# Betta may be dying-strange white film on top of water



## herbiemania

I think our Betta is dying. Bluel's water has been developing this strange white film on top for the last few weeks. I keep changing the water and it comes back. Nothing has changed in his environment. Today, I noticed that he is spending his time lying on the bottom. Experience tells me this is probably his final day or so. He can still swim but sinks back down. Still, I'd like to know what this stuff is to avoid this issue with our next fish. Also, would anyone recommend any additives?

Right now we keep him in a 1 gal tank with glass stones and a castle to hide in. We use bottled water and I usually change his water 100% every week or two. We feed him about three pellets of food per day. Most of our past Bettas have lived 1-2 years. Bluel is not quite 2.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I will post pics of this white substance if needed.


----------



## herefishy

Perform a 50% water change and ty to siphon the film off. The film is caused by contaminates in the house.


----------



## copper08

this happened with my fish too! it really helps to have a cover on your tank, since when i got a cover it stopped.. and maybe the water is too cold for the betta? what temp is it? mine stayed at the bottom a lot until i kept the water around 70F


----------



## SeaSerpant

yep


----------



## Falina

This isn't relating the the white film, but to the general wllbeing of your fish:

Don't perform 100% water changes. Smaller changes more often are much more effective. Instead perform 20-25% water changes twice a week. 100% waqter changes will kill off most of the good bacteria in the tank and the tank will continually be going through a mini-cycle.


----------



## copper08

when your doing your 20-25% water changes, do you use one of those siphon tubes to clean the old food and stuff off the bottom? is that a good thing to do?


----------



## BlackWolf1489

I usually perform a 25% water change on my 10gal once a week. When I do this I try to siphon a lot of the nasty things that have built up out of the gravel. I have five corydras in with my betta and he seems to like them. They help keep the tank clean!


----------



## Falina

copper08 said:


> when your doing your 20-25% water changes, do you use one of those siphon tubes to clean the old food and stuff off the bottom? is that a good thing to do?


You should remove uneaten food after a few minutes of feeding, otherwise it will start to rot and lead to bad water quality.

Use a siphon yo remove waste from the bottom when you do your changes. If you don't have gravel then it will come up easily and if you do then a pumping motion into the gravel will get asll the waste up from inbetween the gravel.


----------



## SST

In a 1 gal. tank, you can use a turkey baster to siphon the bottom. I used one all the time to clean the gravel in my 2 gal. (now retired since I've upgraded to a free 5 gal. tank -- and when I can get my hands on a 10 gal. I'm upgrading him again! LOL)


----------



## Cody

A cover for a tank would probably help a bit.

My first betta lived for 3 years in a covered tank that was probably 2 or 3 gallons. My second one died within a few days because I had an open bowl, and the water was freezing. I just got my third one, and I put him in the bowl for a day or so. He was very in-active, and was not eating. I switched him into my communtity tank, and he is doing a lot better.

For future use, get a covered tank, and make sure the water does not fall below 75 degrees.


----------



## Falina

Bettas are jumpers so a covered tank is recommended. Concerning the water temperature however, unless your room temperature is constantly in the high 70s, you will need a heater to keep his water warm enough. You can buy micro-heaters for mall tanks less than 5g, but really I would recommend upgrading to a 5g tank or more if he is in smaller, in which case a 25W heater would be perfect for him.


----------



## herbiemania

Betta update:

Bluel is still hanging in ther. He can't swim very well and spends most of his time lying on the bottom. He does swim up to eat and get some air. His tank water is looking pretty nasty. I bought a second fish (to replace him) and the difference between the two tanks is amazing! The clarity of the water for the new fish is much better. I did put some medicine in Bluel's water to see if that would help. Maybe this is prolonging his life. Not sure. I've never had a sick Betta last this long.


----------



## Falina

Have you been doing small water changes every day? It's unlikely that the water would stay bad if you have been unless something is getting in that shouldn't be. have you tested the water? A presence of any of the 3 evils (amonia, nitrite and nitrate) in the tank will make it smelly and look oily at the top, with the exception of nitrates, where they should be low, rather than zero.


----------

