Conference 7.286::fish

1686.0. "A Bent Betta" by EVMS::MARION (So many fish ...) Mon Jan 27 1997 17:48

Hi all,

A co-worker of mine has a fish in a curious condition, and none of us have
figured it out.  Can anyone help?

The fish is a red betta splendens (Siamese fighter).  He's had him for about
8 months, and keeps him in a bowl at work.  The environment is as follows:

	2 gallon bowl
	no filter
	no heater
	uncovered
	changes 1 gallon of water every 2 weeks, with vacuum
	1 tsp salt/gallon, water is conditioned with NovAqua
	feeds Hikari Betta Bio-Gold mostly
	marbles on bottom, 1 fake plant
	no other fish

Now, the betta was doing very well until a couple of weeks ago, at which time
it developed a bend in its body.  The bend is when seen from above, and does
not go away when it moves around.  It's as if it's stiffened up in a weird
way, though it's still flexible in the other areas of its body.  The bend is
toward the rear.  I don't know how to describe it better.  If it were sitting 
still you'd think it just happened to be bent that way at the moment, because 
bettas are very flexible fish.  The anal fin has a split in it, and the tail 
has a small split.  I don't look at his fish often enough to know if the fins 
were split before.  He seems less active, though he's got a bubble nest.  His 
color is excellent, there are no blemishes on his skin, and I think he's eating 
normally.  He used to rush forward when a person got near his bowl, flaring
his gill covers and looking for food.  Now he just sits near the surface by
his bubble nest and takes his time about responding to food.  Though he will
sometimes still flare and fuss at folks, he's slower to respond then he used
to be.

I have a betta in my office too, and the differences in care are that I do
my water changes once a week, use a different brand of salt, have gravel on 
the bottom, and keep my bowl covered with a napkin and plexiglass arrangement 
to allow air exchange but keep drafts and dust out.  I also alternate the
Hikari food with HBH Betta Bites, and occasionally Nippon Betta Bits, and use
Stress Coat to condition my water, rather then NovAqua.  I've had my betta 
about 6 months and he's his usual fine and sassy self.  I mention this to 
help rule out local water problems.

If anyone's seen this sort of thing, please let me know.  None of my books 
or magazines have described anything like this that I can find.  It's sad
to see this beautiful and normally energetic fish in this condition.

Thanks,
Karen.

    
    
    I know of a few things that can cause this in fish:
    
    Fish that are kept outdoors in ponds (goldfish/koi) if the pond is hit
    from lighting or some form of electrical shock can cause fish to bend
    like that.
    
    Also I've seen from over medication fish reacting that way.
    
    Possibly if the tank is open at the top the cleaning people might of 
     accidently sprayed a cleaning agent in the area that might of gotton
     into the tank?
    
    Maybe others have more ideas?
    
    Matt

    My co-worker's betta is still bent, but is otherwise apparently healthy.  
    Perhaps this is now a permanent condition.
    
    Oh well,
    Karen.