Got him about two weeks ago not knowing anything about bettas. I got an api test kit and a heater, some live plants and did a fish in cycle. He’s in a 3.5 gallon (I know not ideal – have plans to move him to a 10 gallon community tank in the near future), ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, and nitrate is 5ppm, ph is 7.8 and he is at 76 degrees with his heater since our furnace isn’t working, he’s usually at 78 or 80. His Finns look clamped and he has this weird looking scale by his fin (second photo). He’s acting normal as far as I can tell – has a huge appetite, jumped out of the water last night when my girlfriend started feeding him. I have noticed he’s been chilling at the bottom more than normal but not for very long so I thought he was just resting. The last photo is him the day I got him, looking cute. In the ones I took this morning he just looks very rough and sick. Please help me help him 🥺🙏
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1jzt1pv
Posted by Slow-Worry-6112
4 Comments
Maybe the adjustment is just affecting him. I wouldn’t put him in a community tank while he’s still sick, which I’m sure you’ve probably already figured. Good luck, hopefully someone has more input
Thank you for posting to r/bettafish.
When requesting help, please provide the requested information. Answers such as “large enough” or “my paramters are fine” aren’t good enough. Failure to provide adequate information about your tank can result in post removal. Please see rule 4 for more information.
If you are posting to find out what is wrong with your betta, please answer the following questions in a reply to this comment as best you can:
• Tank size: 3.5gal
• Heater and filter? (yes/no): heater yes filter no
• Tank temperature:76f
• Parameters in numbers and how you got them. Key water parameters include the amount of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH.: ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 5ppm, pH 7.8. Used api master kit
• How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?: 2 weeks
• How often are water changes? How much do you take out per change? What is your process?: 50% every three days
• Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each: some snails that came in the live plants from my local pet store
• What do you feed and how much: 6 – 7 pellets twice a day
• Decorations and plants in the tank: hornwort and two Java ferns
• If you haven’t already posted a picture, please post pics/vids to imgur and paste the link here:
May I ask if you have done a water change recently or applied any type of medication?
that weird scale near his fin looks suspiciously like a tumor. in which case, i don’t know that there’s much you could do.