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Old January 22nd, 2010, 08:33 PM
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CarolynInPEI CarolynInPEI is offline
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Need Some Help......

Hi everyone,

I really need some advice, my Betta, Gordon, isn't doing so well. He is not feeling very well at all and I don't know what to do to help him.

I've had him for 3 months now. He was sick a week or two ago, seemed like he was constipated, I treated him by fasting him and then giving him a pea.

He seemed to bounce right back and was back to his energetic and friendly self again.

But since yesterday he's been very different. He just lays at the bottom of the bowl, sometimes he gets up and swims for a bit but just mainly sits there.

I'm very worried...I love the little guy and it's killing me to see him like this. Does anyone have any advice for me and Gordon?

Thanks!
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Old January 22nd, 2010, 08:36 PM
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CarolynInPEI CarolynInPEI is offline
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here's a pic of my gordon....

here he is......when he was feeling better.
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Old January 22nd, 2010, 08:38 PM
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Marcha Marcha is offline
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How do you treat the water?
Are you cycling it (partial water changes) or are you replacing all the water?
How often?
Are you using conditioner (de-chlorinator)?
How often do you feed him, and what do you feed him?
How much light is the bowl getting?
How often is the surface of the water stirred?
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Old January 23rd, 2010, 08:42 AM
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CarolynInPEI CarolynInPEI is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcha View Post
How do you treat the water?
Are you cycling it (partial water changes) or are you replacing all the water?
How often?
Are you using conditioner (de-chlorinator)?
How often do you feed him, and what do you feed him?
How much light is the bowl getting?
How often is the surface of the water stirred?
Here goes....

I do not treat his water.
I replace all of the water except for 1 cup worth of it.
I do that once a week.
I haven't been using a conditioner.
The bowl gets quite a bit of light, he's on a table near the window.
As for the surface water, it rarely gets stirred. Is that important?

Thank you!
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Old January 23rd, 2010, 02:22 PM
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Marcha Marcha is offline
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Stirring the surface breaks the surface 'gunk', which gives the water a better chance to reoxyenate. It's just a matter of once or twice a day giving the top inch of the water a little stir. Otherwise a filmy layer can form and prevent any oxygenation. Specially if the bowl is in a brighter spot, where algae (the good and the bad ones) can flourish, and the waste product of these algae will create that filmy layer on the top faster than if the bowl is in a less bright spot.

The conditioner is important, since it removes chlorine and chloramine from the water - both of these are toxic to fish and can decrease their lifespan dramatically. You just need a tiny bit in the water, leave it for about 5 minutes before putting it in the bowl. Any pet supply store will have an aquarium water conditioner. For a small bowl like the one you have, a bottle will last you two or so years. You only need a tiny bit. When you put the dechlorinator in the water, you'll already see a swirling kind of motion happening inside the water, which is the interaction of the conditioner with the nasties in the water.

For the next week or week and a half, replace a cup or two of water of the tank each day. This leaves enough water in the bowl for the good bacteria, and gives enough fresh water for oxygenation and removal of the ickies. See if that perks your fish up again!

You might want to google 'cycling' and 'aquarium' to get a better idea of why to remove only a bit of water at a time, instead of replacing all or most of the water each week.
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Old January 24th, 2010, 06:01 AM
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Melei'sMom Melei'sMom is offline
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If you can afford it, you might also consider getting a 5 gal tank with heat and gentle filtration. with proper conditioning of the water and a proper heat level, bettas can actully live much longer life spans then most people think they can. Even over 5 years sometimes! Those tiny bowls aren't really a nice place for them to live (compare it to you living in a nice house with heat and fresh air or a little closet with no windows and no heat)
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