Betta Splendens - Half Moon, Double Tail, Crown Tail Bettas

Affected Parts:	Symptoms:	Suggests:	Remedy:	Prevention:
Eyes	cloudy/hazy, or protruding	Popeye	Mela-Fix Maracyn Two Ampicillex Penicillin	Fresh, clean water; avoid over-aerating, rough handling, extreme temperature changes
Head	loss of appetite, swims unevenly, pin-sized holes or lesions in the head area and color intensifies.	Hole-in-the-Head	Hole-N-Head Guard	Fresh, clean water
Body	pale, gray or dull; stays at the bottom of the bowl only coming up for air	cold, stressed, vitamin deficiency	BettaMax	prevent stress; add vitamins; don't overfeed; maintain constant temperature in the 72º - 80ºF.
	reddening on or under the skin; open sores	Bacterial infection	MelaFix Tetracycline Furacyn MarOxy	Fresh, clean water, aquarium salt
	white stringy or cottony patches anywhere on the body, fins, tail, mouth, eyes or on open wounds..	True Body, Mouth & Eye Fungus (Saprolignia); Body slime	Jungle Fungus Eliminator MarOxy Methelyne Blue	Keep your fish in very clean conditions during and after an illness
	White or gray stringy growth or film on most of the body, but may spread to tail & fins.	BodyFungus(Columnaris) is actually a bacterial problem.	Maracyn Clout	Keep your Betta clean. Disease may be introduced by live foods.
	red streaks on fins close to the body	Septicemia (internal bacterial infection)	Maracyn Two and /or medicated food for bacterial infections. Acraflavin (note: may cause sterility)	Fresh, clean water. Buy live foods from reputable sources.
	thin, listless; rapid breathing; lumps under the scales or skin.	Internal parasites	Maracyn-Two	Buy live foods from reputable sources.
	white spots that resemble grains of salt or sugar; clamped fins, labored breathing; appears to 'scratch' himself on objects in bowl.	Ich	Aquari-Sol Quick Cure Maracide Rid Ich MarOxy for fry Note:Raise temp to 80º-85ºF during treatment.	Add Aquarium Salt and Aquari-Sol to your water conditioning regimen.
	gray or gold/yellowish brown colored dust spots all over its body and fins, clamped fins, labored breathing	Velvet (common cause of fry loss)	Coppersafe, Malachite Green, or 5 pennies to a quart of water for 24 hours Note: raise temp to 80º-85ºF during treatment.	Add Aquarium Salt and Aquari-Sol to your water conditioning regimen.
Body (cont.)	visible thread-like worms clinging to the body; clamped fins; darts around his bowl & appears to be scratching himself on the sides of the bowl or objects or, rapid gill movement, mucous covering the gills or body, the gills or fins may be eaten away, the skin may become reddened	Parasites: fish louse/flukes, worms	Formalin 3 (Kordon), Permoxyn (Kordon)	Clean water, buy live foods from reputable source.
	floats to the surface on his side and can't seem to get his balance; belly may be swollen, loss of appetite	Constipation (not contagious)	Do not feed for one day then feed vegetable flakes or the inside of a cooked pea. As a last resort do a short Epsom salt bath (15 minutes only!) using 1 Tbsp salt per gal.	Rotate foods on a regular basis including live foods and do not overfeed. 2-3 pellets, shrimps, bloodworms, etc. two or three times a day is plenty.
	swollen bloated body with protruding scales, clamped fins, lethargic, loss of appetite	Dropsy (bacterial infection of the kidneys)	Tetracycline, Maracyn Two, Antibiotic food (if it'll eat) and warmth.	Fresh, clean water is essential. Note: This is a very deadly disease with only a small percentage of fish that survive. If you notice your Betta swelling up and not eating, even if the scales are not protruding, treat it immediately.
Gills	swollen, discolored, gasping for air, inactive	Gill Disease	Maracyn Two	Fresh, clean water
Fins	holes, split, frayed or falling off.	Fin & Tail rot	Neosulfex, Ampicillex, Mela-Fix, Tetracycline	Remove objects in bowl that could tear fins
Other	slides across the bottom of bowl and only comes up for air.	Swim bladder disorder (not contagious)	In extreme cases, euthanasia might be the kindest thing to do.	Do not overfeed
Other	unexplained death with no physical symptoms.	Old age usually between 2-3 years old. * * * * * * * * * * * Poisoned by aerosol room freshener, perfume, spray cleaners, etc.	Sorry, there is no remedy for old age… sadly, your fish is going to die. * * * * * * * * No remedy	You did your best. * * * * * * * Avoid all sprays around fish containers.