Maintaining your Betta’s health is fairly easy. When your fish is ill, you will notice that his look and attitude changes. His appetite will wane, his color will diminish and he might not even extend his fins fully. Watching your Betta for any telltale signs of illness will, in itself, help to keep him healthy.
Betta Fish Care: Tank Sharing
If your Betta shares a tank with other fish and decorations, he can suffer hurt from other fish nipping at his fins or he may get bruises and cuts from the sharp edges of the substrate (gravel) or from some ornaments. If this happens, don’t panic. Most of these minor scrapes will heal themselves. But make sure to keep the water clean so infection doesn’t develop. Also, if your Betta has lost a piece of his beautiful fin, do not dismay. Happily, Bettas can regenerate their lost areas and their fins can return back to normal.
Fortunately, there are only a few diseases of which you must be aware.
Ich – Ich hails from ich protozoan, and it will manifest as groups of white spots on your Betta. These tiny creatures will attack his gills. Although this is easily treated, if left to itself, it can be fatal. If you raise the temperature in the aquarium to at least 90 degrees and also add a pinch of salt to the water, as well as change the water twice a day until all signs of it are gone, you should eradicate the problem fairly quickly.
Velvet – Velvet is another protozoan disease that manifests on your Betta as yellowish-copper spots. Adding salt to the aquarium water as well as changing the water at least once a day, will help alleviate this protozoan. Because Bettas tolerate salt well, the amount of salt, whether a tablespoon to one gallon or five gallons, will help eradicate the disease.
Fin rot – This is an infection that develops after Bettas suffer from fin burns. This condition can be easily treated. Fin rot is caused by dirty and/or polluted water. Changing the water and keeping it clean will help your Betta fight this situation, but it’s important to take this illness seriously because if your Betta’s fins are burned, so are its gills. If any other fish experience this, they would die because of a lack of oxygen. But because Bettas have the ability to breathe atmospheric air, it serves to keep them alive until the problem is resolved.
Aquarium Water
Lastly, be careful when changing your Betta’s aquarium water. When adding new water to your fish tank, it’s vital that it is the same temperature as your existing aquarium water. Also, treat the new water with conditioners to remove any chlorine that is in all public water supplies. Diligence when changing the aquarium water will prevent your Betta from being shocked or poisoned.
Betta Fish Disease Prevention
Disease prevention is vitally important for Betta fish care. Clean water, suitable food, the correct water temperature and prevention of overeating will serve to keep your Betta healthy.
How do you contribute to your betta’s health?