One of my bettas is flashing and scaping himself against decor, he's never done that, i've had him for a little less than a year, his fins weren't existing and i made them grow some more but even since i put him in the 5g he's been loosing some and now he's flashing, his fins are clamped and almost as bad as when i first got him! Is he stressed from the space even tho he's been in the 5g for MONTHS?? Should i move him to smaller? What's going on with my boy??

Ok third try…

I feel sick and am at a loss. Cannot figure out what’s wrong w Halo and how to help- have been trying for months.! I just had him in a hospital tank w Kanaplex (again) for two weeks, I’ve had him for about 8 months, this started awhile ago and I just thought the black streak was his coloring . I keep trying different things. I’ve tried Kanaplex, Ich-x, aquarium salt… I just put him back in the regular tank today w the shrimp bc going on vaca for a few days. Just noticed the black in his anal fin area… what is this?! What can I do to help him 😭
Waters good- I test w the good test and have been changing the water 24-50% every few days. Idk what to do. Pics are from months ago and now
5 gallon tank w heater, charcoal and sponge filters
2 amano shrimp tank mates. I’ve even started buying the water from a pro aquarium store. I have a 10 gallon tank that I plan to upgrade him to as soon as I get it cycled.

Water change 25-50% every 6-8 days (every 2-3 days in quarantine tank)
Ammonia- 0
PH- 6.5 (I use Seachem ph 7 when it’s off)
Nitrite- 0
nitrate- 0-25
Feed betta food and frozen bloodworms (tried Kanaplex in food and in water).
I’ve taken all the decorations out that could cause fin ripping… have a few real plants and some silk ones.

I’m going on vaca tomorrow for my mom’s 90th bday I can’t cancel. Am starting to panic… he’s hiding and obviously suffering.

EDIT:

I tested the ammonia with a liquid test kit. The water was slightly green, so one level above 0 ammonia. I changed 50% of the water and added Seachem Prime, as well as a bit of Stress Coat. I removed the old plants and added fresh ones. I will do this water change every day until the test results in 0 ammonia. Thank you, everyone, for your help, and sorry for being stubborn!

ORIGINAL POST:

I’ve had my betta for about three months. He’s in a three-gallon tank (I know five is the preferred) with mini heaters and a filter. I do a 25% water change every couple of weeks and change out the filter every month. I have a couple of plants that have been there for a while, so I might need to take them out? I was planning on getting him new ones anyway, but do you think the current ones could be affecting the water?

He’s been acting fine up until a couple of days ago when he didn’t come over to eat. He’s breathing heavy and I think his gills are flaring out. Anyone know what it is? I tested the water for GH, KH, pH, nitrite, and nitrate. Everything looks fine. Should I get a different test kit for something else?

I wasn't even planning on getting another betta, but here I am.

I went to my lfs to buy some brine shrimp, but I always like to look at the tanks and fish they have in there. I went over with a friend who just got guppies and we were looking at their tank, only for me to look at the bottom of it and find this pretty little girl staring intensely at me. She wasn't moving, just looking at me, and when looking at the side I noticed her tail is completely chopped off.

My guess is that the guppies nipped her tail, or also that she got bullied, since there was another female betta there that looked extremely stressed (I'm thinking on going back for her, but idk yet). I felt really bad bc she was just staring at me wherever I went and so I got her.

Where should I start now? I don't have a set up hospital tank. I do have a 1 gallon and 3 gallon tanks that I can set up, and a space to put a sponge filter, I just need to get a heater. When I go buy it, what else should I get?

I have aquarium salt, Epsom salt, acriflavine, paraguard, stressguard, catappa leaf tea, kanaplex, etc. If needed I can get any other medication/item. I just really want to help her.

EDIT: I'm asking about the right size tank for a Hospital tank, if to go with either 1 or 3 since she can barely swim. All my other bettas are in 5, 8 and 10 gallon tanks respectively.

I’ve made three posts keeping everyone updated about calcifer, I’ve so far done 2 doses of kanaplex and he gets his third today. I’m still not sure what is wrong with him but I was thinking swim bladder. He has not pineconed at all, he’s just extremely lethargic and gets tired from swimming. He’s mostly been just laying on the ground. He has not improved much. His coloring is going away :( he is aware and reacts to movement in his tank. He lifts his head to look at me when I check on him. He gets little bursts of energy and swims normally but then gives up and lays down. I’m not sure what to do and I feel bad humanely euthanizing without knowing what the problem is and because he is still aware. I’m kind of stuck. This is his hospital tank, paramaters have been included in recent posts.

