BetEnvDisF5

FAQs on Betta Diseases: Environmental 5 (the most common cause)

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Betta Success
Doing what it takes to keep Bettas healthy long-term

by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Betta Breathing Hard; dis., sys. f' 5/15/18
Good morning All!
<Hey Donetta>
Glad you're still here! It's been a couple of years since I had a fish.
I've had my Betta "Pety" since the end of March. I got him from Petco. He was beautiful except for a little tattering on his tail. I figured clean water would take care of that, but it's still there in additional to a
little more splitting from excessive flaring and playing in the filter I believe. It took him a couple weeks to calm down. He was fighting his evil twin quite a bit!
My set up is a lone Betta in a 10 gallon tank with filter and heater set to 80 degrees. Plastic plants that are all Betta friendly and a few Marino balls. I had all Anubias but they got that disease so I pulled them out. My tank is fully cycled. It cycles in two days always with Tetra Safe Start which I love. My param.s are always 0/0/5-10. My ph is always high at 8 and I live in Southern Cali and my water is very hard.
<Ah yes; I'm in San Diego; we call the tap "liquid rock"...>
I always wonder if I should do a 50/50 tap and distilled water.
<Mmm; I'd just use the tap for what you have here. Likely the hard, alkaline water was a factor with your Anubias>
I read so many different opinions. Do you think it will make a difference? If so I'd like to give him the best home.
<Well; would be better w/ a middling 7's pH... But, the troubles folks have with such adjustments.... IF you're going the modification of pH route, DO such changes with new water OUTSIDE the tank, SAVE it ahead of time for use (like a week)>
This is the first time I've had sand substrate and I had a hard time learning to get it clean. I watched so many YouTube videos, but for a while I had this debris floating on top of the water with a little cloudiness. In addition there was also debris in the water column that looked like clear straight lines about 1/4th inch. I'd do 50% water changes 2-3 times a week trying to clear it up to no avail. I know it was not good for Pety to breath that in plus he had the tattering on his fins.
Also I think he lost a fin ray before I got him too. See it dangling on the side?
<Mmm; not really. This fish looks good/great. Very healthy>
I finished treating him with Kanaplex in his food a couple weeks ago.
Nothing changed. Before that I tried salt for 10 days nothing changed.
Maybe my water quality wasn't good enough.
For about the last 1 1/2 weeks he's been breathing harder. I thought it was due to all the floaties in the water. On Saturday, I finally kicked up the flow on the filters. I have two mini internals with spray bars.
Pointed at the walls they make basically no current. I turned one up to the water line. Said to myself Pety is going to have to get use to it.
It's still pretty tame though and he's doing ok. I finally tried a sand vacuuming technique that worked for me.
<Yay!>
I hold the vacuum at an angle and let the back end touch the sand and glide across. It doesn't pick up any sand! And I got out the most poo ever.
Finally! I did a 75% water change. Right after, I tried this DIY technique from the DIY King on YouTube. I cut out a 16oz plastic bottle and attached it to a power head. Packed the plastic bottle with filter floss and ran it for 15 minutes. Finally my tank is clear!
However, I stressed out Pety. I cupped him and let him float in the tank to keep him warm while I ran the power head. However he was freaking out and moving side to side. So I took him out the tank and sat him on the counter and put a towel over him to calm him down. The whole process was 15 min. Then I released him back in the water. A little later I noticed he was breathing harder. This was on Saturday. On Sunday he was still breathing hard. Still swimming around as usual and eating, begging for
food etc. I then added 5 teaspoons of aquarium salt along with an air stone to help with his gills. I wonder if the breathing problems started because of the debris in the tank and escalated because of the stressful water change.
<What are your measures of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? Temperature?>
This morning (Monday). He's still breathing hard. Looks like his gills are sticking out a tad. Could he have Gill Flukes?
<Very doubtful>
But he never flashes. I have PraziPro at home. I didn't want to just drop meds in his tank, but I'm very concerned over his breathing. And I'm concerned about his fins not healing, they are a little worse then the above pic now, but the splitting is not progressing it's pretty much staying the same. Maybe it doesn't heal because of the water quality.
<This IS the mostly likely cause>
Also I forgot to mention I keep Indian almond tannins in his tank and I've been using Seachem Stress Guard for his fins, but again no improvement.
<These are fine to use>
Thanks for your help!
Donetta
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Re: Betta Breathing Hard 5/17/18
Hi again, I tested his water and couldn't believe it had .25ppm of ammonia!
<Aha!>
That's the second time in 2.5 months that I lost my cycle. I did a 75% water change and added the Tetra Safe Start and 24 hours later, no more ammonia. Last week I did four water changes on my 10gal tank.
<So much change can disrupt nitrification. Hence my urging folks to pre-mix, store change out water ahead (a week) of use>
He's still breathing harder since Saturday, but swimming and eating normally. In addition, the bottom of his beard is always sticking out.
There is salt in his tank. Not sure if I can do anything else?
<Patience...>
I had been changing the water so much due to the debris as I hadn't gotten the sand cleaning down pat.

