Please help! Betta fish acting weird all of a sudden

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weez

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Apr 8, 2018
Messages
12
Please give any advice!! My Betta has been sitting in roughly the same position for about 15 minutes now and I’m really stressed. He’s opening and closing his mouth and his gills are flaring in and out (not all the way out as if he were trying to intimidate, but definitely noticeable).

I fed him and turned out the aquarium lights about an hour and a half ago. I read online that maybe he could be having trouble getting food down his system but he ate over an hour ago?? He hasn’t really responded to light tapping on the tank (he’s usually pretty responsive!) and I thought about turning the lights on to see if he would become more active again, but I don’t want that to stress him.

I feel like I’ve done everything...Water has tested fine last time I checked (less thank a week ago), no ammonia, no nitrites, nothing. I’ve had him for almost a year now and he’s always been healthy! His color is still bright and I don’t see any signs of the diseases I’ve been reading about online. If it helps to know, the tank is 3.5 gallons, small filter hanging off the side, lid with LED lights, small space heater and thermometer shows the temp is good.

Only thing I can think of that’s changed is that I got two new snails a few days ago. The staff at the fish store said they’re perfect for keeping with Betta fish, no problems. They do poop a lot though...I will run another water check and add to this but speedy advice would be really helpful!
 
Ok a couple things can you send a good picture of the fish and retest the water parameters and then we'll go from there
 
Thanks for the quick reply. Thank goodness my fish is moving completely normally again, but still weird behavior worth looking into. Just did some testing. 0 ammonia. 0 nitrite. Really high pH!!! I can’t believe it. I got my water tested at the fish store last Thursday and they said everything was perfect. How is it possible the pH went up so fast?! Luckily I bought the API testing kit that same day. The booklet says to get API pH DOWN to fix the problem, so I will order that immediately unless someone has a better recommendation there. I guess that’s probably the source of the problem...How does pH lead to this?

I didn’t take pic of fish while he was acting oddly and I can’t figure out how to attach another picture right now.
 
What is the ph exactly because I dont think you should start playing with the ph unless its seriously high like I'm talking 8.5 and up mine is in the 8s (last time I checked and my guys r doing fine) playing with your ph is a big thing I am not that much of an aquarium expert but I would make sure I'm right by checking someone else's opinion what are your nitrates? Again a picture says a thousand words so that would be nice. Also how long has the tank been setup and what are you using when you change the water?
 
He was having trouble with his food. I've had this happen a few times with my betta. I also keep my fish including betta in 8.4-8.6 pH without any problems. TDS, KH and GH is more important.
 
Good to hear someone else has noticed their Betta doing this. When I do water changes, I use tap water that’s been sitting out for a week so the chemicals evaporate out (at least, that’s what I’ve been told happens). I generally change a fourth of the water every week. I’ve been doing this for him for almost a year (this is my first fish). The pH test read between 8 and 8.2. Nitrate test came out to zero. Here’s a picture I took this morning.
 
I dont see a picture.

Why aren't you using a dechlorinator for your water? This would save you setting the water out for so long. Also, you can off gas chlorine from water by setting it out but not chloramines so you are still potentially exposing your fish to harmful chloramines.

Water that sits out at room temp and in any light does grow bacteria. I'd go with a dechlorinator and I'd change out 50% of your water weekly. Plus it'll be less of a hassle for you.
 
I dont see a picture.

Why aren't you using a dechlorinator for your water? This would save you setting the water out for so long. Also, you can off gas chlorine from water by setting it out but not chloramines so you are still potentially exposing your fish to harmful chloramines.

Water that sits out at room temp and in any light does grow bacteria. I'd go with a dechlorinator and I'd change out 50% of your water weekly. Plus it'll be less of a hassle for you.

I will throw in one little correction here. Chloramine will evaporate from water but it does so at a very slow rate. It will take around a week to evaporate out. By then a good portion of your water will have evaporated also. Other then this fisher is right in his advice.
 
I will throw in one little correction here. Chloramine will evaporate from water but it does so at a very slow rate. It will take around a week to evaporate out. By then a good portion of your water will have evaporated also. Other then this fisher is right in his advice.
I stand corrected. Lol. I didn't think chloramine evaporated from water. [emoji51]
 
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