Betta Fish Breathing Heavy
Betta Fish Breathing Heavy
New fish breathing a little heavy?
I got a new betta yesterday, and she is very active and ate her food. She is in a heated and filtered tank. But I’ve noticed it looks like she’s breathing a little heavy. Is she just not used to her tank or is she sick?
Kitti is right & I, too, am wondering about some of these quizzical other answers…
There’s a high probability that she had ammonia poisoning from being in a tiny cup overloaded w/her own waste which resulted in ammonia burn to her gills. If this is the case, you may also notice that her gills are somewhat swollen, which is another telltale sign. The best thing you can do is keep her water pristine.
Her breathing could also be from the temp. change since she was used to such inappropriately cold water in the store. It could also be that the water composition is different from what she was used to & her bodys now adjusting to it. Also, if the bag wasn’t floated before she was put in the good, clean water may have shocked her system a bit.
It’s great you have a filter, but is the tank cycled? If you don’t know what that is, here’s info.: http://www.tropical-fish-success.com/aquarium-nitrogen-cycle.html Traditional cycling takes 4-6 wks. Fluctuating levels in the tank while it’s cycling are hard even on “hardy” fish & can have permanent affects, like gill damage, which is why fishless cycling is preferred. If you have a temporary, heated home she can be in while it cycles, great, if not, then you’ll need to do small water changes to keep the levels down until it finishes. Water changes remove ammonia, which is toxic & forms in water from uneaten food, waste, her breathing. It’s colorless & odorless so you can’t tell if the water’s ok by seeing if it “looks clean.” Any ammonia is enough to stress, sicken or kill fish, so none is the only ok amount. In a tank when it’s done cycling, change 10-25% of the water & vacuum 1/3 of the gravel 1x/wk (exact keveks wuill be determined by your liquid water test kit resulrs). Overcleaning is bad, as it causes mini cycles which also cause tank levels to flux, stressing &/or sickening fish.
As to whether she’s actually sick or just adjusting, do you see cloudy/bulging eyes, white dots, white cottony patches, white string, swollen gills, gold dust body coating? That info. would help determine if she’s sick, though her eating is a good thing.
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