My Betta is really sick

I bought a betta a month ago. He used to be very healthy. He has big and long scales. However, about 1 week ago, he became very sick. His scales became smaller and smaller, and the color loss. I think he will die soon. Please help!

I don't know how to save his life.

I used to change water 100% once a week. (I save tap water into the bottle and let it rest over 1 week)
And feed 2 bites each day. The fish tank has no filter, it contains about 1 pint of water.

I am wondering if I use the "correct" water to keep my betta. Please help!

-cuckoo

You're teaching me something... I didn't know scales could change size like that! Are you sure you don't mean fins?
Tap water is harsh, try using bottled water and changing his water 100% everyday. 1pt of water is an incredibly small tank. Do you not have a larger salad bowl he could use until you buy him a more decent home? What happens is he's fouling the small amount of water he lives in, making it toxic.
If you do mean 'fins' rather than 'scales', you'll also need to get some methelyene blue and follow the instructions. That should help with his fins. After that... you'll have to see if he survives that long. He may have fungus too (which the meth blue would get rid of) and internal bacteria (a seperate treatment will be needed for that once the meth blue has run it's course.

Most important at this stage is to give him clean water everyday, to keep it warm and find him a larger home.

Yeah the smaller the home the more often you need to do a 100% change. I have a 2.5 gallon and lately I've been doing two 100%/week and doing 30-50% changes between as I feel is needed.

Scales shrinking....in ALL the research I've done on Bettas, never have I heard of such a thing. Is it even genetically/physically possible? My SD's tail seems to be outlined in black, making the scales appear smaller and showing skin between them, but they're not. You sure it's not just color changes due to growing up?

You are underfeeding him, keeping him in terrible conditions and he has an advanced case of finrot, by the sounds of it, if you do mean his fins and not his scales are shrinking. Unfortunately pet stores continue to misinform people on the care of bettas just so they can sell more of them, telling people they can live in tiny dirty containers. It's not your fault you didn't know, but you do need to learn quickly and take all the advice you receive here - you've come to the best place for it

Firstly, you need to get medicine for him. The people at the pet store will try to sell you something where the active ingredient is Melealuca, like Melafix or Bettafix - don't get this. It's not strong enough for the condition your fish is in, and doesn't even work for some people. Get methylene blue, or a targeted medicine for fungus & finrot that contains phenoxyethanol or similar.

Secondly, get a bigger home for him. Even a cheap plastic storage box would be much better, it should be at least 2.5 gallons.

Until you get him a bigger home, you need to be changing your fish's water 100% every day and adding fresh medicine every time. Use bottled water for now until you can get some dechlorinator.

Leaving tap water to sit out makes the chlorine evaporate from it, but leaves behind chloramines which are equally as harmful to your fish. Really, what you should be doing is using tap water and adding a dechlorinator to it, this is a liquid which can be bought from your pet store and should be added at every water change.

Lastly, you need to double what you are feeding him, you are feeding him nowhere near enough and he needs to build up his strength to fight the disease.

Time-Out wrote:....Are you sure you don't mean fins?
Tap water is harsh, try using bottled water and changing his water 100% everyday. 1pt of water is an incredibly small tank....What happens is he's fouling the small amount of water he lives in, making it toxic.
..... you'll also need to get some methelyene blue and follow the instructions.

hahah...sorry! I mean fins.
Q1: Bottled of water, do you mean spring water? like what I drink e.g. Poland Spring Water
Q2: What is the difference between methelyene blue and dechlorinator? Are they the same thing?
Q3: I understand tap water is harsh. If I put dechlorinator to tap water, do I still sit the tap water out for 2-3 days? In fact, how many days should I sit out the tap water?

Thank you very much.

1) By bottled water, I do mean spring water :-) I found Buxton to have the best stats (lowest nitrates...)
2) Methelyene Blue is a medication (VERY effective against fungus and finrot), dechlorinator (make sure it neutralises chloramines too) removes chlorine (and hopefully heavy metals) from your tap water.
3) No, you'd stir in the correct amount of dechlorinator and then add the fish. As Kalandra said, leaving tap water to sit out works if your water treatment system only puts chlorine and not chloramine in the water. The reason most places are/have changed to chloramine is because it is a lot more stable and stays present in the water. Another way to remove chloramines and heavy metals is to use a water filter. Brita filters work well, however, they also reduce the pH.... so you've got to find what works for you

Time-Out, thanks.

I have water filter system at home. In fact, I drink it too.
So, I can use those filter water for my Betta. Do I sit the filter day out few days before I use for Betta?

Can you recommend me a good brand of Methelyen Blue and dechlorinator?

Personally, I use Interpet Methelyene Blue, Tetra Aquasafe (dechlorinator) and Tetra EasyBalance (because my tap water has high nitrates). Do you have a water test kit? It'd be worth testing the water coming out of your filter to save you buying a dechlorinator. However, filters don't remove nitrates. It's so complicated lol.
You wouldn't need to sit filtered water.