sumergold Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Started a 20gWalstad tank November 1, with a small aquaclear filter and a heater. Did a 50% water change in the middle of December, and a 20% in January. Placed a beta and 3 bronze cories mid January, added 4 neons end of January. Fish seemed happy, plants doing well. For the last couple of days, the beta's fins have been all kinda stuck together and he is hiding amongst the plants a lot. He is eating, but not like he used to. Also, his colour has faded, his beautiful blue finnage has become lighter and his body looks brown. Any suggestions as to what to do or why this would happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Started a 20gWalstad tank November 1, with a small aquaclear filter and a heater. Did a 50% water change in the middle of December, and a 20% in January. Placed a beta and 3 bronze cories mid January, added 4 neons end of January. Fish seemed happy, plants doing well. For the last couple of days, the beta's fins have been all kinda stuck together and he is hiding amongst the plants a lot. He is eating, but not like he used to. Also, his colour has faded, his beautiful blue finnage has become lighter and his body looks brown. Any suggestions as to what to do or why this would happen? Yes unfortunately your betta is not well, not sure exactly why or what... but the behaviour and color changes indicate he is ill... have you noticed anything like salt crystals on his body or fins, how are his fins, they damaged at all.. Check also for cotton like fungus on the fins, mouth or body... is he breathing rapidly... does he stay on the top of the water or is he on the bottom... or just hiding... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumergold Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Yes unfortunately your betta is not well, not sure exactly why or what... but the behaviour and color changes indicate he is ill... have you noticed anything like salt crystals on his body or fins, how are his fins, they damaged at all.. Check also for cotton like fungus on the fins, mouth or body... is he breathing rapidly... does he stay on the top of the water or is he on the bottom... or just hiding... His fins and tail look like they are stuck together, don't know how else to explain it. Other than that, I don't think they are damaged as in ripped or torn. I cannot see any drystals or cottony stuff on his body. Since I posted this, his body is less brown and more blue. He is moving around, midtank but still hiding behind plants, when not swimming around. He seems to be breathing normally, not rapidly. No bumps or lumps visible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 (edited) Well, it seems he is feeling a bit better... keep the water clean, make sure that you do not have a temp change if you have to change a betta's temp for any reason note up is better then down.. they don't like the shock of water temps dropping rapidly...even a 3 to 4 degree change can stress a betta out. IF you increase the water temp to 82 degrees and add a bit of epson salt or Aquarium Salt for a week this will help him as well... a teaspoon will do this won't hurt the betta.. or the other fish... NOTE: ONLY ONE TEASPOON FOR THE WEEK not a teaspoon daily for a week... It's a staple addition to my tanks.. :thumbs: Edited February 19, 2009 by BlackMumba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Just wondering did you add any salt??? before mumba suggested it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumergold Posted February 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 Just wondering did you add any salt??? before mumba suggested it? I did not add salt........is it ok to do that in a Walstad tank? I did do a 25% water change (with warmed water) and also put the temp up to 76 from 73. He seems to be moving around a bit more, but his finnage is still all stuck..........like the end of a long Western style moustache. I never had a beta before, rescued this one from Wal-Mart - found him on a shelf by the cat liter in a container with 1/2" (yes, one half inch) of water and decided I could do better than that. The same thing happened when I brought him home, but his fins all fanned out within a few days of being in a big tank. Someone told me that that can happen when a Beta goes from a salted tank to a non salt tank. Anyway, I'll see how he is tomorrow and if need be, will add salt, though not sure if that will effect the plants? Thanks for all the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 As long as you don't add too much salt it should be ok what kinds of plants do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumergold Posted February 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 As long as you don't add too much salt it should be ok what kinds of plants do you have? My plants include: Limnophila aquatica,Swords, Hygrophila, Crypts, Guppy grass, Rotala rotundifolia, ,Java fern, and a few more whose names I don't remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 You said he was starting to do better with a higher temp... leave him for a couple days if no improvement then up the temp to 82 degrees and add a teaspoon of salt... if your concerned about the plants, if there is a way you could put the betta in a compartment to float in the water.. so the aquarium water heats his water in the compartment.. with the salt water *make sure the salt is min adjust to size of the compartment... so not a full teaspoon by maybe less then 1/4 of a teaspoon*... this way you don't have to worry about your plants.. he still gets a nice warm temp for water.. and has a bit of a salt bath at the same time.. leave him in there for a day and then let him back into the tank.. the water temp in the compartment should be the same as your aquarium, just take him out and put him back in the tank.. remove compartment of salted water.. and dump.. .. he should be good as gold by then .. :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumergold Posted February 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 He seems to be moving about more in the tank today. His fins are still all clumped together but he is moving around and eating. His body has gone more blue in colour.........was kinda weird when it went all brown. I will put the temp up to 80, see how it goes, a little salt should not hurt the plants and will add that tomorrow when I see how he is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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