Fish lovers! Help!

[Memo]

So I'm fish-sitting for a friend and I think the little guy is dying on me! I woke up and was gonna change his water before I left town so he'd have a clean bowl but I noticed he was moving erratically. He swims sideways kinda weird around the top of the bowl and then just lays there for a while. I'm pretty sure he's dying (It's a Beta) but I can't make sure. I left him for dead a few minutes ago but I came back and he's moving again like that. Is there anything I can do for him? Man, my friend's gonna kill me! :ugh:

[irwin]

Replacement betas are like $2 at the fish store.

[ski]

you MURDERER!

[Hypnotist]

This (http://www.petloss.com/) will help your friend. :angel:

[blueindian]

if it dies, you should replace it with a different colored one and then act like nothing happened.

[kei2]

Replacement betas are like $2 at the fish store.Yeah it'll be just like those old sitcoms where the pet-sitters have to find a replacement that they think looks the same but the real owners can tell. Or Meet The Parents, come to think of it. "You painted a cat?!"

[BrewMaster]

if it dies return it to your friend as is. if your friend freaks and says the fish is dead, insist it is just sleeping because you gave it NyQuil to help its cough.

[tupacboy]

check water temp... hot = bad....

[WhiskeyPapa]

Our beta does that quite often. We thought it was dead at least 3 times in the last year. I wouldn't worry about it. Don't change the water. Most of our fish die right after a water change.

[Emqtee]

How much have you fed the betta? Sometimes if you feed too much they can get what is called swim bladder disease. If it is swimming kinda sideways on the top and not able to get to the bottom of the tank that might be the problem. It may help to not feed it for a couple of days. Also do a complete water change. Make sure the water is about the same temperature as the water it is in now. If you have aquarium salt you may want to put some in there. Use stress coat also, it will help with the stress of the water change.

Also believe it or not with swim bladder problems I have heard that you can feed your fish a pea and it is suppose to help with the problem.

There has been many a time when my bettas looked like they are on death's door. They are really hardy fish, with a little tlc the fish you are watching may turn out just fine.

[Memo]

Man, I think I saved it. I changed it's water and gave it some food. It kept moving all crazy and then it wasn't moving for a while. So I left it for dead. I came back to the bowl to flush him and he was moving! He seemed to be able to go down again and not just float on his side. Hopefully he will survive the next few days as I had to leave him in Austin and am now in Houston for Christmas. Thanks for the info on this bladder disease problem. Maybe I did overfeed him the other day.

[NullUnit2000]

If all else fails...

http://www.century21.gr.jp/bridal/stuff/cor/sushi.jpg

[Emqtee]

One thing to know also is that fish do "sleep." This scared me the first time I saw my betta on the bottom of the tank not moving around. Turned out he was just resting.

[Leebo]

I always thought beta's were the hardest to kill out of all fishies. But i'm sure he's ok :)

[brainsmile]

he may have ick or something like that. Take some water to the nearby store and get it analyzed.

[Agent Plissken]

flush the fish, knock the bowl over, blame the cat!

[Houdini]

I'm fish sitting now too. The owner left a bottle of "Beta Fix" for one that was looking sickly. 6 drops a day for a few days has him looking better. :shrug:

[RoniMan]

it's like "Finding Memo"

/me runs

[DarkFury]

OK... I see that my help is needed in here. :D

A little background on bettas... #1, Bettas are a pretty tough fish... they come from some very dirty water in their native environment, hence their adaptive breathing in being able to take in atmospheric air.

#2 - Betta activity can be directly related to room temperature. Now granted.. a Betta can survive some pretty drastic temp extremes, however they are most comfortable within the 75 - 78 degree range. What is the temp in the room that you have the betta in?

#3 - How much did you feed this Betta? Personally a Betta can go a long time between meals... I feed mine every 2 - 3 days. Any more than that and you usually end up fouling their water which can lead to bad things if you let them stay in that condition.

Basically the bottom line is just take care on what you are doing with the fish. Most Bettas will forgive you for minor inattention... and they generally don't get "sick' like other fish do...

At this point... I'd say that changing the water was a good idea. Be sure to use a good declorinator and maybe put some "Stress Coat" in there to help the fish build up it's natural resistance. Keep the temp of the bowl stable and don't overfeed (only a few granules of food... don't even toss a pinch in there because that is TOO MUCH food.

Good luck... hopefully he'll pull through for ya. :D