there's a 50/50 imo he'll make it, if he's up in moving he should be ok. treat those wounds though IMO after 1 full day of rest for him. I've had fish jump out and live over a period of hours, some lived some didn't make it. But the ones that did where fine after about a week, acted & looked perfectly normal. best of luck 2 you!
Betta Disaster! Please help!
Hey everyone, shortly after I arrived home I found my Betta wasn't in his 4 gallon tank... it's a rimless cube type design, and while it did come with a top, I negated using it due to it not fitting because I'm using a different light and an automatic feeder. Unfortunately I discovered that he jumped. HOWEVER, by some miracle, he was still alive when I found him. He was covered in dust and dog hair (no dogs near him just is always on the floor) but moved when I scooped him up. I put him in the tank and put something temporarily to cover it for now.
Currently most of the dust is off him, and he's swam about a little bit, but his fins look bad and he's just resting at the bottom, upright. He's breathing and not listing but the fin and scale damage is quite obvious. I'm surprised by how much he's moved about though. Looks like a little debris is still stuck to his slime but the last thing I want to do is touch him.
Do you guys think he will make it? Is there anything further that I can do to ensure his survival? Right now I'm already grabbing the supplies to properly cut a custom Plexiglass cover for the tank, which I should have done in the first place...
Currently most of the dust is off him, and he's swam about a little bit, but his fins look bad and he's just resting at the bottom, upright. He's breathing and not listing but the fin and scale damage is quite obvious. I'm surprised by how much he's moved about though. Looks like a little debris is still stuck to his slime but the last thing I want to do is touch him.
Do you guys think he will make it? Is there anything further that I can do to ensure his survival? Right now I'm already grabbing the supplies to properly cut a custom Plexiglass cover for the tank, which I should have done in the first place...
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One of my bettas jumped out and I found him on the carpet hours later- his fins were dried enough to be stiff. I thought he wouldn't make it but I put him back in the tank and he did recover. Do extra water changes while he is healing- partial ones at least once a day- very clean water will help I think.
thanks so much guys. He's stopped gasping and his fins look like they are filling out a bit again. I think I may have gotten lucky with him! Ill do some water changes and keep a close eye on him. Just finished a nice plexiglass top for the tank too.
I once had a betta that jumped out of his nano which was sitting in the window. I'm on the second floor of my building, he landed in the garden downstairs. I went out the fire-escape and lowered the ladder, scooped him up and he was fine!
If you want to discourage jumping in the future, lower the water level at least an inch below the rim.
You can also try some floating plants to discourage jumping 
Hope he is okay!
Hope he is okay!
Well bad news. Looks like he passed away overnight. Poor fish. He seemed to be doing well too
Sorry to hear about your loss. As mentioned already, leave some move space from the rim. Hope you get setup with another betta soon.
Sorry to hear that.
If you do not have a lid on your tank you are courting disaster, you can use cling wrap with a few holes in it ( use a pencil to poke holes in it once its in place )
This is me feeding my girls yesterday watch how high they jump without trying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfeRLY5Ss8g
.
The average Betta can jump 2 to 3 inches easily and plants do not discourage my females from jumping.lower the water level at least an inch below the rim.
If you do not have a lid on your tank you are courting disaster, you can use cling wrap with a few holes in it ( use a pencil to poke holes in it once its in place )
This is me feeding my girls yesterday watch how high they jump without trying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfeRLY5Ss8g
.
Sorry you didn't make it. I had one jump that I found (almost stepped on) that's still kicking. I have/had over 20 bettas now only 1 ever jumped. I usually keep lids on the tanks but not always-have had bettas in open top riparium tanks. Usually they jump from bad water quality, seeing another betta they're trying to get at (why they are lidded cups at store.. when I was a young there were no lids and a lot of dead fish from jumping), or sometimes they see say a fruitfly and leap out after it.
Keeping good water quality is a big help with jumping, but also adding a layer of floating plants at the surface helps. I use salvinia minima in almost all my betta tanks. Lowering water level may help with long finned male varieties but females and plakats can jump surprisingly high with their shorter fins.
If you want a minimalist lid and can do some DIY try some polycarbonate (Lexan from home depot) measure and cut with many toothed aw blade or put a bit of work into butting with razor knife. It doesn't bow like thin acrylic and doesn't break like glass. I use it on all my tanks that have a lid.
Keeping good water quality is a big help with jumping, but also adding a layer of floating plants at the surface helps. I use salvinia minima in almost all my betta tanks. Lowering water level may help with long finned male varieties but females and plakats can jump surprisingly high with their shorter fins.
If you want a minimalist lid and can do some DIY try some polycarbonate (Lexan from home depot) measure and cut with many toothed aw blade or put a bit of work into butting with razor knife. It doesn't bow like thin acrylic and doesn't break like glass. I use it on all my tanks that have a lid.
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
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