# New betta owner with a sick betta...



## oldmcdonald (Jan 2, 2010)

Hello, we bought my son a new aquarium for Christmas and my son wanted a betta. We set up the 14 gal. aquarium 3.5 days before purchasing the fish. We also put "seasoned" gravel mixed with the new gravel when the aquarium was set up. It has a filter and a heater, which we keep between 76-78 degrees F. The male betta was purchased from PetCo 3 days ago and was acting normally until this afternoon. I thought I saw him doing the "scratch" on a few artificial plants, and now he is floating sideways near the surface. He hides under an ornamental palm tree which keeps him from floating to the surface, which I thought was clever on his part. Is there any hope for him? He shares his tank with 3 red fin tetras, an underwater frog, and a snake-like bottom feeder which hides in the gravel never to be seen. We were also given newborn Mollies, which have become prey to the betta and tetras. I'm not sure if they've eaten any. The other fish appear to be fine, but one of the tetras might be having a similar symptoms. It seems like he's struggling to remain mid-tank. I


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## BettaxFishxCrazy (Sep 5, 2009)

Do you see any white things on him? They'll scratch up against things if they have parasites on them. Could you take a picture of him?


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

What are your water stats? I am heard that skin irritation from bad water conditions will get a fish scratching as well... is it possible that the gravel did not adequately seed the tank?

Personally I would put everyone on a course of coppersafe. You might have to remove the frog though.


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## oldmcdonald (Jan 2, 2010)

I haven't seen any signs of white spots on any of the fish. I might do some water sampling to check the ph level. Our water comes from a well, so there could be some impurities. The pH level should be balanced, because we have an acid filter on our water intake into our home. I'm wondering if it could be bloat. My husband thought he looked bloated, and there are no longer any baby mollies in the tank... I'll see if I can get a decent picture, but he really doesn't like to come out from under his hiding place, except to surface for air.


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## BettaxFishxCrazy (Sep 5, 2009)

If he's bloated it'll look like he's swallowed a small ball and his stomach will look distended. This is what it looks like: http://jjbettas.com/betta.jpg


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## thegameksk (Oct 27, 2009)

I would do a full water change and vac the the gravel. My betta was doing the same thing. I had to do a full change plus wash the gravel by hand because my stupid vac wasnt working. I put him back in the tank along with pimafix and melafix and hes doing fine now.


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