How do you know if a betta is sick?

Question

please nothing to xpensive

Answer 1

It is really hard to tell with them.  I have one that will act like he is dying one day and the next day he is chasing the other fish in my tank.

He may not be getting enough light. I have had him for almost a year and this is his typical behavior.

Answer 2

OK here's a list of symptoms I know:

- lack or coloring (colors are getting lighter)

- white flecks

- swimming on its side

- a lot of darting and "itching" on the gravel

- irritated looking gill covers

- appearing to have stringy white mucus attatched to its body

- a fuzzy little ball attached to your Betta's tail.

You can see more symptoms and antidotes at http://www.geocities.com/learnbettas/dc....

Answer 3

http://www.petco.com/caresheets/fish/Bet...

http://bettalistserv.tripod.com/Diseases...

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?...

http://www.aquariumguys.com/betta-fish-c...

Answer 4

Well first off, the symptoms your fish is having would be useful and Secondly, if you're worried about pricing, forget trying to take care of it and just buy another when it's dead. You don't seem too enthused about trying to care for your fish.

Answer 5

if it is lethargic or has fin rot or has popperd out eyes.  their is lots of things    can u describe how hes acting?

Answer 6

i'm not exactly the betta expert, but i've had several in the past. i've noticed that if their stomach is bloated, it gets harder for them to swim. i'm assuming this is a sign of sickness.

Answer 7

Well, depends on what illness it has!

If it has white dots it is ich and you need to raise the water temp to cure it.

If its fins have black edges and look to be rotting away is is fin rot and you need to treat it with fin rot meds. There are lots and lots of other diseases, these are just 2 common ones.

Answer 8

These symptoms could be almost anything.

Start by changing his water, and give him a nice, fresh environment. If he isn't eating, the food is probably sitting in his water and rotting, which will make them very sick, very fast.

Is he warm enough? They are tropical fish and like to be kept warm: high 70s is best.

Here is a Drs Foster & Smith guide that tells you how to identify some illnesses in fish:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/articl...