Is your betta sick? Read this first.

[IBC WebTeam]

#22093

Unfortunately, our fish do sometimes come down with an illness. Diagnosing fish diseases is difficult under any circumstance, but it’s particularly difficult when one cannot see the fish in person. Please understand that we can only guess at the cause of your fish’s distress. Be sure to evaluate your particular circumstances before following the advice of any poster on this forum.

You are welcome to post here if you would like help diagnosing your fish’s illness, but please include the following with your post:
1. A description of the visible signs of illness (won’t eat, ragged fins, etc.)
2. Tank size
3. Water parameters, particularly temperature, ammonia, and nitrite readings
4. Where you got your betta (pet shop, local breeder, Aquabid)
5. How long you’ve had the fish, and how long it’s been showing signs of sickness
6. Any medications you’ve given the fish, and how long they’ve been treated

A clear, closeup photo of your fish would be a huge help, but we understand that not everyone has access to a camera suitable for fish photography.

[Geri M]

#25608

Help my Betta Baby.
My halfmoon betta is having seizures or something his body jerks rapidly. he’s in a 3.5 gallon tank with steady temperature of 76 degrees. I did a water test the nitrate is at “caution .5” and the ph is at “Alkaline 7.8”. I did a 50% water change and I put him in the hospital tank where its’ 76 degrees with some ich treatment and water conditioner and he made 2 big poops, he calmed down for a little while and than he started flipping again. Looking on the internet for answers will make you coco. I got him two weeks ago from petsmart. he started this like 3 days ago. I don’t know what else to do. 🙁

[Stacy Fenhaus]

#25664

Hi Geri,

The first thing I would do is raise your temperature to at least 82 degrees. 76 is really on the low end of tolerable for them, warmer temperatures will help him recover and help his metabolism move faster. When you say he’s having a seizure, do you mean he’s doing a movement called “flashing”? It’s a movement where they will get close to something and then sort of bounce off it. If he’s doing this then he’s likely got velvet, or a little less commonly ich.

What ich treatment are you using already? I would suggest adding medicinal levels of non-iodised salt at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 1 gallon.

If his belly is bloated and his poop stringy, I would suggest that he may have internal parasites in addition to the external ones.

[Geri M]

#25672

His belly is fine, no string poop or big belly. I put some ich medicine & non-iodised salt and he seems to be doing well. Thank you so much for responding and helping.

[Stacy Fenhaus]

#25702

Hey Geri, how’s he doing?

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