/an/, i went to feed my betta fish today and noticed something wrong - the skin covering it's gill hole flaps forward like it's peeled off his face every now and again while it's swimming. there aren't any plants in the bowl so i don't know how on earth it could have injured it. is this normal or is something wrong? i'm worried about my fish. :(
If the scales are falling off, the fish is probably just shedding old scales to grow new ones.If its not that, maybe it's an illness.
something's wrong. How big is the bowl?I'm guessing it's probably the water, and you should do a water change.
>>145825it's a decently sized bowl, not sure specifically how big though, since i recieved it for a present... i changed the water as soon as i noticed it earlier
Get a picture, if possible. It'll be easier to figure out what it is then. If you can't, I tend to just add melafix to the water when in doubt, though I don't know exactly how safe medication is in an unfiltered bowl.
i can't get a good picture of it, so i tried to draw a picture to help... it's kind of crappy, so i dunno. basically it just like peels forward sometimes when he swims, like he has a scab that's coming off almost
>>145838Are you sure he's not just flaring his gills?
>>145841it's just one, though, that's what has me worried... can they do just one at a time?
>>145842Not that I've ever noticed. Is he still eating and active?
Yes, this is normal, he's probably flaring at his reflection or something like that. They do that.
>>145843he's still swimming around a lot and he responds to me when i come up to the bowl, so he seems okay. it just worries me because it looks like the scales are almost peeling off... maybe he's just weird?
>>145844phew! i'm glad nothing's wrong with him. :) i've never owned a betta fish before so i'm not used to this sort of thing... thanks so much for your help everyone!
>>145849I used to have a betta once...He would attack my fingertip when I dipped it in his bowl. It tickled! ^_^ Bettas do have teeth, but they're microscopic.(It had about the same effect on my finger as a human trying to bite a chunk out of a football...In essence, none)