# Rescued Two Sad Petsmart Bettas - Help!



## Alchaeon (May 26, 2011)

I'm new here, but I'm glad I found this site!

I'm the sort of person who has to look at everything when we go shopping, so we spent about an hour longer than necessary at Petsmart. On our way out, I stopped at the Betta shelf to take a look. A poor little female was just floating there. She looked pathetic, and she was so small. I felt horrible for her, so I bought her and an equally pathetic-looking male the next day.

Frog, the female, looks horrible. Something's wrong with her jaw (or whatever you call it in fish). She can't open it all the way, so I've been crushing her food to make sure she gets enough to eat. Her fins are torn and ratty and she's extremely thin. She's a pale white with black spots, but now that she's settled a bit she's starting to show some really pretty green and blue as well. I hope that, if she makes it, she'll be a fancy little girl.

Toad's my boy. I've never seen a fish so thin. He's got a voracious appetite and I'm scared I'll overfeed him. He gets two pellets three times a day and he absolutely wolfs them down. He's mostly white, but he's got some dull red covering parts of his body. It looks more like blood under his scales, but I can't be sure. Overall he's more active and in better health than Frog, but I'm worried about them. 

I've got them in a divided ten gallon tank right now, with a filter and heater as well as several plants. Toad is doing well and adjusted really easily, but I'm worried for Frog. She is very weak and has some difficulty swimming, so I put her on the calmer side of the tank so she didn't have to swim very hard. 

Neither have pooped yet despite eating, so I'm not sure if something's wrong. What can I do to help them? They're so sad looking, and I really don't want to lose them.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

oohhhh, that first baby! <3 so tiny, and sad-looking!

if you're worried about them not pooing, fast them for a few days. it should help out alot. i, personally, would take out the gravel, until you're sure they're doing good. but, that's just me.


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## carzz (Mar 8, 2011)

I would feed them a pea.


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## Alchaeon (May 26, 2011)

Luimeril - They're so thin, though. Would it hurt them not to eat for a couple of days? I need to get a top-view of them; they look like twigs. I've only had them for two days now and I'm pretty sure no one fed them while they were at the store. 

Carzz - Would a pea help?


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Do Not use the pea method. It is dangerous.
If they aren't bloated, then give only one pellet a day for a bit or fast for two days.


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## Burd (Apr 10, 2011)

Your boy especially doesn't look thin. He definitely has a healthy little belly on him that shows you've fed him. 

And are you -sure- they haven't pooped? Surely you can't watch them all the time and betta poops can be hard to find, especially in naturally colored gravel. I hardly see any in my girl's tank and I've got 5 of them in there. I've never caught my males popping a squat.

As for the pea method, I'm going to err on the side of caution with PewPewPew. However, it's suggested a LOT on yahoo answers as a method for unblocking blocked up fishies. I don't think you've got that problem. Your boy looks like he'll be fine and hopefully your girl just needs some TLC.

I wish you luck with both of them!


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## newarkhiphop (Apr 22, 2011)

does the tank have a heater? very important


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## Tisia (Mar 15, 2011)

frozen daphnia is supposed to be a good laxative. not all stores seem to have it though, so may be a bit difficult to find. frozen and live foods in general would definitely be good for plumping them up


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## Ethan (Dec 3, 2010)

Tisia said:


> frozen daphnia is supposed to be a good laxative. not all stores seem to have it though, so may be a bit difficult to find. frozen and live foods in general would definitely be good for plumping them up


+1

Live daphia will help out a lot if it's availible to you!


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## Echo (May 18, 2011)

ohhh your petsmart is my petco.. simply a pathetic business. the last time i was in petco (they are the only place that sells the heaters i prefer), i saw that out of the 20 or so bettas 5 were floating in brown water. dead. they have the worst record of dead loss in their fish habitats that i have ever seen, and it makes me cringe just to drive by the place. the manager at my petsmart can usually be found smashing the invasive snails in their tanks or cleaning out the gravel himself (super helpful guy). he helped me bring King Louie (my first betta) back from ammonia poisoning after i rescued him from the bilge-water of a tank he was living in.
it seems to depend on the color of pellets you feed your fins, but the poo sometimes resembles a small curly-q in the gravel. mine poo a reddish brown from the mix of frozen bloodworm treat and pellet (1 pellet twice a day and 1 bloodworm once a day). i used to over-indulge because they're such monsterous beggars, until i saw Louie with a *ahem* dingleberry and Elvis with a growing gut. now i ignore their antics and stick to a strict feeding plan.. for the most part.. ;-)


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## metalbetta (May 17, 2010)

Oh, that poor girl looks absolutely emaciated! Good for you for picking them up. 
I wouldn't worry too much about the red on your male, it just looks like color.

