Lethargic Betta

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BettaFynn

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 4, 2017
Messages
12
Please help! We have had a betta for 10 months and suddenly he seems to be sick. He's very lethargic...lays around all day, and is hardly eating. I basically have to drop the pellets of food over his head and then he may eat one or two. He used to be a good eater, and about 2 weeks ago, he stopped. I realized that the food we were giving him was old, so I bought him something new, but a new brand. He doesn't look sick...his color is good, and I don't see any signs of fin rot or anything. Specifics and parameters are listed below. Any ideas would be really helpful!

1~What type of fish is afflicted? betta -- no specific things appear to be wrong, he just isn't moving around or eating
2~What are your tank parameters? ammonia as of this morning was 0, but levels were a little high the last couple of days...between .25 & .5. Ph is about 8.2, but has been from the beginning. Nitrites are 0. Nitrates between 20 & 40ppm
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up? 5 gallon tank and he's been in it the whole time.
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number We are using the filter that came with the tank...a Topfin
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes? Just the betta
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time? I changed the water yesterday and the day before because the ammonia was high. Normally we vacuum and change the water once a week. Usually replacing about 25% of the water.
7~How long have you had the fish? 10 months
8~Have you added anything new to the tank-- we recently had to change the heater b/c the old one was making noise and appeared to be corroded. Algae was growing everywhere, so we also replaced the silk plants. We bought the same ones we had previously, which were from PetSmart.
9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently? Before we were feeding him the Topfin pellets and now I've been trying to give him Omega One betta pellets.
 
I just noticed a cloudy film coming from one of his gills too. What would that be and is there a way to treat it?
 
Did you rinse the silk plants before adding to the tank, and what temp is the water at?
 
Sometimes bettas go through such horrible treatment before you buy them that they end up with really bad immune systems and don't live as long, even with good care. I'd treat him for the fungus if that's what it is, but it sounds like you are doing everything right, although I did want to ask, are you using test strips to test the water, or a liquid kit?
 
Liquid kit. I'm trying to be as thorough as possible. He's still hanging on and we started the fungal treatment yesterday. I wish I had noticed the fungus before, but we are doing all we can. I'd hate to lose him...he's part of the family!
 
Betta's are sensitive. Keep all ammonia out with no spikes right now is most needed to heal. The cause was probably the heater. But, could of been a lot of reasons for the infection, could of got hurt from something in the tank or something too . Get some dry blood worms and water changes with vacuum 50% and keep testing the water daily. If your betta is not swimming to the top you gotta lower the water level or put him in a breeder box at the top of the tank. He's gotta breath from the surface without a struggle just until he starts swimming to the top. And treat with fungus med. Melafix, jungle fungus clear, alone that line. Low dose at first. Melafix is good stuff and works. Jungle fungus clear will die your tank blue, so just a heads up.
 
Thanks Angellove78! I've been giving him Melafix and Pimafix for the last couple of days. He can swim on his own to the top, he just doesn't swim around...pretty much stays at the top all of the time. I also have plants that are tall enough that he can lay on them, and still breathe from the surface, if need be. This morning he's actually venturing out from where he was laying constantly and ate 2 pellets of food, so I'm taking it as a good sign. Right now, he won't touch the worms I offered him, and I don't want them decomposing in the tank and spiking ammonia levels again. The directions on the bottle for the meds say not to change the water for 7 days. His ammonia was at 0 again this morning, so am I ok to keep the water as is until the meds are done, or would you recommend changing the water anyway?
 
Nope. You doing everything right. If the ammonia gets up to high I would. .50 is too much. .25 is doable with meds. Think he'll be ok. He's swimming and eating diffently always a good sign. Take care!
 
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