Health and diseasesComplete guide
Betta Fish Diseases: Identification and Treatment
Start from the symptom, not the disease name. What each sign points to, what to do first, and which conditions are usually fatal.
What this section covers
- Symptom-first diagnosis
- Fin and body conditions
- Parasites
- Internal and swim bladder problems
- Behavioural symptoms
- Quarantine and hospital tanks
- Medications and aquarium salt
- Prevention
8 of 8 written. New guides three times a week.
Complete guides
Health and diseasesComplete guide
Betta Fin Rot: Causes, Stages and Treatment
How to tell fin rot from ordinary fin damage, what causes it, and why clean stable water does most of the work before any medication.
Health and diseasesComplete guide
Swim Bladder Disorder in Bettas: Causes and Care
Why a betta floats, sinks or lists sideways, which causes are reversible, and the fasting-first approach that resolves the most common one.
Health and diseasesComplete guide
Why Is My Betta Fish Not Eating? Causes and Fixes
Work through it in order: water, temperature, the food itself, then illness. What is normal after a move and when refusing food becomes urgent.
More on health
Aquarium Salt and Bettas: When It Helps and When It Harms
Aquarium salt is not a general tonic and it is not table salt. What it does, the narrow cases it suits, and why we publish no dose.
Preventing Betta Disease: What Actually Works
Most betta illness starts with cold water, an uncycled tank or a fish added without quarantine. Five habits that remove those causes.
Betta Lying at the Bottom of the Tank: What to Check
Sometimes it is resting, often it is cold water or ammonia. The checks that separate a napping betta from a sick one, in order.
Columnaris in Bettas: The One That Moves in Hours
Often mistaken for fungus. Columnaris can kill in a day or two, so recognising it early matters more than with any other betta illness.
Velvet in Bettas: The Gold Dust Nobody Sees Early
Velvet hides in plain sight. How to spot the gold sheen with a torch, how it differs from ich, and why the tank goes dark during treatment.
Dropsy in Bettas: What It Is and the Honest Prognosis
Dropsy is a symptom of organ failure, not a disease. What the raised scales mean, what can be tried, and why most cases do not recover.
Popeye in Bettas: One Eye or Both Tells You the Cause
A bulging eye on one side is usually injury. On both sides it is usually internal. That single distinction decides what you do next.
Betta Constipation and the Pea Myth
The blanched pea is the most repeated betta remedy online. Here is what constipation actually is, what to do, and why the pea is a poor answer.
When to See an Aquatic Vet for a Betta
Yes, vets treat fish. When it is worth going, how to find one, what to bring, and the cases where nothing on a shop shelf will help.
Setting Up a Betta Quarantine Tank: When and How
A quarantine tank stops one sick fish becoming a sick tank. What to buy, how to run it, and how long to keep a new betta in it.
Betta With Clamped Fins: Causes and What to Check First
Clamped fins are the earliest sign something is wrong. The five likely causes in order, and the checks that separate them.
Ich in Bettas: White Spot Disease Recognised and Treated
Ich looks like grains of salt on the fins and body. What it is, how the life cycle decides treatment, and what to do first.
