Images of Betta fish

Know what a healthy betta looks and acts like. A healthy betta eats vigorously, swims around and is active, is colorful and vibrant, has fins and a tail that spread out like fans, and has scales and a body that look slick and clean. Know what a sick betta looks and acts like. Sometimes, a betta acts sad because he is sick. If your betta is lethargic, check the tank's temperature and test the water. You may need to do a water change or turn up the heater. Signs of a sick betta are:

• Does not eat at all or eats reluctantly
• Is inactive; stays in a corner of the tank, lays at the bottom, or is always at the surface
• Purposely runs into objects, as if in an effort to scratch itself
• Looks pale, grey, or generally dull in color
• Tail and/or fins are clumped, closed, stiff looking, or falling apart
• Body has open sores, white cottony patches, red spots or white spots, or lumps
• Eyes are protruding or swollen looking
• Gills don’t close all the way and stay half-open; they may look swollen or red
• Scales are raised like a pine cone
• Belly looks either hollow or extended and swollen

Diagnose your betta’s illness. There are several common betta illnesses that can be treated if diagnosed correctly, but you should be sure about what your fish has before starting treatment. Some medicines work for several different types of fish illnesses, but you should be sure to get the correct one. Some common fish illnesses are:

• Fungal infection: look for white cottony patches on body and head, closed up fins, pale color, less activity
• Tail and/or fin rot: look for fin and tail getting shorter, falling apart, having a darker color, less activity and reluctant eating
• Ick: look for small white spots (like the body was sprinkled with salt), less activity and eating, and attempted scratching against rocks or plants
• Velvet: look for less activity, loss of appetite and color. Velvet (a parasite) can be hard to spot so use a flashlight and look for a fine gold or rusty mist on the fish’s body
• Dropsy: look for a big, extended belly and scales that are raised and look like pine cones. Unfortunately this is one disease for which there is no known treatment; it is thought to be a bacteria that causes kidney failure, and may be linked to feeding live worms to a betta.

Isolate your sick betta for treatment. If you keep other fish or water animals (snails or frogs) with your betta as companions, you’ll need to remove your betta from the communal tank to treat it. You don’t want to treat healthy fish or water animals if they aren’t sick, though a complete water change for the whole tank is a good idea if you have one sick fish. Your sick betta may need to be isolated for up to 3-4 weeks while it gets better. Go to your nearest pet store and look for medicines that treat the various illnesses listed above; they will all most likely contain types of antibiotics (tetracycline, ampicillin) or anti-fungals (maracin). Speak to the pet store aquarium specialist or to a veterinarian. Do this if your fish seems sick and you cannot determine what is wrong, especially BEFORE beginning treatment. It is not a good idea to treat your betta with the wrong medicines, because this could make him sicker.