Also he has some splitting on his fins. This morning I noticed another small missing piece. I turned the filter back down. I read to do many water changes to improve this, but I can't if I keep losing my cycle.
<Changing the water out is not a viable solution.... You need a steady bacterial population... in filter media, gravel....>
I'm not even sure if it's rotting or just splitting. It doesn't look red, black, melting or infected but it's not healing. There's more and more splitting and tears here and there.
<.... the issue here is too much water change, ammonia>
I thought about putting him in a small tank and doing daily water changes. I did that with another Betta in the past and It worked. But that seems drastic and I know he won't like it, but at what point do I make
that step?
<Perhaps reading a few hundred responses on WWM re Betta splendens; environmental disease>
Plus I did that with 1tsp of salt per gallon. I'm not sure how often that is safe to do. I've had salt in his tank since Sunday.
Thanks for your help,
Donetta
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Re: Betta Breathing Hard 5/24/18
Good morning Bob,
<Hey Donetta>
I read about 90% on the Betta environmental FAQS.
<Wow!>
It was eye opening! As suggested, I changed out the sand and replaced with cleaned gravel.
<Ah, good>
That was a lot of work! I cleaned and wiped down everything and changed out all the water. Not sure if that was the best, but I read that some people do that when their Betta's have fin rot.
<Yes; best to have a clean start>
I still have my cycle and it's held steady for 8 days now.
<Tres bien!>
After I put everything back together I couldn't believe that I still saw fine debris on the surface. So disappointed! I kept the filter media. I just swished around the sponge, floss and bio balls.
<Good move>
I believe the floss is the problem. I should have just replaced it, but I was afraid I would lose my cycle again. I replaced it last night. It's a little better, but now I have more debris again :(! I have two mini
internal filters with spray bars that I point to the wall on opposite ends of the 10 gallon tank. One filter has a sponge and three bio balls. The other has filter floss and about seven bio balls. Both are rated 45gph and are turned up to the max. There is basically no current, but I see that now I'm going to have to clean the sponge/ bio balls weekly and replace the floss weekly. It seems like a pain.
<Mmm; I'd remove, clean just one at a time; to discern whence forth the fine debris>
I'm thinking maybe I can get one of those corner filters.
<There are small power one>
I'll be able to have more bio media plus will only have to service one filter. Will this surface debris cause problems?
<Not likely; no. It can be dipped out (with a plastic pitcher on edge) or wicked out (with a non-printed, non-odorized paper towel)>
It just seems that I can't get rid of it. I'm not over feeding plus I did the 100% water change on Monday. So frustrating. I'm not scheduled to do another water change until next Monday.
<Good>
Last Thursday I noticed more receding of Pety's tail. Two good sized areas are gone. It's just getting worse. I know this happened because of the ammonia spike. I can't see the tail getting better without medication.
What do you think? I have Kanaplex and Paraguard.
<Not the Guard... the issue isn't parasitic... there are other, better anti-Finrot med.s... Even just a modicum of "aquarium salt">
I don't want to hurt my filter. Plus Pety still breathes a little labored.
His tail is not deteriorating quickly, but it gets worse over time.
<... the environment; patience>
I know how to get rid of that debris. I can put my powerhead in the water with attached water bottle that has filter floss in it and let it rip for 15 minutes. I'll have crystal clear water, but I'd have to take Pety out the tank. Then he'll be more stressed out.
I appreciate your help. Thanks!
Donetta
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
Re: Betta Breathing Hard 5/24/18
I appreciate your responses and feedback. I'll try and be more patient.
How much is a Modicum of salt for a 10 gallon tank?
<A couple of level teaspoons>
Do I just add one time and then gradually water change it out or replace and keep in for a certain amount of time?
<All at once; replaced with the percentage of water changed out>
Thanks again,
Donetta
<Welcome. BobF>
Re: Betta Breathing Hard 6/11/18
Hi Bob,
<Donetta>
I damaged my fish ��. I added the two teaspoons of salt in my 10 gallon on 5/23rd. Petty's fins still did not heal. So last Sunday, June 3rd I transferred his to a 1.5g tank. I added 1.25 teaspoons of salt and did 100% water changes daily.
<... this is too much change. Switching all the water out is very hard on aquatic life, UNLESS the water matches chemically and physically that which is being removed>
There were not any changes with the splitting on his fins, but his coloring and appearance in general became very pretty and vibrant. On Saturday, the 6th Day he cut a portion of his dorsal fin off on the plastic plant on the DIY cave I made for him. I had transferred this over from his big tank. Had not had a problem before. I bought him with the fin rot. After that I noticed more tattering and fraying on his back fin. More rotting.
Yesterday morning, I netted him used a qtip and swabbed the area with 35% hydrogen Peroxide.
<?! What prompted you to use H2O2 directly on a fish?>
It must have been too much. His tail fin had bubbles on them which I expected, but later they became spread out as if in a constant flare and they became stiffened. I thought maybe this was temporary, but it hasn't changed 24 hours later. They almost appear slightly glued together. He swims around fine, but the tail fin seems a little heavy. I feel horrible ��. This morning I noticed the tips of those fins eroding off in the water.
<Yes; burned>
I believe the tissue maybe dead. My son is going to be devastated. I don't think Petty can come back from this. I don't know what to do.
Thanks
<Nothing to do treatment wise. Just good care at this point. Bob Fenner>

