sadly passed now) and suddenly the appeal of a dog that doesn't shed its hair looks a wonderful idea, lol. And my other dog is a black Pomeranian X Papillion affectionately known as rat bag, lol the poodle is a darling cuddly little boy, I often call him, my little man, lol and their personalities go well together and they get along great, even at meal times, I don't have to worry about all out fights like some people do.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

Toy poodles are adorable, and so smart! I've grown more fond of some smaller breeds, although there are still some I don't consider dogs lol.

Just to update you--Saturday we found a small locally owned pet store and got a lovely dark blue crown tail. We got him a little barrel to hide in and some silk plants. I should take some pictures. He seems very happy and knock on wood is doing well. Very lively, fins look nice, seems interested when we or the cats come up to the tank. The cats are interested, but just pat the glass at him. We don't have any mighty hunters, so I think he's safe.

Our only worry is that he doesn't seem to comprehend the little betta pellets, but I got him some frozen brine shrimp today, so we'll try that and see if he eats it. He might be eating when we aren't looking, but most times he just watches the pellets sink.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

Congratulations on your new boy. A lot of betta's don't take pellet's when you first get them, if he was a import the breeders, which even pet ones are still likely to be. They are fed live and frozen more. Don't even know what a pellet is. He will likely take the frozen fine. Mine didn't eat pellets either, what I did was trick him. I would drop a piece of frozen in he would eat it eagerly awaiting the next, then drop a pellet, he would go for it so fast before realizing what it was, once in his mouth he realized it was edible. He wasn't keen so I gave one or two every feed along with frozen. When he would eat the pellets without spitting any out, that's when I tried a full meal of them, he was fine then. Just need to condition him that they are ok to eat, lol.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

beautiful Betta said:


> Congratulations on your new boy. A lot of betta's don't take pellet's when you first get them, if he was a import the breeders, which even pet ones are still likely to be. They are fed live and frozen more. Don't even know what a pellet is. He will likely take the frozen fine. Mine didn't eat pellets either, what I did was trick him. I would drop a piece of frozen in he would eat it eagerly awaiting the next, then drop a pellet, he would go for it so fast before realizing what it was, once in his mouth he realized it was edible. He wasn't keen so I gave one or two every feed along with frozen. When he would eat the pellets without spitting any out, that's when I tried a full meal of them, he was fine then. Just need to condition him that they are ok to eat, lol.


We got him some brine shrimp, and some frozen food with daphnia in it, just in case, and that seems to have helped him. Now he gobbles pellets like a pro and comes to the front of the tank for us and the cats. I think he's mostly begging . I tried to get some decent pictures of him, but the cats keep getting in the way. They are fairly obsessed with him and it doesn't help that he goes right up to the top of the tank to see them. I have a lid on it--it's a Fluval Chi, though, so there's a space around the lid wide enough for a paw. I'm thinking I'll just attach some clear plastic mesh under the lid so he stlll gets air flow, but no little claws can get in. They don't mind water, the devils, and they actually seem to enjoy the little rock fountain on the top of the tank. 

Anyway, a quick question about my late betta. Judging from the pictures I posted at the beginning of the thread, is it possible he had a toxin in the water? I left him Friday and he was fine and his water was absolutely perfect in readings. But Monday he was pale and floating. The same thing had happened with my goldfish--they didn't even last a week, and I wondered how they could be that dirty to spike the ammonia levels so high as to not be able to recover. I also found a rainbow residue on the surface of the tank once. So, 4 fish all died suddenly. My water was always cloudy, even the next day after a substantial water change. But at home, the tank is sparkly clear and my fish is thriving. I'm suspecting a dangerous and toxic co-worker (the only one who ever inquires about the fish, too) was sabotaging me. I hate to sound paranoid, but other things have made me increasingly suspicious.


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## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

Does someone come and clean your desk in the evenings or on the weekend? Could they be spraying a dust cleaner or anything that could get into the tank?


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

givemethatfish said:


> Does someone come and clean your desk in the evenings or on the weekend? Could they be spraying a dust cleaner or anything that could get into the tank?


No, we're a really small office and they don't even vacuum for me, so nobody should be near my office. The bathroom is around a corner and probably 20 feet away and besides vacuuming, that's the only thing that gets cleaned. So, nothing could inadvertently get in the tank.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

That's a difficult one. I am not really an expert on those sorts of things but what does come to mind. Could someone else been feeding him without your knowledge in a new set up the extra waste left over feed could really bump up the ammonia's plus any uneaten food may have left a surface residue. 

The other thing if your work place is an old building perhaps they have metal pipes which can effect water. Or could they be on a different water supply to your home which has higher chloramine and such in the water. If you were using Prime water condition you could have double dosed that and that would have solved that one.

As for a despicable colleague, well any chemical could be used it would kill a fish for sure. Washing up liquid comes to mind when you talk of rainbow residue, but I think you would get or see traces of bubbles with that, unless they used a really small amount and added carefully. Maybe let a drop sit in a cup for a bit see if you get a rainbow residue on the surface after a while.

cloudy water doesn't necessarily mean anything sinister, some tanks the water will cloud during the cycle process.

I wouldn't take him into work again if I thought someone was deliberately harming him.

givemethatfish also had a good thought with the polish, a colleague close by wouldn't be giving their own desk a clean, just something else to consider.

Thought I would just mention, make sure your boy can always get surface air easily. Betta's can actually drown so actually need oxygen, unlike other fish who pull it from the water.

I am so glad your new boy is happy and well, and that you are enjoying keeping him.


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## dagny0823 (Mar 10, 2014)

I have my own separate office, so there's no chance of things floating around in the air unless someone came in here deliberately to spray something. And in 4 months, I haven't seen them clean anything except the bathroom. Nobody dusts and polishes their desks. Apparently they don't care to take messages for me, so I don't think anyone would have been feeding the fish for me, unless they wanted to overfeed and dirty the water. There are some tensions in the office at the moment and some people don't know how to act professionally, unfortunately. I'm the new person in the office and the franchise owner's wife seems to resent me. I really would not doubt that someone might have done something to my tank so that I would be spending time running back and forth to the store for meds and changing and testing the water, just to make me look like I come to work merely to care for my fish.

The building is from the 1980s, I think, so not terribly old. The pipes might be older--I think the shopping center was rebuilt in the 80s. 

So, I'm leaving my fish at home and keeping him happy there. If I bring any living thing besides a plant into the office, it will be a scorpion or tarantula :twisted:.

Oh, and I made an underlay for his tank of mesh--he's got lots of ventilation. it's actually no less than before, but the cats can't stick paws in. They do like to drink from the fountain on top--I hope that's not dangerous for him?


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