So I started a fishless cycle monday morning, and while I was buying supplies thursday my roommate decided to buy a wal-mart male betta. Well he lost interest by that night and said he no longer wanted to keep it haha. I checked Ph levels and it was just about 7.0 so I decided to introduce him to my tank to help with the cycling and I assumed it would be a much nicer home for him.

His swimming has picked up, and today i saw him eat about half a pellet and spit the rest out. However he seems to be missing some scales on his sides, and has some brown spots on his head. Is there anything he needs, or that I should be doing?

The missing scales might be because of him bumping against things. When you first put him in the tank, did he swim around a lot at first? They can sometimes injure themselves if they get too excited. From what I can see, he looks pretty good for a Wal-Mart betta! It's good that you rescued him!

One thing you might try is bettafix or melafix. I know some people say it's bad, but I put just a few drops into my betta's aquarium when he's likely to be stressed (water changes, moving, etc.) Use about half the full dose for bettafix, and one quarter the dose for melafix. If he is missing scales, then that'll help him ward off infection. Basically, it's tea tree oil. It helps disinfect the water, keeps wounds clean, and reduces stress on him.

Hope he does well!

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

Thanks! When he first came in he seemed pretty lethargic. There was a good bit of waste in his little bucket he came in. But now he seems to be doing a good bit of investigating and flaring at himself so I have high hopes!

Flaring is a good sign! Sounds like he'll be OK. Good luck!

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.