Betta Health Question 4/13/18
Hello Bob and WWM Crew!
<Greetings Jen>
I have been experiencing some issues with my Betta fish. I have 12 of them, and from time to time a few of them have exhibited symptoms where they have trouble swimming and balancing.
<Unusual behavior>
This has occurred in several different tanks with several different fish. Most recently it happened in a 2 gallon tank that had been setup for 3 1/2 weeks, when I added my established Betta to the tank, within a day he was having trouble swimming and balancing. I checked the water parameters (PH 8.1,
<Better for Bettas to be in neutral, soft/er water... a pH of 7.0 or so.
The pH scale is a base 10 log... so 8 is ten times more hydrogen ions (or ten less OH) than 7; a big difference. Do see WWM re pH control>
Ammonia .25,
<Mmm; this needs to be and stay 0.0 ppm; ammonia is even more toxic at high/er pH>
NO2 0,
NO3 10, I try to maintain temp around 77). The tank has a few live plants and fish safe gravel, and a filter with activated carbon. Here is the strange thing; when I remove the Betta to a cup (the cup they are in when purchased from the store) in the same water from the tank, within minutes to an hour, they are swimming perfectly normal, which leads me to believe it is not caused from the water, as I realize the PH is slightly elevated
and there is trace ammonia present. I am so frustrated trying to figure out why the Betta exhibits these symptoms in the tank, but when removed from the tank and placed in a cup, they almost instantly improve?
<Does seem strange>
I am hoping you might have some insight and suggestions for me, I have scoured your articles and FAQ's and couldn't find anything similar to this issue.
Please help!!
Sincerely,
Lizzy M.
<Do you have other fish species? Are they similarly disoriented? Do the tanks have gravel, that is, something other than a reflective bottom... ?
I'd do what you can to make the water quality better for now. Bob Fenner>

Saving Betta from possible Ammonia Poisoning 2/7/18
Hi Crew,
<Kath>
I'm sorry to trouble you,
<Never a bother>
but I could use some help with my sick Betta, Samson. To cover the basics, Samson normally lives in a 5 gallon heated, and cycled tank (had been cycled for 2 years now). Tank gets a 25% water change every week.
<Great so far>
Our tap water here has ammonia in it, so I've been adding Ammo-lock as well as a water conditioner that deals with chlorine and chromomine.
<Chloramine likely>
Two weeks ago I went on vacation, I had someone come in to feed the rodents of the house, and asked them to feed my two Bettas occasionally as well (don't worry, they are in separate tanks).
Long story short, the filter in Samson's tank died while I was gone. I came home to a tank growing grey algae, food sitting on the bottom, and a not so great looking fish. Samson was hanging out right at the top of the tank,
his colour had faded from vibrant red to red with a gray tone to it.
I immediately did a 50% water change, and went out to get a new filter for him. I wanted to buy test strips for ammonia but my LFS was all out. I did buy test strips for Nitrates and Nitrites, both of which read (and continue
to read) 0ppm.
I installed the filter, and did another 30% water change the next day.
Samson perked right up about a day later and his colour came back. I thought the problem was mostly dealt with, as long as I kept up water changes 2x a week.
<Good>
All weekend he seemed fine, then on Monday he suddenly stated acting extremely ill again. His colour faded once more, he started clamping his fins, and he was back to either staying right at the top of the tank, or laying on the bottom. I did another 30% water change, which did not make any difference to his behaviour.
I got home from work today and just did a 100% water change, making sure to scrub out my gravel and silk plants. I know it means restarting my tank, but I was worried that I had missed some of the gray algae and that that
was making him sick.