As far as advice goes, I don't know too much about feeding malnourished fish, but I know you should do your best not to overfeed until they're back and pooping. Once they do, pay attention to the color.. as much fun as that is... lol... The only warning colors I can think of are white, clear, and yellow. They can be signs of parasites or disease.
A heater will definitely help to speed recovery too! The topfin ones you can find at petsmart work really well. I think they run about $24. I can't tell whether or not if that's a heater in the back of that tank...? lol

Well anyway, welcome to the forums! and best of luck with your new fishies!


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## Alchaeon (May 26, 2011)

Hey everyone,

I _do_ have a heater and it's regulating the tank to about 81*F. I made sure to buy it along with everything else when I set up the tank. They've improved so much over night; Frog's swimming like crazy and exploring everything in her tank while Toad is more interested in flaring at her through the divide. They both pooped (I found some floating on Frog's side and Toad was...working on it), so I'm not so worried about that.

I've got some new pictures that show how thin they are. At least, I still think Toad's thin. He gets bloated after he eats, but if you look at him from the top he's tiny. I've been feeding Toad two pellets morning and night, but Frog is still having issues opening her mouth. She's doing better and ate a whole crushed one this morning. 

I've checked around here for signs of a parasite load or infection. So far it seems like their only issue is not being fed. And I only wonder about Toad's color because of a goldfish I once had. She turned red like that and eventually most of her scales fell off, though I was able to nurse her back to health.  I'm not sure if our Petsmart actually feeds them; every time I go all the other fish look fine but the bettas are always awful. There's a little red there right now that I might go and snatch. Poor little guy.


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## Echo (May 18, 2011)

bettas can change color when they get good food in them.. my Elvis went from white with blue trim to an explosion of color, while Louie went from blue with red tips to blue/red with a metallic minty-green highlight to his scales and fins. Roxie was a gunmetal grey with silvery blue fins when i picked her up a few days ago, and already she's showing some red in her fins.
as for your boy, he's looking fine. i'd worry if he were drifting along the bottom with the current and showing absolutely no interest in eating whatsoever. you could probably try some (thawed and cut up) frozen bloodworm with your girl, or even soaking some crushed pellet in the liquid that the bloodworms come frozen in (taste temptation). don't feed too much at once, though.. just like a starving human, only small portions at first.


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## Alchaeon (May 26, 2011)

I'm feeding them Top Fin Color Enhancing Betta Bits. They were on the shelf underneath when I bought them so I'm not sure if they're horrible or not. She wasn't interested in food for the last couple of days, though today she went crazy for them. I'm about to head out and and buy a package to see if it helps her.


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## metalbetta (May 17, 2010)

I've never tried the topfin brand, but I've never heard anything bad about it. I use New Life Spectrum especially for my smaller ones. Your girl might have an easier time eating those pellets, since they're so tiny.
Great to hear they're doing better! 
And hm... Poor goldie! I've never heard of anything like that!!


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## demilly (May 6, 2011)

That was super good of you to take Toad and Frog in!! Somebody put kitty litter in my guys cup, so I snatched him up to take him home. I've had him for a while, and he is getting over his second case of fin rot...what causes that? I just put him in his new home, a five gallon, with two cory cats. He is swimming all over and seems to be very happy! He was in a one gallon, and I did some rehoming, so now he is in the 5 gallon.


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## Alchaeon (May 26, 2011)

Didn't manage to make it out to the store unfortunately. 

Frog and Toad are still doing great, but I've noticed they're both spending a lot of time at the surface. They each have a cave set up and plenty of plants (both live and fake). Is this normal?


