Betta Questions

[prechrswife]

My betta, Alpha (formerly known as Rainbow Fish while he lived in my classroom), has developed a white spot near his tail. It seems like years ago when I had a betta, this happened and there was something I added to the aquarium water to make it clear up. Could anyone tell me what that might have been that I used?

What is the average life-span of a betta? I have had Alpha for a year this month. He was a pet store betta.

[dab_20]

well i have only had one betta, and several fish. i think one year is getting up there pretty far for a pet store fish. but i woulden't exactly know..... good luck.

[Flatcoatluver]

my beta is 2 and he doesn't have any white spots, but my other beta died when he was three and he started with one white spot when he was two and slowly got a whole buch but ididn't put any in the water, its just old spots kinda like what human get when they get older,

[bckrazy]

:) Actually, white spots on a Betta is not natural with age. It most likely means he has Ick. You can buy Rid-Ick (or something like that from Petsmart) to help cure it... Ick can definitely be fatal and it spreads very easily to other fish.

Bettas can easily live past 3 years. I had an almost 4 year-old Betta, and Kara had a 5 year-old, I think ;)... He's probably around 1 1/2 years old at least, because pet stores usually don't sell Bettas until they're at least 6 months.