# Betta rescue -- emergency!



## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Hi everyone,

A betta in absolutely deplorable water conditions was given to me today when the owner no longer was able to care for it. He has been living in a bowl and the water is brown and murky and it absolutely *reeks*. He has been in these conditions for at least 4-6 months, but surprisingly looks alright. My concern is that I was planning to move him into a planted (empty) 5 gallon but I am worried that moving him from such drastically different water conditions will put him in shock. What is the best way for me to gradually move him into normal water and how long should this process take? I feel terribly for the little guy 

Thanks,

Emily







---> photo of the poor fella.


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

I'd guess it's the usual acclimation process, except maybe drawn out even longer than usual. Good luck. But they're pretty robust. A friend of mine told me his daughters once poured lemonade into the tank and that betta is still going strong


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## Rogo (Mar 1, 2015)

Hi Emily,
Siphon some of the clean water from the new aquarium into a bucket. Siphon some of the dirty into the same bucket, and then add the fish to that. Let him swim around for a few hours and then move him to the new, clean aquarium. 

EDIT: or, if it's easier, add clean water to what is already in the bowl; this will dilute the pollution levels by about half (since the bowl is only half-full). The advantage of moving him to a bucket with mixed-water over staying in the bowl is that there won't be a secondary source of pollution (filthy gravel ,etc)

If you have it, you can add some aquarium salt to the fresh water (3 teaspoons per 5 gallons - you can add less salt, but I wouldn't add more) to help with respiration and gill function. 

It also needs to be noted that even though the bowl is dirty, the fish has been in it for months so the nitrogen cycle is complete. The water parameters may not be ideal (there's no note of what they are), but the process is happening.

Betta's are hardy fish and with the right care they usually come back to perfect health.


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## kim86 (Sep 5, 2012)

I'd recommend slowly acclimating the betta to clean water over a few days. Going from high nitrates to basically no nitrates can kill fish quickly. Basically swap out a bit of old water with new water every day until it's pretty much new water.


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