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## BettaGirl290 (Jul 29, 2010)

Echo said:


> ohhh your petsmart is my petco.. simply a pathetic business. the last time i was in petco (they are the only place that sells the heaters i prefer), i saw that out of the 20 or so bettas 5 were floating in brown water. dead. they have the worst record of dead loss in their fish habitats that i have ever seen, and it makes me cringe just to drive by the place. the manager at my petsmart can usually be found smashing the invasive snails in their tanks or cleaning out the gravel himself (super helpful guy). he helped me bring King Louie (my first betta) back from ammonia poisoning after i rescued him from the bilge-water of a tank he was living in.
> it seems to depend on the color of pellets you feed your fins, but the poo sometimes resembles a small curly-q in the gravel. mine poo a reddish brown from the mix of frozen bloodworm treat and pellet (1 pellet twice a day and 1 bloodworm once a day). i used to over-indulge because they're such monsterous beggars, until i saw Louie with a *ahem* dingleberry and Elvis with a growing gut. now i ignore their antics and stick to a strict feeding plan.. for the most part.. ;-)


about the petco, i once went there and saw at least 6 out of 15 dead!:evil:


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## BettaGirl290 (Jul 29, 2010)

Alchaeon said:


> Didn't manage to make it out to the store unfortunately.
> 
> Frog and Toad are still doing great, but I've noticed they're both spending a lot of time at the surface. They each have a cave set up and plenty of plants (both live and fake). Is this normal?


sometimes it is and sometimes its not, are they gasping for breath? can you show us a pic?


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## BettaGirl290 (Jul 29, 2010)

i once rescued a red guy from a Wal-Mart, saved him from a spoiled 6 year old, who didn't know the slightest thing about bettas, had him for a long time, till he died.... :,(


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## LeroyTheBetta (Dec 18, 2010)

I think your male looks fine, as you said you thought he still was a bit thin. You have to remember all of their internal organs are just sort of behind their gills. So, the back half of their body is basically just muscle. That's why there's such a difference in size at the point where all the guts sort of end. He might look quite thin in the back part if he is malnourished, because the muscle part will atrophy and the body will sort feed on itself and use its own muscle's protein. I imagine your female is a bit malnourished from the photos, but the male looks filled out and plump.

I think to give your female several SMALL meals a day is more beneficial than a couple slightly larger meals. When you feed them, they'll take what they need from the food and excrete the rest. So, the more you feed, the more they'll poop because their bodies can't use that much so quickly. She'll get more out of her food with many LITTLE meals.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

the best food for bettas is live or frozen, I know small meals of that fed through out the day can be a good way to "plump" up a betta safely.
The girl looks really really small, I'm so happy you've saved them.


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

Congrats on your new babies - they are LOVELY!! 

Plenty of warm, clean water (you should probably do two 50% tank cleanings a week - at least for a while) & high quality food will go a LONG way in getting them in shape. 

New Life Spectrum Growth Formula has 50% protein and the pellets are TINY so your girl may have an easier time eating those. That is what I feed my guys & they all love it!

Platinum Red is the what the color of your boy is called, I believe. 

One more thing - WELCOME to the forum!!!


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## Alchaeon (May 26, 2011)

Thanks everyone!

They're not gasping or doing anything, really, just sitting. I don't know if they're asleep, but they get really excited when I come around. I think I'm used to goldfish; are bettas more calm? 

The water is still sitting at around 81*F. I got up every couple of hours last night to make sure it didn't drop, so the heater is working really well. I don't want to mess with them too much, so I think I'll do a 50% on Saturday. I know I'm asking a TON of questions, but is there any way to do these without stressing them too much? And how often should a 10 gallon be changed? 

I'll switch feeding morning and night to three or four times a day, and I'll definitely give the New Life Spectrum Growth Formula a try.  I'm hoping her mouth heals and doesn't bother her too much.


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

Do you have a gravel vac? They make things SO much easier!!! 

OK - leave the fish in & siphon the water out with the gravel vac cleaning the gravel at the same time. I use a 5 gal. "fish only" bucket for that. Add your fresh water at a like temp to the tank to avoid shocking them & don't forget the water conditoner.  I, and others, like Prime - it is an EXCELLENT product & economical using only 2 drops per gal. 

For the new water I use 1 - 2 gal. "fish only" buckets I got at my local bakery. 

I only feed once a day so I can't really comment on your 3 - 4 feedings a day idea, but maybe somebody else can that has had experience with bettas like yours. That seems like to much to me, but what do I know? LOL!!


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## Tisia (Mar 15, 2011)

they're pretty active little fish usually, they'll probably get a lot more active once they're healthier


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## LeroyTheBetta (Dec 18, 2010)

Alchaeon said:


> I'll switch feeding morning and night to three or four times a day, and I'll definitely give the New Life Spectrum Growth Formula a try.


