He Is Dying!

[Smilya9190]

I know nothing about bettas, and I didnt know bettas could be such hard work, until I got one. You seem like you know it all in the Betta World. So, could you please be nice and help me! That would mean the world to my betta. My problem is, is that my fish dose not seem so--- Happy. I have seen the pictures of the Beta Fish on the web site and their fins are spread out, like as if they are happy ,but his fins are not. Are betta fish active fish, becuase he barley even moves. I think he is sick. He is in a 1 gallon tank with no water filter, and no heater. The water temp is about the same temp as regular house hold air. I give him food about once or twice a day and feed him as many pebbles as he will eat. i clean out his bowl about once every week and a half to two weeks and a half (depending on how dirty). I take him out and toatly clean the whole thing, with out soap. He dose not have any thing in his tank except water, food, a plant, and some rocks. I do not put any med.s or any thing in. There is something wrong, and you seem just like the person who can help, so please can you?

[Fishy_Friend11]

Well first of all, the ideal living space for a betta/fish is 2 gallons, this enables them to have enough swimming space for them to live a happy, healthy life. Also betta fish thrive in temperatures from 75-82 degrees and with a smaller bowl it is hard to keep these temperatures high and and to keep them from fluctuating. Make sure your tank is not under or near a vent because this will also cause a fluctuation in water temperature. When cleaning your tank you should never use soap because it is very hard to rinse all of the soap off and this left over residue can harm of even kill your betta. When feeding it make sure to take out the food he does not eat, the extra food left over turns into nitrogen which is harmful to your betta and do not over feed him!!! This can cause serious disease and could lead to the death of your betta. Also when you are cleaning out your tank only clean out about 75-80% of the water, dont change all the water becuase you are taking out some beneficial bacteria. Also make sure to condition your water. I hope this information can help you. Make sure you talk to FishMomma and BettaLu&Meg, they are the experts on this forum.

[bettalvr]

Smilya9190, WELCOME to this forum! I'm just sorry you are here with problems. Hopefully with input you will have a happy, healthy boy tho. All I can offer you is my experience, so use what you can if it works for you. Bowls are hard to work with because there's so little room for necessities: filter, thermometer, and heater. First, I would increase the frequency of PARTIAL water changes to keep the oxygen level UP in his water. PLEASE refer to FishMomma's links to Nitrogen Cycle to learn about beneficial bacteria in tanks. Your water chemistry could be so erratic that your boy cannot adjust. Second, I would definitely get a thermometer in there b/c most room temperatures are not in the upper 70s to low 80s. If temps are too low, they will not be active and may even begin to exhibit loss of color. The stress of the cooler water will also decrease their immunity to fight off disease b/c they are using so much energy to stay warm. And I have seen the other extreme, containers getting too much heat from sunlight and raising to the water temp too high. Try to get a thermometer asap.
Try some of these things (especially reading some of FishMommas links) or talk to FishMomma for further help. Good luck and keep us posted!!!!

[BettaLu&Meg]

ALso in your PM you sent me and the other thread you posted do check it out, i did reply to them, and i do have a thread also on care for bettas.

[Jenny07]

Originally Posted by Smilya9190

I know nothing about bettas, and I didnt know bettas could be such hard work, until I got one. You seem like you know it all in the Betta World. So, could you please be nice and help me! That would mean the world to my betta. My problem is, is that my fish dose not seem so--- Happy. I have seen the pictures of the Beta Fish on the web site and their fins are spread out, like as if they are happy ,but his fins are not. Are betta fish active fish, becuase he barley even moves. I think he is sick. He is in a 1 gallon tank with no water filter, and no heater. The water temp is about the same temp as regular house hold air. I give him food about once or twice a day and feed him as many pebbles as he will eat. i clean out his bowl about once every week and a half to two weeks and a half (depending on how dirty). I take him out and toatly clean the whole thing, with out soap. He dose not have any thing in his tank except water, food, a plant, and some rocks. I do not put any med.s or any thing in. There is something wrong, and you seem just like the person who can help, so please can you?

When their fins are spread out that means they are angry/aggressive, not happy. Maybe your fish is just not very agressive.

Bettas can be very active fish, but it helps if you have the right tank set up. Your fish may be inactive because he is cold, or because he doesn't have much room to move around in the bowl. He may also be bored because there is nothing in the tank for him to interact with, like plants.

100% water changes are not a good idea. It's better to change the water a little bit at a time so as not to shock the fish.