I swapped the filter media in from my other cycled Betta tank, to speed the cycling process along.
<Good move>
During the tank cleaning, I had set Samson up in a small holding tank, with some Methylene blue added. I've read it can help repair damage from ammonia poisoning. I added him back into his main tank a few hours ago, and so far
all he's done is hide, but he's still not looking great.
<The repair will take time. A few weeks>
The problem is my LFS is STILL out of ammonia test strips, and since Samson is a red fish, I can't determine if he has the red ammonia burns or not.
I've looked him over pretty closely with a flashlight and can't see any obvious signs of a parasite (at least not on the outside). He is still interested in food, just struggling to reach it.
I'm concerned that I've misdiagnosed the problem, or that he got such severe poisoning that he's going to need more help than simple water changes and filtering can fix. I'm also concerned that he's not bouncing back like he
should due to his age. He was full grown when he came to me (he was a rescue) and I've had him just over 2 years.
Any suggestions on how to help him along in recovery? I really appreciate any advice you could give.
Thanks, Kathryn.

Re: Saving Betta from possible Ammonia Poisoning 2/7/18
Hi Bob,
<Kathryn>
Thank you for the quick response. Just an update, It's been 12 hours since I broke down the tank and cleaned everything. Being put into a holding tank, and then back into the main tank stressed Samson (the Betta) out,
though I tried hard to do it as gently as possible.
My tank parameters at the moment are 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates, ph 7, temp of 26.5C, not sure on hardness, but I know we typically do have very hard water here. I still don't know the ammonia amount but I will be checking back at my LFS tonight to see if the test strips came in.
<Okay>
The bad news is he's been hiding for the full 12 hours.
<To be expected... not to worry>
No interest in food at all. I haven't seen him swim around at all either, but when I check on him he has switched hiding places a few times, so he is obviously swimming slightly. He is just laying on the bottom in his various caves and gives no reaction when I come to the tank. I have lots of plants that reach the surface, so he could hang out up top if he wanted too, but he is either too weak to get there, or just prefers to be on the bottom right now.
<The stress of the move...>
The good news is he seems to be breathing easier, it is not laboured at all, he is laying upright, and I think his colour has improved just marginally, it's more red and less grey, but still not back to normal. He is honestly acting like he does when he sleeps, but I've never seen him sleep for 12 hours straight before.
I took a good look after his Methylene blue bath for any signs of staining, to try and identify any cell damage. I couldn't see anything noticeable, but of course I'm no expert and may have missed something.
<Methylene Blue is very safe, mild>
My best guess is that his filter was out for a week while I was gone. So I think the ammonia buildup get pretty bad.
<Could have been>
I do understand if he is going to recover that it's going to take time. I just hate seeing him in distress. I think I need some tough love here, does he have any chance at recovering?
<Sure>
Is there anything else I could be doing to help the process along?
<Not really; no. Just time going by>
I want to give him the best chance I can, but if there really is no hope, I also don't want to prolong his suffering
needlessly.
I really appreciate that you and the rest of the crew take time to answer questions like mine.
Wishing you all the best,
Kathryn
<Cheers, BobF>
Re: Saving Betta from possible Ammonia Poisoning 2/15/18
Hi Bob and Crew,
Sorry to trouble you again, but my Betta fish Samson seems to have gotten worse.
<Oh?>
I emailed last week about my sick Betta Samson, who we thought had ammonia poisoning. We got a new test kit and have been checking the water daily.
The ph is between 6.5 and 7, the temperature is 27c, no nitrites or nitrates ever registered. We have ammonia in our tap water (registers at 0.5ppm after adding water conditioner), so we use API AmmoLock.
<If I haven't stated this before, I strongly encourage you to treat and save new/change out water a week or more ahead of use>
We had swapped in the filter from our other cycled Betta tank, which seemed to be working on dealing with the tap water ammonia and were doing 25% water changes daily. For 3 days the fish was doing better. He was still
lethargic
and had a pale colour, but he started eating again and wasn't hiding or clamping his fins at all. He would swim out to see me when I came to the tank, he just needed to have a rest afterwards. He seemed to be on the road to recovery.
Then on Saturday he seemed to be a bit worse, so instead of the daily 25% water changes I'd been doing, I did 30% water changes. On Sunday he started acting very ill again, he would swim to the surface to breathe and not
have the energy to settle himself back down again, instead just falling onto whatever was below him (ending up hanging upside down from a plant at one point). He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't react to anything. I would have
thought he was dead except that his gills were still moving.
With nothing else to try, I set up a 1 gallon hospital tank with Methylene blue and moved him into that. I'm completely at a loss to explain why he has now twice improved and then become much worse very quickly. I would suspect water quality but the tank readings seem great and I had done a complete tank clean and 100% water change the last time he started getting worse. I have another Betta tank set up with the same parameters, same food, and that fish is thriving! Samson's been in the hospital tank for 3 days with 50% water changes. He's now able to sit upright again and decided he was willing to eat a small amount again last night.
I've checked Samson over several times with a flashlight looking for anything that could explain this weird cycle. I can't see any visible deformities, no scratches or scrapes, no broken fins. The only thing I can see that seems wrong is a greenish/brown colour on his tail fin that is not part of his normal colouring (when healthy he was a vibrant red). I've dealt with velvet in tanks before and this doesn't look anything like it to me. I'm not even sure this colouring is a sign of a specific disease or simply a change in colour due to illness.
I was hoping for some help in identifying what could be wrong so that I can begin a targeted treatment instead of just leaving him in Methylene blue and hoping that works. I'm assuming since this started with a broken filter that we are still dealing with ammonia poisoning but also possibly a secondary infection.
List of symptoms that I've seen:
-lethargic
-rapid gill movement (this is a new development in the last few days)
-loss of appetite (this comes and goes)
-struggling to stay upright (this also comes and goes)
-loss of colour
-greenish brown colouring on tail fin
<... nothing jumps out other than stress from all the changes>
Standard symptoms I have not seen:
-No gold specs
-no white growths
-no streaking or dark tissue
-no fin or body rot
-no eye glassing or swelling
-gills are not visibly swollen
-no trouble eating when he wants to eat
-no obvious weight loss
-no body swelling
-no raised scales
-no scrapes, holes or missing scales
-no bleeding
-pooping just fine
Any advice at all would be very much appreciated. I've dealt with sick Betta's before (I used to work in a pet shop that sold Betta's and I treated any that came in sick), but I'm honestly at a loss for what I'm dealing with here.
Thank you,
Kathryn