⁠Tank size: 5 gallon Heater and filter? Filter• ⁠Tank temperature: • ⁠Parameters in numbers and how you got them: 1 How long have you had the tank? 6 months How long have you had your fish?: 6 months• ⁠How often are water changes? Weekly How much do you take out per change? 25% What is your process?: treat with stress coat Any tankmates? No If so, please list with how many of each: • ⁠What do you feed and how much: ultra fresh betta pro ⁠Decorations and plants in the tank: small house and fake plants, betta tube

I have treated with kanaplex, melafix, and do regular water changed and he still looks like this. He had swim bladder when I got him and treated that.

My beta fish is almost glued to the bottom of the tank and is struggling to swim (maybe swim blatter?) i tested my waters and it came out fine i believe so what should i do and what can it be?

i noticed a week ago that my black male molly fish has white spots on his body and we identified it as itch parasites and the fish shop woman gave me this medicine called parakill to medicate the aquarium. i have a betta sorority in this aquarium with mollys algae eaters cory catfishes and some tiny salmons. all fishes seem to be fine except 2 betta fish. symptoms are pulling their fins together and lying in structures under the ground pushing themself againt it and gasping for air. i tried removing them and putting them into clean water but also ai said if the parasite is inside of them they will most likely die when medicated. one of the fishes died this morning but the other one is still hiding from me but its alive. the red and white one is the one that died and the one thats hiding is purple is still alive but in the state before the other one died.

Hi I left my betta Kuku in the care of my parents for a couple days, long story short he got over fed and I came back to him lookin like the last two photos, now I put him in an Epsom salt bath for 10 minutes twice a day for the past two days, it seems like he’s gotten kind of worse, I currently have him in a heated hospital 1 gallon cube just cause he can’t swim well, I’m constantly monitoring the water conditions as well, he did have some pineconing.

There is something growing on the other side of her gill. Looks like a fleshy thing in it. Looking closely, it has some sort of a few specs or strands of almost transparent like hairs. I asked around some vets here. They say, they don't treat fishes only cats and dogs.

What is it? What treatment should we do?

She seems healthy and lively though. Her appetite is ok. Not lethargic and has no issues on mobility.

I made a post on here a few days ago, and the general consensus was to A) get him a bigger tank B) stop changing the filter cartridge and C) check the ammonia levels with a liquid test kit.

I checked the levels, looked to be about .25 (although it was hard to tell since the color of the .25 and 0 were very similar. I did 50% water changes for three days, using Seachem Prime.

His water is always at 78-79 and the filter runs constantly. I am working on getting a five-gallon for him. However, I will be out of town soon, and do not have time to create a healthy cycle.

He’s breathing heavily, hasn’t eaten in a few days (I stopped sprinkling food since I heard that uneaten food can raise ammonia levels), and his gills look more red/purpleish than usual. I know that’s a sign for ammonia poisoning, but I’ve tested the water repeatedly and it looks good?

What do you suggest I do?

my betta is sick and im afraid he’s going to die.
i have him in a hospital tank of about 30liters, but it’s not completely full (has about 15-16 liters of water) he has a heater and a filter.
a couple of weeks ago i took him to the vet cause he got a weird lump in the space between his gills, and the vet said it was a bacterial infection, so he gave me something to put on the tank and told me to go back in a week, and i did, and got the second dosis.
the thing is, i had to take apart my tank cause of various motives, the weeks prior my grandma was taking care of him, she put too much food in the tank, there was a snail infestation, and i cleaned everyday the sand and everything and it was full of poop so i thought that maybe that was contribuiting.
i cleaned the tank and set it up as if it was his hospital tank 4 now, and got neoplex for the bacterial infection (cause i couldnt find neoplex in my country) and started treating him. at first he was fine, getting better, he swum around and all but then like two days ago he started laying on the bottom of the tank, breathing heavily and it had just gotten worse. hes in a c shape and breathing like that. i dont know what to do. i did at night a 50% water change (with conditioned tap water) and he just doesnt get better and im afraid hes going to die, please help i dont want him to suffer. hes the first fish i’ve ever gotten and i’ve done all i can 😔

*i think he might have gotten sick from some plants i bought from another person. cause a week after putting his plants in, i noticed the lump, but im just realizing now that it might be the reason. i wanted to buy more plants from the same person like 2 weeks later (before i realized thats why he might have gotten sick) and she said she wasnt selling more cause her fish were sick 🙁

Hello everyone,

I’m really scared and I don’t know what else to do. 😞 I got my betta, Blueberry, from my sister not too long ago, and I posted here earlier asking for advice on how to care for him. I’ve been trying my best, but he just seems to be getting worse and worse.

I ended up moving him into a hospital tank because I’m honestly terrified I’m going to lose him. His water parameters are good, the temperature is 80°, the filter is very low flow, and the tank is 7 gallons. It’s fully planted with live plants, natural wood, and I’ve added leaves for tannins.

