Mr. Betta

[kansaschick08]

Well one weird betta i have...he likes to sit by the filter, and let his fins get sucked into the filter holes..is this normal? why does he do this? he likes to hide underneath one of my plants too, that one is cute cause its like he's playing a game. but the whole fins in the filter scares the day lights out of me..

 

[lmw80]

I have seen my betta do it on occasion, not on a regular basis. His fins aren't getting torn, are they?

 

[megladonsharky]

how big of a tank , what are your h2o stats , heated??

How often do you do h2o changes??

Is he the only fish?? any fin clamping??

 

[kansaschick08]

well, i might be ashamed to say this, but i don't keep track of the stats of the water, it is currently semi heated, temp is 76-78, i JUST set the tank up about a week ago, he is the only fish, and lori, there are no fin tears. he just goes and sits by it and lets his fins get sucked in.

it's a 5gallon tank.

 

[megladonsharky]

how big... likely he is a bit sick not real sick ... I had that when my first betta lived in a bowl..

what type of filter?? can you adjust it.??

are his fins on the side kinda stuck together not fanned out?>??

 

[kansaschick08]

he shows no signs of being sick. the filter is a powerfilter that hangs over into the tank.. can't really adjust it....fins fan out fine.

 

[Fluff]

Hey Shannon,
I find my bettas like to hang out in the floating plants. Perhaps he could be persuaded to leave the intake for the safety of some plants in the upper level of the tank? Just a thought.

 

[kansaschick08]

well fluffy, the plants are actually planted. and he dilliberatly goes over there, and lets himself get sucked onto/into the filter slits.

 

[Fluff]

the plants are actually planted. and he dilliberatly goes over there, and lets himself get sucked onto/into the filter slits.

I remember, that's why I suggested some floating plants. I have bettas in all but one of my fw tanks and they all stay to the top within the plants. Hopefully he's not ill and that's why he's being drawn in by the intake. I can't imagine that it would be comfortable or pleasant to have your fins being sucked up in the slits. :?

 

[Kari]

Watch him closely for a bit. I've been going through this same thing almost. I put my white male betta, Falcore, into a 5 gal. tank about a week ago. I had a filter, a heater, and a bubble curtain. The bubble curtain seemed to cause too much current for him, so I took it out and just put in an air stone. Then I noticed his fins were getting sucked up by the filter when he'd get close to it. The next day, one of his fins were hemorrhaging badly, so I took out the filter, and left just the air stone.

Plants for him, to keep him away from the filter, are a good suggestion. I still would like to find a way to filter without having to worry about him getting caught up in it at all...I've started learning that undergravel filter systems aren't good, so I haven't even considered that. I don't think they make an undergravel filter to fit the tank he's in anyway. Is there something else that wouldn't be powerful enough to suck his fins in, to the point he has to struggle to get away from it?

Anywho...kansaschic, I don't know what color your betta is, but if he's a dark color, I don't know that you'd be able to see the hemorrhaging if it's there. Falcore's white, so it stands out pretty dramatically. It might be that your filter doesn't pull quite as roughly, and your betta just likes it...the way kids like to feel the end of the vacuum cleaner on their hair

 

[kansaschick08]

i have never heard of a kid liking the feeling of a vacuum cleaner on their hair..never in my life...my betta is dark blue, with some red in him...the filter has a pretty nice current on it. oh one other problem...he's not eating very well. he's not eating at all.

 

[Fluff]

Is it possible he's constipated? You said you haven't checked the water parameters, have you done any water changes? Does he look bloated? What are you feeding him?

 

[Kari]

What are you feeding him? I couldn't get mine to eat any of the betta pellet foods. I finally found a very small flake food, with tiny pieces of brine shrimp in it, they LOVE it. The one I'm using is called BettaMIN tropical medley, and Tetra makes it. A few of my bettas really like shelled peas too, but I don't think they could eat those all the time, just once a week.

As for the vacuum cleaner...maybe I should clarify with the hose attachment, kids like to get their hair sucked into it. At least all of mine have, and my nephew...maybe it's just a family thing

 

[kansaschick08]

As for the vacuum cleaner...maybe I should clarify with the hose attachment, kids like to get their hair sucked into it. At least all of mine have, and my nephew...maybe it's just a family thing

i do believe that this might be only fun for...you.

Is it possible he's constipated? You said you haven't checked the water parameters, have you done any water changes? Does he look bloated? What are you feeding him?

How on earth do you check if he is constipated? i have not done any water changes because i just set this tank up like...a week ago. he doesn't look bloated. and i am feeding him...nutrafin max, betta food with natural color enhancers. (flakes)

 

[Fluff]

Hmm, how to explain constipation. It will look unusually fat in the belly area. Like it's over eaten, even though it's not eating. Does that make sense?
He may not be used to flake food and might needs some time to take to it. My female who just passed on, wouldn't touch anything but flakes where as my male bettas will only eat the betta pellets. :|

 

[kansaschick08]

should i try betta pellets? yes the constipated report made sense.

 

[Fluff]

You could try. That and/or some blood worms might entice him. I would also still do a water change.

 

[kansaschick08]

alrighty, so this morning when i was drying my hair... i was watching my fishy, and right by his gills, the scailes are torn/ripped. i took him out, and he is now sitting in his little cup. i think that i should go return this filter, and get another? i will get him blood worms tonight.

 

[lmw80]

just put netting over the filter intake, and he should be fine. Keep a close eye on the torn/ripped scales for incfection.

 

[kansaschick08]

okay, so the betta...has died. last night i was talking to some people off of here and they recommended i PM someone, i did. she was alot of help, if only i could have gottenthat stuff before he passed. the problem with his passing: torn fins due to the filter that he "liked" and then his gills were huge and he had white furry stuff around them. and then around the middle of his body on one side. then this morning when i found him dead i saw osme more on the other side of him...