Q:
Recently I moved into a new house and when I changed my bettas water
I forgot about the water softener. I changed the water and have been
using Maracide, but he won't eat and is looking very weak.
Please help me try to figure out if it's too late. Thank you!
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| A: Lost
in trouble land? Faith to the rescue!! LOL.
Well, I see a few things that went wrong right off the bat, although your questions remains unclear on some points. For example, what do you mean by "forgot about the water softener". Do you mean you now have one? Or had one before and now don't? Either way the deal is that all of you guys MUST be very careful about betta's water. Each water has a different balance. For example: Drinking water is radically different than distilled water, radically different than tap water, radically different than rain water, radically different than water you would collect from a lake, or river or etc (and NO you should never put a betta in river or lake water)... When using tap water, each town's water may be radically different. Usually the discrepancies between waters comes from the PH (level of acidity of the water) and Hardness (number of particles in suspension in the water). Both of which are invisible to our eyes. In short to you all water may LOOK the same, but to your betta, switching from one water to the next could mean DEATH. See, fish live in osmosis with the water so their bodies must adapt to each water. Water and fish share fluids, so once the body of the fish has finally balanced itself to be in harmony with the water, if you switch to something different, it creates a great stress on the betta. As we saw yesterday, stress is the major factor in betta sickness and death. In your case, however I look at it, it is obvious the betta ended up in a water that was A)- different in PH or Hardness (or both) than his previous beloved water B)- Possibly ended up in tap water that was not treated properly to remove chloramines, chlorine and harmful metals. This is a BIG NO NO. So here are your answers and the help you seek:
| switch him to this new treated
tap water very gradually. To do this, slowly introduce the new
water by adding a bit of it every two hours to his jar's old
water. Start by dumping 70% of his old water out while keeping
him in there, then slowly add new water at the rate of about 10%
per 2 hours. After a whole day of this, he will be acclimated to
the new water and from then on you can do normal water changes.
In case you , in deed, did not treat his water and he currently
is in tap water that contains chlorine (betta poison), then
IMMEDIATELY add the amquel and novaqua DIRECTLY in his current
jar. 1 drop of each per gallon.
| be sure to ALWAYS use the same
water, treated the same way at the same temperature as his jar's
water. A MUST. Any abrupt changes in above may cause his death.
| Your betta is very stressed
currently. He may make it, or may not. But to help him we will
put some Methylene Blue to his water. This will help treat him
for poisoning. You can find it at any pet store and it is cheap.
It is also a good disease preventative. It will turn plastic
stuff blue, so remove plastic plants if you can.
| Maracide. You mention adding
maracide. I have no clue as to why you picked this specific
medication. It is only effective against parasites and I do not
believe this is helping your betta' at all because he more than
likely does not suffer from ich or velvet. You guys have to stop
adding just whatever to your betta's water. Each product is
designed to work on a specific problem and that problem only,
There is no such thing as a "cure all" product.
| After about 1 week in Methylene
Blue, switch him to Bettamax. Bettamax also has methyblue in it,
but also has other good stuff such as antibacterial and
antifungal agents as well as vitamins. It will help perk him up
and fight off any diseases. In time he will start eating again.
If after 2 weeks he still will not eat but looks a bit better,
try getting him some live brine shrimp, the bettas usually go
for it even if on their death bed ;). This will help stimulate
his appetite. Also the Bettamax recommended above will help as
the vitamins will keep your betta stronger while he fasts.
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Learn from your mistake and read carefully my section on betta care focusing on water especially. I hope your betta makes it. For the rest of you guys, it is imperative when you move that you find out where your tap water comes from. For example I moved from Burbank to West Hills, only 30 min away, but my water comes from a different water company and is very different than the Burbank one. I had lots of problems in Burbank and since I have moved the water is so much better it is amazing. When I moved I acclimated ALL my thousands of bettas VERY gradually and did not lose ONE. So do your homework and do your job right! And always acclimate your bettas to new water because even if it still comes from the faucet, city waters were not created equal. Hugh. Super Extra Wise Betta Mermaid has spoken.
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