Betta Sick and NOTHING is working 1/5/17
Hello, so around 5-6 months ago my Betta became sick with a bacterial infection.
<Mmm; almost always such situations can be traced back to other, more primary influences... Genetics no doubt plays a role at times, but environmental issues (low, fluctuating temperature, water quality, esp. biological pollution) and nutrition are where we find root causes; and cures>
I assume it was due to bad water quality as I had gotten a bit lazy with water-changes as of that time.
<Ahh!>
As well, before symptoms occurred a mosquito eater insect somehow landed in the tank while I slept and grew white mold/fungi overnight,
<?>
the next morning the first symptom, PopEye, appeared. I immediately took action and cleaned his tank and did multiple water changes that day.
<... more than one in a day?>
I did some quick research and decided to order Maracyn two. Over the next 2 days his condition RAPIDLY decreased, his PopEye got so bad one eye was halfway out of his head and there was fungus growing in the open wound. I was extremely worried at this point because of the fast progression, he also began to get fin rot on his tail fins. He soon stopped eating completely and became extremely thin and lethargic.
Soon after starting his Maracyn 2 treatment there were already rapid improvements. The dead and fungus infested part of the eye fell off, his
eyes weren't swelled as bad, the fin rot disappeared in the back fins. He started eating again promptly, at the time his water was at 74-74 as I was
in the process of getting a better heater. He has stayed eating and without fin-rot in the back and not too bad of pop eye. However his PopEye never
completely healed, his gills stayed inflamed, and his side fins started to get fin rot. I tried daily water changes for a while hoping that clean
water would finish the process.
<Is this animal in a filtered, heated system?>
After that didn't work I tried a second run of Maracyn 2 in the tank, which also seemed to do nothing. I continued doing regular water changes around 2-3 times per week. I then tried treatment using Seachem Metro-plex and Focus in frozen blood-worms, I fed these for around 3 weeks with no change in his condition. I then tried Metro-plex dosing in the water itself to see if that would work, I am on about week 2 or the end of it and still see no signs of improvement. I am wondering if you guys have any idea what I can do to help my Betta.
<Need to state this; for you, and others who will read this in time:
Aquatic life is different than tetrapod terrestrial (mammals, birds...) in that it "cures" more slowly. Likely fixing the environment, improving
nutrition will fix your Betta. Too many water changes destabilizes biological filtration... DO you have ammonia, nitrite present here? How
much accumulated Nitrate? I would STOP the used of medicines, fix the environment>
Other Info: I house him in a 5 gallon Fluval Spec, with a pre-filter sponge over the filter so the water is peaceful for him.
<And a heater... the temp. kept near... what?>
I do 1-3 water changes per week depending on how much waste is produced.
<Should only change some of the water weekly... Please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/betta_splendens.htm
I feed him 1-2 New Life Spectrum Community Pellets each night, 1 when the water is being dosed since I can't change the water due to the medication. I use Seachem Prime on his water when I change it, I also do 75% percent water changes whenever I change his water. He is housed with a plastic stump hide, underwater artificial flower, sitting leaf, and a Marimo moss ball. I want to have more plants for him but cannot due to a weak light. He is on white sand that I gravel vacuum each water change, he appears to be very active a majority of the time. The filter has two different sections of bio-media and 3 different sections of sponge, his heater keeps his tank in the low 80's.
So, if you guys have any idea of what else I can do, I would love to know, if you would like to have pictures just say so. Although all of his
symptoms point towards a bacterial infection but nothing seems to be able to kick it. Thanks for the help,
Regards, Drew Meier.
<The reading, changing the interval of water switching, water testing/reporting, and no more medicine use is the route I would go. Bob Fenner>
Re: Betta Sick and NOTHING is working 1/6/18
I don't quite understand your final comment, do you mean use no more medicine,
<Yes>
set up a definite water change schedule, not change as much water,
<Read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/water.htm
and testing the water regularly?
<Keep reading>
Thanks for the fast reply.
<Thank you for reading first. B>
Re: Betta Sick and NOTHING is working 1/6/18
Ok, I tested his water, there were low nitrates (5-10 ppm) 0 nitrites, and a small amount of ammonia, which I am unsure of how it has gotten there because of a well cycled tank,
<Likely from the water changes and med.s>
I did a 40% water change,
<...>
dialing it back a bit but since ammonia was present still substantial, added prime as well as a cap of stability to add more good bacteria. I will begin testing daily, if ammonia or nitrite is present a 25% water change as well as prime and
stability, and see how that goes for the time being. Once cycle is back on track I will do 2 25% water changes a week.
Thanks again.
<Cheers>
Re: Betta Sick and NOTHING is working 1/6/18
Thanks again for all the help!
<Welcome>