Especially for your little girlie betta, 3 to 4 times per day will be good! I feed the NLS as well and I have read nothing but great things about this food.... it's a very good quality. The grow formula was mentioned, and this is a good one because it is a very high % of protein, which is important for bettas, and it's also a nice small size.


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## Alchaeon (May 26, 2011)

Frog's not doing so well. I left for a couple of hours and now she's listing to one side at the top of her tank. It looks like a swim bladder issue; she struggles to go under her floating lillypads. Any way to help her without stressing her too much?


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## Arashi Takamine (Mar 3, 2011)

Either AQ salt or Epsom salt...


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

That's so sad, why does stuff like this happen. Your female looks especially pathetic 

Earlier this week I bought a very skinny young half moon who needed to be in 2 inches of water because he was too weak to reach the surface(at first he was just laying on his side), now he's better though, but still skinny. If your female is having trouble I would move her into a the a decent sized container and float it on her side of the aquarium (I used a large shallow opaque Tupperware to try and make my fish feel more secure), this way you can lower the water for her without taking water from the male. You'll have to do 100% water changes everyday.

I've been feeding him pellets(2 or 3 at a time) several times throughout the day, as well as a few thawed frozen shrimp. (I was about to get blood worms, but they have a bad reputation for parasites and bloating) and always made sure to check his stomach in case I saw any sign of bloating.

I also floated him in a large shallow Tupperware container in my warmest aquarium to hopefully raise his immune system, and added aquarium salt and a little black water extract (people also recommended using Methylene Blue, which I am definitely going to buy the next time I see it)


Here's my skinny Astaldo today, the first day out of the floating container and into the 2.5 gallon (I divided it though because I'm worried about him being sucked to the filter... I might take it down tomorrow)


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## Alchaeon (May 26, 2011)

Just a quick update before I head out to work-

I'm glad you snagged him, Copper. He's really pretty and I'm sure he's going to do fine now that he's out of those tiny little cups.  Are his fins going to stay short like that?

Frog's doing much better now. I think I overfed her yesterday (sister fed her while I was out and I didn't know, so I came home and fed again). Both are darting around the tank like crazy. Toad's getting some color on his fins and has discovered that the tank has plants in it. He likes to go down to one of the plastic ones and lounge on it. It scared me the first time because I thought he was stuck, but he's fine.

I went out to the store today to check about getting them some of that other food. I checked the protein content on each and what I have now seems to be the best in our area. Still having to crush a pellet for the female; hoping it heals up at some point.


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Alchaeon said:


> Just a quick update before I head out to work-
> 
> I'm glad you snagged him, Copper. He's really pretty and I'm sure he's going to do fine now that he's out of those tiny little cups.  Are his fins going to stay short like that?
> 
> ...



His fins will grow out, he's actually a halfmoon. My Petco tends to get younger halfmoons for some reason.


That's great your fish are doing better, I was really worried when I saw that female looking so sad. Frozen food might work better for her injured mouth since it is softer then pellets.


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## PhoenixRising (Jun 4, 2011)

I was in a pet store at my local mall and met this male Betta who just spoke to me... He is very active, I clean his water every other day (with water that gets left out overnight so its room temperature) and feed him a few flakes of food every day as well... while I can tell he's increased a little bit in size I worry that his torn fins will never grow back... is that the case? I'm happy to love him as is, it's just a concern...


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

PhoenixRising said:


> I was in a pet store at my local mall and met this male Betta who just spoke to me... He is very active, I clean his water every other day (with water that gets left out overnight so its room temperature) and feed him a few flakes of food every day as well... while I can tell he's increased a little bit in size I worry that his torn fins will never grow back... is that the case? I'm happy to love him as is, it's just a concern...


Hello and welcome to the forum. Yes, his fins should grow back as long as the water is kept clean. Do you put dechlorinator in the water? Also, you might try switching to pellets instead of flakes. They're not as messy. Some good brands are New Life Spectrum betta formula, OmegaOne betta buffet pellets and Atison's betta pro.


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

dramaqueen said:


> Hello and welcome to the forum. Yes, his fins should grow back as long as the water is kept clean. Do you put dechlorinator in the water? Also, you might try switching to pellets instead of flakes. They're not as messy. Some good brands are New Life Spectrum betta formula, OmegaOne betta buffet pellets and Atison's betta pro.


imo i find pellets a bit messier than flakes. the soaked pellets break apart relatively easy. flakes are cleaner with mine as long as i break them up into small peices.


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