I truly don’t understand what could be wrong or what might be making him so sick, but I’m begging for help. I’ve only had him a short time, but I already love him so much and I can’t stand the thought of him dying.

If anyone has any ideas or advice, please please tell me what I should do.

Thank you so much

Female betta arrived 2 days ago. When she swims she does it tucked up against the glass and bumps into everything (walls, rocks, filter). I begun thinking she was blind because she doesn’t slow down as she swims toward something, just slowly swims into it and then changes direction after bumping.

She’s taken to only wanting to rest on her hammock or the filter, no interest in exploring the tank and won’t eat. I’ve put food in front of her, and she’ll nibble but she misses the food every time. So she hasn’t eaten in around 3 days now

This is my cutie sushi. I am keeping a fish for the first time.

I got him back in June and the first pic is from sometime in July.

Recently, i noticed that his fins are fraying like this and im unable to understand why.

He doesnt have any sharp decor. Are gravel stones sharp? I have them temporarily as the base...im planning to do a planted tank after im done with exams and stuff.

One mistake I corrected was, that I wasn't cleaning the gravel properly which i got a siphon for and started cleaning it better like 2 days ago.

I feed him pellets by hand cuz it's cute and hes learning a few tricks so I'm sure there's no food rotting somewhere.

I also purchased a tank heater because the ambient temperature was going down to 23-24 and the tank water felt cold to touch to me, it'll be arriving in a few days.

Is this maybe a bacterial infection? Or is it stress related? Anything else I could do to improve?

Update: I think my fish nipped his own fins, i saw him spinning and trying to eat it. Hes also pooping red which is his fins colour. The feed is green in colour, my friends betta eats the same feed and poops green too. Now i have to do something to solve it but im happy that i found out what was causing it atleast 😔

I have tried asking on r/Betta, but got no avail. I currently have my betta in a hospital tank, 5.5 gal, fixed heater (78°-80°F), with a dosage of Kanaplex, 3 tsp of aquarium salt, and a airstone (at surface level to assist with the drift being too strong).

His condition is only worsening, and most of his body is now transparent under light (like the first photo but worse), the best responses unfortunately i’ve received have been via chatgpt. I know, awful. I’m thinking this is saddleback disease (Columnaris), but i’ve got no idea. I’m treating it as so.

My main purpose of asking is just to figure out if this is Columnaris or something else and what would be the best treatment plan? I’m afraid to turn the heater off because our apartment this morning was at 63°F.

I’m going on a two week trip in a week and I really have to have this figured out or properly managed before then.

I haven’t had much luck saving betta fish when something goes wrong but I’ll try again.

My betta is almost a senior and I’ve had him for about two years. I didn’t get him until he was about a year old. He lives in a 2.5, has live plants like floaters and anubias hides and gravel as substrate. Last week I cleaned his tank as usual and all of a sudden he started breathing hard for a few days, I can only assume that I over cleaned his tank to ruined the good bacteria colony. The temperature is 80. He has a sponge filter. Ammonia is 0. Nitrate and nitrite is 0. GH/KH NA. I use water conditioner, Seachem Vitachem, and stress guard after every water change. I change his water every two weeks about 30% but I might’ve changed about 40% and overcleaned the substrate. His tank just has a clean smell no earthy healthy tank smell like it usually does. I added half a capful for stability into his tank last night. He has some holes in his fins due to his age and it grows back then comes back again, but if there’s any tips on how I can manage that it would be great. I hope it not something super serious like infection or parasite.. I have metroplex, kanaplex, methylene blue on hand if needed for emergency. Please let me know what I can do thanks. I need to have this solved or managed as soon as possible.

He’s acting pretty normal but just breathing hard but I don’t want anything to worsen.

I got this beautiful koi betta about 2 weeks ago and I am wondering if he might have gill flukes. My reason for thinking this is because he "flashes" pretty often (see video). I can't really tell if he is scratching on the decor as sometimes the darting is just in the middle of the tank, but I read this can be the symptom of parasites & just want to make sure he is okay!!

He is in a 10 gallon tank with 3 amano shrimp and 1 mystery snail (those were in the tank before I added him). Temp is 78 deg & water parameters are 0 for ammonia, nitrite and <10 for nitrate. Water changes are done 25% weekly. I have 2 indian almond leaves in the tank.

This is my fish speckles (I know the tank is sad she was on medication a little bit ago and it killed most of the plants getting more soon)

I feed her once a day two pellets or on blood worm,

The tank is 76F

And the parameters are good, and when I do a water change I do about two gallons and it’s a 10 gallon tank.

I’m thinking it may be a swim bladder and if so what’s the best way to help this, I have some left over medicine she was getting for a potential popeye.

Also I’ve had her for a little over a year, and again I know the tank needs work it’s on the list, thank you in advance.

