# Something is wrong with my betta PLEASE HELP!!!



## jamill02 (Jun 3, 2008)

I just got my betta not even a week ago and he seems to be acting weird. I have noticed that lately he stays at the top of the tank and makes a lot of bubbles at the top. He does not respond to his food like he did at first..he is not eating correctly....Do you think he is about to die? Please Help


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

jamill02 said:


> I just got my betta not even a week ago and he seems to be acting weird. I have noticed that lately he stays at the top of the tank and makes a lot of bubbles at the top. He does not respond to his food like he did at first..he is not eating correctly....Do you think he is about to die? Please Help


What do you usually feed it? Was there any change in diet? What are your water parameters? Your betta sounds like it's healthy to me if it was making plenty of bubbles?


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## jamill02 (Jun 3, 2008)

Well i feed him the nutrafin max betta food....they are flakes....The tank that i have him in is a 1/2 gallon tank the one that comes with the betta kit...there is no change in diet since i just got him unless i am probably feeding him something different than the pet store was...well there sure are bubbles all around the tank at the top where he stays now...when i come up to the tank he does begin to swin around...also the water seems to look cloudy but i thought you are only to change his water once a week and that is not until friday so and he has a white string or something on his fins on the top what is that...please let me know whats going on.Thanks


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## It'sJames (Nov 15, 2007)

A 2.5 gallon tank is the minimum to keep your betta happy. A 5 gallon is even better. Who said not to change the water more than once a week? In a 1/2 gallon tank, I'd change the water every other day, if not every day. The more water changes the better in a small container like that. Does he have a heater? Bettas need 78 - 80* water. During the summer my betta tanks don't need heaters, but if your water is less than 78* it would be best to buy a heater. 

The bubbles he's making (a bubble nest) are a good sign. Don't be worried about those.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

Cloudy water is an indactaiton that your tank is going through an Ammonia bloom. This is poisonious to the fish. Also, you should be do daily water changes in that tank to keep the ammonia down, and since it is only 1/2 gallon. You are going through a cycle right now, and daily WC's of 50-90% are needed, if not 100%. I'm not sure a still water 1/2 tank will even go through a cycle, though.

The white string may be a sign of fin rot, which is a sign that the water quality is bad.

And, try to get your betta on pellets. Flakes dont have the whole nutrional value that pellets can offer. Dont feed him anything but the pellets untill he accepts it, and then you can vary his diet, but staying on the pellet as a staple.


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## bettaboy (May 22, 2008)

Bettas like freeze-dried bloodworms (mosquito larvae)... a whole lot.

But ive found that Brine shrimp are the favorite food.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

bettaboy said:


> Bettas like freeze-dried bloodworms (mosquito larvae)... a whole lot.
> 
> But ive found that Brine shrimp are the favorite food.


But, those are treats. If fed all the time, it is like us eating donuts 24/7. Tasty, but unfilling and not healthy. A staple diet of pellets is best for the health of a betta. The freezedriedand frozen food should be offered one-two times a week.


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## jamill02 (Jun 3, 2008)

So if he stays at the top of the tank alot is that a bad thing?


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## bettaboy (May 22, 2008)

Actually, brine shrimp are extremely nutritious.

Feeding pellets is like having a TV dinner for dinner every night. Convenient, but ewww.

Also, most bettas do not like pellets or flakes. They are carnivorous and no meat in their diet is very badbadbadbad.


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

I am also a bit confused regarding the different types of Betta food.. Mine don't like pellets but they do like Flakes and as for once a week treats they get eigther: Egg white,Pea,Frozen Bloodworm or Beefheart or Brineshrimp..I am wondering however , in thier natural habitat what would they eat? Probebly live food such as small worms,maybe other fish fry and possible some alge or other plant scources...so is the pellet and flake food a better food source for Bettas than the fresh frozen meat foods such as worms , brine shrimp etc ..and why..


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

I am also thinking on this same subject that from reader comments it seems like constipation is a common ailment with Bettas..I know I have had an ongoing problem with one of mine with it and I am curious if commercially produced fish food such as flake and pellet causes this problem.


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## bettaboy (May 22, 2008)

They are scavengers, not hunters, so feeding them F.D. food is good... but live brine shrimp are by far the best food i have found for bettas.


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## It'sJames (Nov 15, 2007)

Newly hatched brine shrimp have a lot of nutritional value - older brine do not. Unless you want to hatch a new batch of brine shrimp every other day, feed them as a treat. A high quality pellet is by far the best thing to feed as a staple. Yes, bettas are carnivorous, but the pellets satisfy that. They are made for bettas, after all. I would try to switch my betta to pellets, rather than flakes, if I were you.