Black tiny spots on my Female/Crowntail Betta 3/1/17
I notice three very tiny black spots on my Female/Crowntail Betta's back area(close to her head), and some black spots on her fins (left side).
These spot start appearing when I thought my fish tank had cycled. It took a while but, now the tank is cycled. Ammonia 0, pH 7, Nitrites 0, and Nitrates 0. I have a great filter and heater (depending on the temp in the room it can be 78-80 degrees. The spots do not seem to hurt or bother her.
I check to see if they were holes but, they are not. Could going through the cycling cause these spots?
<Might well be a factor here... Can't be very sure w/o looking at myself, perhaps sampling, observing w/ a microscope; but "dark marks" in/on Bettas (and other fishes) are often evidence of stress, neurological damage... and just genetic (Melanocyte) expression>
The ammonia has high for a week and then 0.
<Ahh; another stressor; often deadly>
Then the nitrites became high for a couple of days and then 0. The Nitrates were 5.0 ppm and then 0. I used good bacteria to hurry the cycling process. I have a 2.5 gallon tank.
<Needs to NOT be present in a cycling system; NEEDS a stable, heated, filtered world>
When I purchase my Betta, she was very small not even a half inch long. I thought a larger tank would be to much
for her being so young. I do plan to purchase a 5 gallon tank when she get about 2 inches long.
I would be very thankful for your help. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for taking the time to read my email.
Carolyn Bagley
<Thank you for writing so clearly, completely. Bob Fenner>

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Doing what it takes to keep Bettas healthy long-term

by Robert (Bob) Fenner

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