Abouttina quiao Expertise I can answer all questions about chemistry of water and I would say, I am familiar with almost all diseases of fresh and saltwater fish. I have had my 125 tropical salt and 45 agressive for yrs. I managed a petshop for five years and I am a petcare specialist for a large petchain now. I love my animals. I love this kind of work. Helping people keep their fish sucessfully is so rewarding to me.
Experience I managed a petshop in Bridgeton called Petpourri for about 5 years...I am a petcare specialist for a large pet chain. I have 2 African greys, a Nandey conure,a potbelly pig, 2 rats and a hamster. Oh and did I mention a 125 tropical salt and a 45 agressive salt. I have had brakish and fresh. I am very familiar with disese and chemistry of your tank. I also have 2 senegul chameleons and the anoles that live in the bottom of their 37 high tank. We keep tons of reptiles at the store and keep a couple as pets love them all. I have worked in the pet business for yrs.....along with taking care of all of mine.
Expert: tina quiao Date: 5/29/2008 Subject: sick Betta
Question Hi,
I have had a male Betta for about a month. He was fine swimming around and eating normally. The past three or four days he has been sitting at the top of the tank, leaning on one side slighty and has not eaten at all. When i put my finger near him he straitens up and swims a litte. It seems like he has difficulty swimming down to the bottom of the tank, and when he is down the bottom he floats back up as if he is too buoyant. He lives in a 380 Litre tank with other small peaceful fish that have never bothered him. The tempreature is a steady 25 C, with a pH of 7.6. I am running an external canister filter which is set up as to minimise current. I feed all my fish a mixture of sera flakes (daily) and frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp and live black worms (alternate days). I did also notice that his poo was white, not stringy and not overly long just white. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Answer Raouf, Since he is in a tank with other fish I would put him into a smaller isolation tank. It sounds like he has a swimbladder infection. I would medicate him because it sounds pretty bad. Use Melafix it is a broad spectrum antibiotic and it is all natural made from tea trees in Australia. Since he is so delicate go with all natural. It is 1 tsp per 10 gallons. Adjust accordingly. I would also give him a squished pea every other day just a small piece of the guts. This is also a natural antibiotic and be given once a week too all your fishies to prevent this from happening again. You should definitely add aquarium salt to his water sometimes they have a problem releasing liquid wastes. I would add it to your big tank. It relieves stress and helps them osmosize the water(fancy word for the way your fish drink , they absorb and release water). This helps them do it more efficiently. This is usually what brings on a swimbladder problem. Good Luck,Tina