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## bettaboy (May 22, 2008)

The nutritional value of Adult Brine Shrimp depends on many factors, including what you give your brine shrimp to eat.

Oh well. Ive found that pellets cause constipation.


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

What do you think about live mosquito larve?


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## bettaboy (May 22, 2008)

unhealthy, since they can carry disease and are generally dirty


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

Bettas have upturned mouths and are primarily carnivorous surface feeders. In the wild, bettas feed on zooplankton and the larvae of mosquitoes and other insects.[citation needed] Bettas which feed on wide range of foods live longer, have richer colors, and heal fin damage quicker. Typically, Betta pellets are a combination of mashed shrimp meal, fish meal, brine shrimp, bloodworms, and vitamins. Bettas also will eat live or frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp or daphnia. For variety and fiber, bettas are fed finely-chopped, high-protein vegetables, such as soybeans, green beans, broccoli, corn, and carrots. Some bettas subsist on dried flaked food suitable for tropical fish, because although this feed reduces their coloring, the bettas are able to digest this better than pellets. However, just feeding bettas vegetables alone is not a good idea since they are carnivorous and do best with meat products. Bettas can get constipated when their diet lacks variety. If their stomach looks swollen, feed them food with fiber.

Above is a quote from Wikapedia..I find corn an interesting choice..I think after reading this article that I should be feeding my guys more vegtable variety in addition to thier regular food..what do you think? ...


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afQ-1Z_WqlU

Here's a Betta eating a live worm..It looks pretty big!...Too Big!


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## bettaboy (May 22, 2008)

live worms cause dropsy


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

hhhmmmm doubtful as that is what they eat in thier natural environment..I am quite sure they are not scavanger fish...those are usually bottom feeder fish....


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## bettaboy (May 22, 2008)

wild bettas have 10x stronger immune systems, And they are definitely scavengers.


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

Oh..Ok ..


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

Here is the Index of Scavanger fish.......No Bettas

Algae Eaters 
Algae Eating Plecostomus 
Ancistrus Bushy Nose Plecostomus 
Armored Catfish 

Bushy Nose Plecostomus 

Candy Striped Plecostomus 
Chinese Algae Eaters X 
Clown Loaches 
Cory Catfish, Corydoras 

Emerald Green "Cory" Catfish 

Golden Nugget Plecostomus 

Loaches X 

Marbled Sailfin Plecostomus 

Otocinclus Catfish X 

Panda Cory Catfish, Corydoras 
Peppered Cory Catfish, Corydoras 
Pictus Catfish X 
Plecostomus Catfish 

Siamese Algae Eaters 
Spotted Sail Fin Plecostomus 
Synodontis Catfish 

Upside Down Catfish 

Vampire Plecostomus 

White Tip Shark Catfish 

Yoyo Loaches 

Scavenger Names in Alphabetical


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## bettaboy (May 22, 2008)

Well they are NOT hunters.


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

Who said that they were hunters?


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## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

Bettas are micropredators (I'm sorry if this term is not exactly accurate, I can really only find this word used in this context within the fishy world, and not as a scientific word for a type of predation). Which means their prey is mostly things they can eat in a bite or two. They generally eat tiny invertebrates; insect larvae, small worms & crustaceans and any small bugs unlucky enough to land on the surface of the water.

In response to the hunter statement, there are many different types of predators, some that hunt and some that don't. For instance one could be an ambush predator, not a hunter. Bettas on the other hand tend to be opportunistic predators (they attack prey that can be approached and eaten with little expenditure of energy).

Also, the idea that worms cause dropsy seems inaccurate, as it is a type of food bettas are used to feeding on. The idea probably comes from the fact that live prey can often leave much waste on the bottom, which in turn degrades water quality and causes dropsy. I cannot imagine that worms themselves cause dropsy, and would be interested to see a source that states that information (and what their basis is).


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

Thank You Okiemavis..that is good info


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## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

Thanks, and I was reading the previous page, mosquito larvae is a great food for your betta, especially since you can get your own for free. It's a staple food for anabantoids in the wild. If you wander around this site I believe there's a post about collecting mosquito larvae and other foods like that.

While it's true that there are health risks posed to humans and other animals by mosquitoes, this has to do with the fact that they carry blood-borne illness, the way sharing an injection needle is dangerous (it's actually way more complicated than that, but yeah, bear with me). However, mosquito larvae pose basically no risk to fish, or humans for that matter. In fact, invertebrates are the best live food to feed your fish as there is almost no risk of transmitting infections that can be transmitted by feeder fish.


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## stephenmontero (Mar 15, 2008)

my betta loves tubiflex worms


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## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

Thanks for the info Okiemavis


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