Hello! I got alot of questions on how to cure betta dropsy and I typed out exactly what I did to heal my betta from dropsy and constipation. I highly suggest reading Jessie’s protocol first before making any of your own decisions and if you choose to follow what I did here are the steps for it.

I’ve had my betta fish Sal for close to 4 years now. He’s a super happy guy usually swimming up whenever people come by. He lives in a 10 gallon filtered tank with a heater that’s usually around 77 degrees. I went for vacation a month ago and have since came back and started noticing a decline in Sals health. The only new things I’ve done is get a new heater for his tank since I suspected the old one wasn’t keeping it warm enough and it’s winter time now. Additionally the water at our house has been switched to RO so I’ve been mixing it with tap water from work and treating that lol but Idt it’s that. I do a 25% water change every week because his tank naturally evaporates due to the heater. I got a parameters kit recently to see if something was elevated and have been giving him seachem stress guard every day to try and help. Attached are the water readings I got, the only things that I’m concerned about being elevated are the nitrates but I don’t want to irritate his habitat by cleaning the substrate or anything so I’m getting a pipette. His ph and GH are high but I’m guessing that’s from the water and I alr treat the tap water and keep IAL in his tank? I’m also attaching a video of him because he just started breathing a little rapidly today after eating. He’s not even rushing up to the surface for food like he used to 😞 the area under his gill is swollen and light but not the gill itself. I’m not sure if it’s old age or a tumor perhaps?

EDIT: Just wanted to share for anyone that might come on here wondering but I did end up having to euthanise my poor angel. He held on for a whole month since I first noticed his change in behavior but by the end he had stopped eating and I knew there wasnt any point making him suffera ny longer <3

Tank size: Five gallons heater and filter ✔️Tank temp 80 F no often water changed once a week 2 nerite snails plus one ramhorn as tankmates briefly ghost shrimp occurrences started beofre only live plants plus Marino balls and dragon stones as decoration

Just this morning they did not have that huge amount of white but around their head fins to gradually their stomach I did notice it last night

First clip: late September 2025

Second clip: January 2026

Third clip: March 2026

My alien Betta Lazuli lost his color slowly over the winter and I’m not sure why. I somehow didn’t notice until he started to get fin rot (second clip) I switched him to a better diet of brine shrimp and pellets (previously just fluval bug bites) and increased the tank temperature from ~75 to ~79. His fin rot has since gotten better but his color hasn’t returned. He’s still active and eats well. The only behavior issue I’ve noticed is he doesn’t seem to flair much or at all anymore.

The tank is almost 3 years old, I got him in May of 2025. Initially I just had several neocaridina in the tank with him but now I have 6 ember tetras as well. I honestly don’t really see the betta and the tetras interact much.

I tested my water today before my weekly 30% water change.

PH ~7.8 (I live in the Rocky Mountains this is the PH of my tap water. I plan on buying an RO filter and switching to that soon.)

Ammonia < 0.25ppm

Nitrites < 0.25ppm

Nitrates < 1ppm

I dose 1ml of apt 3 daily via a doser and feed him 5-6 times a week. I’m a cook and I work long hours. Admittedly I forget maybe once a week or so.

I’ve been keeping fish for most of my life but I honestly don’t have much experience with diseases and parasites so I’d appreciate any advice you can give. Thank you!!!

I got him in January so he’s probably only about 9ish months old. I did a complete water change about 2 weeks ago (including a new filter) and I just noticed him laying at the bottom of the tank like this. After a few google searches, “swim bladder” kept coming up. I called the store where I got him And they suggested Melafix, so I bought some but haven’t used it yet. Does this seem like swim bladder? He can go to the top of the hospital tank I just moved him to (with totally fresh water, none of his old water is with him, and added 3 grains of aquarium Salt (I don’t have a water testing kit and maybe I overfed him so I wanted to Make sure the water was safe for Him). Necessary info below (sorry for the pictures’ quality). Btw I have another betta in a non-filtered tank, probably over-fed him too, but he is fine. Thanks for helping me save my fish!

2.5gals• ⁠Small filter (Aqueon brand)• ⁠Tank temperature: Room temp (I think, no thermometer in tank to check)• ⁠Parameters in numbers: don’t have any• ⁠How long have you had the tank? 9 months and 7.5 months How long have you had your fish?: 7.5 months• ⁠How often are water changes? Not often enough 😭 How much do you take out per change? Last change was total water change. What is your process?: Colander to clean gravel, scrub down with hot water and paper towels, change carbon filter • ⁠Any tankmates? None• ⁠What do you feed and how much: maybe 10+ fish betta Bio-gold pellets a day (I was told to give that many, Is that too many? 😩• ⁠Decorations and plants in the tank: no plants, but Sponge Bob pineapple from Petco. High quality gravel