Betta Fish Diseases

Betta Fish Diseases And Cures

The most common of betta diseases are fungus, fin rot, velvet and ick. These diseases are more often than not directly related to poor quality of the tank or bowl water.

Stale water is a haven for all types of diseases and organisms. Fluctuating water temperatures will also cause Bettas much stress. This inturn makes a Betta fish a lot more susceptible and prone to all types of terrible diseases. The good thing is most diseases can quickly and easily be treated with a few simple remedies.

Medicating a Betta fish should be your last resort. Why? Because some medications can have an adverses effect on Bettas, and will sometimes even kill them. More importantly, you really don't want to introduce medication until you're absolutely sure what the problem really is, and... how it's effecting your pet Betta.

The best cures for your fish

It should be no surprise that given those long flowing fins Betta fish are prone to damage and disease. Look carefully at the edges of the fins, and see if they look unsightly and a little ragged in appearance. Even a bit shredded in appearance as well.

Another horrible disease to watch out for is "velvet". What is velvet? It's a "velvety Coating" look--a "powdery layer" of yellow looking dust on the Betta scales. Grab a flashlight and shine it on your Betta and see if illuminates it. That's a good test to see if it's really velvet.

"Ich" is a common parasite which attacks fish. If your Betta fish has ich it will have "white spots" on its body about the size of a small grain of salt. Also Bettas with "Ich" tend to be rather slow swimming and quite listless. Another sign to watch for is the Betta fish constantly rubs itself against the tank sides or rock ornaments trying to rid themselves of the nasty parasites. Proper diagnosis and a close examination of your Betta fish is the key to curing the Betta fish of diseases. Again, do not be in a hurry to medicate untill your absolutely positive of what wrong with your Betta pet.

How to treat betta diseases

Here are the most successful ways to treat Betta fish diseases:

(1) Regualar change of the water.
(2) Never forget to add proper amounts of aquarium salt.
(3) Keep the water temperature constant

Here's why you must take those first 3 steps for two valid reasons.

(1) You need to totally eliminate any chance of harmful organisms from generating.
(2) You need to create a sterile environment that harmful organism can't populate in.
(3) Adding aquarium salt has a great therapeutic affect on Betta fish. If your Betta pet is sick it will have a much better chance of recovering. You can find other helpful information about betta fish dropsy.

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