Getting to know your betta's ilness

Getting To Know Your Betta's Ilness

How can you tell if your fish has been afflicted with a betta fish illness.

• Your betta is mostly docile and inactive
• Your betta is unresponsive to stimuli
• Your betta's body shows signs of deterioration, discoloration, uneven skin texture, ruptured fins, or even bloating.
• Your betta isn't interested in food.

-FUR COAT SYNDROME -
A dermal bacterial infection. Bettas are very susceptible to this ailment. It is generally characterized by discoloration of tissue, particularly the fins to a dark brown or black and a grey or brown 'fur' or mold over the body, usually starting across the back and at the base of the fins and rapidly spreading to cover most of the body. Loss of appetite and listlessness are also common signs. This disease can be readily prevented by keeping your Betta in warm enough water, providing them with a good diet, and treating your water with aquarium salt or rock salt. 'Fur coat syndrome' is almost always fatal within 30 hours of the first signs or symptoms. In cases where you know that your fish has caught this disease, using a targeted Betta antibiotic like Betta-Max greatly increases the fish's survival rate in the face of this illness.
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-FIN ROT
This disease comes mainly from dirty water. If you keep the water VERY CLEAN your Betta will never get fin rot. Your Betta has fin rot if his fins and/or tail seem to be getting shorter and shorter, or they seem to be falling apart and dissolving. There may be a darker color (or a reddish one) to the edge of the Betta's fins/tail. He may be still active and eating normally, or may have stopped eating, fins may be clumped, color may be pale. If your fish has caught this disease, do a full water change and use a medication such as Neosulfex or an antibiotic such as Tetracycline. Once rot stops and fins start growing back you can switch to Betta-Max and use it for a month. Betta-Max will not hurt your fish and also has vitamins, etc. that help the healing process. A small pinch of aquarium salt or rock salt will also help the healing process. Get a new bowl and sanitize old bowl every week until healed.
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-ICK
Ick is a parasite. If you always add aquarium salt or rock salt to your Betta's water he will probably never get Ick. Your Betta has Ick if he has white spots all over his body. He may be less active, may have stopped eating, and fins may be clumped. Do a full water change and add more salt (up to 1 teaspoon per gallon) to the water. You can also use medication specially made to kill Ick.
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-VELVET
 Velvet is another parasite. If you always add aquarium salt or rock salt to your Betta's water he will probably never get velvet. It is hard to spot, but can be best spotted with a flashlight. Shine the light on the Betta's body. If it looks like it is covered with a fine gold or rust mist, then it has velvet. A Betta with velvet will act sick, so look for clamped fins, scratching against rocks/gravel/tank, loss of appetite, loss of color etc. Increase the amount of salt as the procedure for ick (see above). Use a medication for velvet such as Maracide.
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-DROPSY
The most common and most fatal Betta disease. Very little is known about it, other than it is abdominal bloating and that the tissues of Betta get filled with fluids. It is easy to diagnose a Betta with Dropsy. Look for two signs: an abnormally big (bloated) belly and if you look at the Betta from the top, raised scales. Scales will look like an open pine cone. If you see this, you are out of luck, and so is your Betta. There is no known cure for Dropsy. The fish will soon die. Keep the water clean to prevent Dropsy and any other disease.
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How to spawn bettas? bettasplendensusa.com

When are females betta fish ready to spawn?
You need to have a tank with a divider so the male and female can see each other. That way, the female will become interested and the male create a floating bubble nest on the top of the water (he will need something to attach this to like a plant and calm water so it won't break apart or a diposable cap foam cutting on half).
Try to find almond leaves, use one square-inch of leaf per half-gallon of water for individual fish.  Use one leaf per 10-gallon rearing tank for the fry.  Use one-leaf per half-filled 10-gallon breeding tank. It helps them heal wounds and ward off illnesses.  Be careful, because it also makes the male more aggressive at breeding time.  On the other hand, it also helps the female recover from any wounds she receives during the breeding process.
The female will be obviously ready when you see -vertical- stripes along the sides of her body, her abdomen is swollen with eggs and a small white bump is visible under her abdomen. It is imperative that she have -vertical- stripes, because horizontal stripes indicate fear.
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