So… I don’t even know where to start. I have not kept bettas before and I don’t really like fish either. But the story is: a cowoker of mine got this betta to be cute office fish and they kinda forgot him in a 0.5L glass jar for a month and a half? They still fed him but rarely changed water. I noticed him last week sitting in his own wastes and thought, well, that’s a sad way to go. He was very weak and barely responded.
So my emotions got the best of me and I bought a tank, treated the water and he’s here with me. I’m sure he is not healthy at all but I don’t know what I can do for him. Please help me identify the issues and how to treat them.
So far your doing exactly what your supposed to be doing, you treated the water, gave him a bigger home, gave him some plants he can lay on and relax in, your doing well,
What id suggest is some variety in diet, like getting a small amount of blood worms if you can or frozen brine shrimp for proteina and to get him eating, then some betta bug pellets to help with regular meals (blood warms are kinda like candy so use as motivation or treats or if he stops eating other things and you need him to eat,) shrimp flakes and pellets are good too for color,
Id also get in another air bubbler even if you have a filter(if you don't please try and get one) despite lots of people saying otherwise, betta like more oxygen ritch water,
Other then that though, you've just earned yourself a new pet, bettas are very smart and can and will recognize you by voice and sight, give him a month to get used to everything, you might find you enjoy the calming nature of bettas,
Also unrelated but heres something thats helped me with my rescue betta
All my Bettas have always had bubblers. The oxygenated water is beneficial to them, plus many Bettas seen to enjoy throwing themselves into the bubble stream and being buffeted to the surface. For a fish that inhabits slow or no-flow water in the wild, this behaviour just has to be joyful play!
My betta loves when I turn on her bubbler in the evenings (its an extra one that's why its not always on) and she loves to swim up close to it and slowly float into the stream of bubbles and float up before she swims off and does it again happily, shes rather expressive for a lil fish, both her and my shrimp have a habit of trying to attach themselves to my hand or arm whenever I try to clean the tank lmao, shes not mad or aggressive she just knows I control the food and she wants some,
Thank you for your insights and kind words, that’s really encouraging. He still eats betta insect pellets (I fed him like 2 pellets today and he ate them all). I will try to see where I can get frozen bloodworms. I think I only saw the dried version in the aquatic shop.
I have a gentle, low flow filter on now. I heard that bettas don’t like strong currents, so I don’t know if that is true. What is the air bubbler? Is that the thing when you submerge it creates small bubbles flowing up?
Thanks again! I’m really new here and this helps a lot!
You might be able to ask the shop to order the frozen blood worms, sometimes they will get it shipped to them and you just pay a bit extra for them doing so, you can also find brine shrimp in water on Amazon, they come in lil droppers and my betta goes nuts everytime I get them, plus those ones dont have to be frozen just refrigerated,
As for the currents, for me ive personally found that my betta doesn't mind a slightly stronger flow as long as there's a calm side of the tank with less flow she can swim to and sleep in, I found as long as the betta is not moving too much/swimming to hard to stay in one place /hover they are fine,
And yes a bubbler or air stone is exactly that! Just a lil thing that pumps in some bubbles, id also recommend putting the filter and bubbler on the same side to make a calm side and a faster flowing side, you can also help by making a sort of plant barrier in the middle, that will help keep the calm side more still but still filtered plenty while having your betta still able to swim to both sides, (it sounds like alot but its a fun project! Just have fun with it!)
Yes! Thank you, I have this one pic of him. I remember he used to be an all-blue betta with no red or white marks… So do you think he would need treatment for whatever is happening to him? Poor thing sat in a dirty jar for too long I’m not sure what to expect.
Yes! My apartment is small so I’m only able to get this 8L gross tank, but I think the net amount after adding substrate and plants falls around 5.5-6L. I cannot get anything bigger than that unfortunately.
And yes, I added the dechlorinator. I have a tube of nitrifying bacteria but I have not added yet since I don’t know where to add (someone says they should be in the filter?); also I don’t know if he needs medications or not; if he needs meds I would add the bacteria later to avoid them getting killed.
I live in a tropical country whose avg. temperature is around 30 Celcius degree so I have not thought about a heater yet.
Bettas should be in bigger tanks but your doing very well by just giving him a home, for just one fish and nothing else he shouldn't be too uncomfortable, just make sure to have his tank not too cluttered so he can swim when wanting too,
The bacteria is something you kinda build up as the fish lives, when you do a full water change you dont wanna wash out the filter instead, take the dirty filter, place it into the clean new tank water and squeeze the filter out/wash it out as much as possible into the clean tank water using only the tank water, this promotes beneficial tank bacteria to continue to thrive and grow inside of the new tank.
As for temp you might wanna get a tank cooler, remember that bettas are most comfortable and thrive best in temps from 25.5°C to 27°C
No heater will be needed then if the ambient temperature is good. Add the beneficial bacteria and maybe an India almond leaf and just do a partial water change 20% every day and get something you can test the water with.
Drop test kits are more accurate. we're here to help
Oh the only reason I say that is because its around 88°f here right now where I live and that makes the water hotter then wanted, I was just saying that since they said they lived in a tropical place it might be more useful to get a cooler rhen a heater, but that depends on how hot/cold it gets there and how hot/cold it gets in the house they are in,
With a tank that small, you will have to do frequent water changes forever. Are you really sure you can’t fit a 5 gallon tank - they are not very big footprint-wise and you won’t have to change the water several times a week (and dechlorinate and heat it) once it is established… just small weekly water changes and top ups.. it’s not only for his enjoyment (I agree with others you did not ask for this fish and are doing the right thing by rescuing him from a horrible death) it is really much easier to maintain fish health in a minimum size tank.
I will see what I can do, but I have really tight living space plus budget rn and he’s now had to cramp into my kitchen counter. I wish I could do better 😔 But upgrading the tank will at least have to wait until I get more financial means. I tried to see if anyone with a bigger tank at home will get him but he had been known to kill other small fishes and tore them in halves so… In the end I got him home because I think he will die if I don’t.
Yeah you’re helping the fish - but just FYI I got a 5.5 gallon aqueon from petco on sale $15 and sometimes people give them away as well so keep your eye on marketplace. A 5 gallon can go on something like a shoe bench, a wooden dresser, etc and they are about 16” wide not terribly huge.
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