Confused about my Betta..

[NoTownKasper]

Hopefully this is the right place to post this... Recently, I re-homed my guppies and tetras, (The otto had a disagreement with the filter intake...it wasn't pretty.) and was left with an empty, cycled, planted, beautiful 5-gal tank that was begging for an occupant.

So, I went out and picked up one of the most beautiful crowntail bettas I've ever seen, named Uncle Sam (Or Sam for short) because of his red, white and blue coloring. That was 3 days ago. Since bringing him home...he hasn't stopped flaring at, what I can only assume is his reflection in the glass walls of the tank and he simply refuses to eat. The flaring doesn't really bother me all that much, he's a crowntail after all and from what I've read, they're bred to be not only beautiful, but also extra aggressive so I just tucked a nice, busy background image along the back wall and we'll see if that clears that up a bit.

What worries me though is that he won't eat. Live food is out of the question. Roomates have already made it very clear that if I bring any sort of live food in for him, (or even the frozen, ice-cube variety) that they'll flush him so I'm truly stuck with flakes, pellets, freeze-dried brine shrimp and I read somewhere that they'll nibble on shucked, blanched peas (which he just looked at like I was crazy).

I've checked him as completely as I know how, no velvet, no ich, his stool (what was in the flippin dixie-cup they sold him in...brutes) is normal brownish in color, no swimbladder issues that I can notice, (though he does like to wedge himself nose-first into one of the silk plants at a downward angle) no external parasites...I just dunno what's up? In case it matters, it's a 5-gal typical rectangle tank, aquatech 5-15 filter with a bit of sponge in the outlet to cut down on current, gravel substrate and a nice pirate ship/airstone (I know some people say a betta needs a still, currentless environment, but he LOVES the bubbles, so no, I'm not getting rid of it. ) I'll be picking up a hidey cave big enough for him in the near future but he doesn't even try and hide in the thick parts of the plants.

He has 2 roomates, young mystery snails, one of which will be rehomed when he gets a bit bigger but he completely ignores them, and I do mean completely. One of them 'fell' off the lid of the tank and bonked him on the head...all he did was flare at it and go back to staring at his own reflection.

Any advice would be appreciated...but please keep in mind, money is extremely tight. And yes, I turn off both the filter and the airstone when I feed him so the food stays on the surface for more than 3 seconds.

 

[BigJim]

Bettas will sleep on plants. That's why he wedges himself into your plants. People here have made betta beds out of a clear plastic soap dish and java moss.

Bettas don't need a currentless environment. I have bettas that do fine in my 29g with an AC70 filter (300gph). He'll be fine.

Have you tried feeding him with the filter on? Some of my fish will attack food on the surface. Others wait for it to fall to them.

Try a variety of food. Maybe you'll find one he'll like.

You could also try adding a little garlic to the food. Mix a little garlic and water with some freeze-dried brine shrimp.

 

[NoTownKasper]

Well, I've tried all 3 varieties I have at hand, pellets, flakes and the brine shrimp...and tried feeding him with both the airstone and filter on, and off and both combinations. :\ Last night though, I observed him actually pecking at the gravel...does he think he's a bottom feeder or is he just trying to starve the snails? lol. I dunno. Finicky little finned fool. Never heard of adding garlic but hey, can't hurt I guess. How much? Is fresh minced the way to go or should I use powder?

 

[BigJim]

If you've got the fresh stuff, just add some of the juice to the food. Otherwise you can mix powder in with some water.

Garlic and anise are two flavors fish seem to like. I have fishing lures in both garlic and anise scent and there are commercial garlic additives for fish food. The additives are mostly intended for saltwater, but I think they'll work in freshwater too.

 

[dkpate]

Don't feed flakes or freeze dried anything, or you will probably have a bloated betta. Stick with the pellets, I like Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets, which is about $3 for the little cardboard one, and it lasts about 3-6 months.
If you only go him about a week ago, give him time to eat. He might just be stressed out from the move, and alot of bettas won't eat for the first week or so. If he still won't eat after a week and a half, soak the pellets in the garlic juice. Bettas can go up to a month without food, so if he goes a few days without eating, no worries.
Will your roomies let you have frozen fresh food? If so, get a small pack of frozen bloodworms and give him 3-5 worms a week as a treat. If he gets the bw's all the time, then he will refuse the pellets, and not get the essential nutrients he needs.
Two of my bettas stuff themselves behind the heater on the suction cups, and uses that as a bed LOL, one sleeps on the bottom, and the other one sleeps in his plants.
When feeding the snails, feed them the wafers, or whatever you feed them, after the lights are out. Most food is wayyy too big for bettas, and they will seriously over eat, their stomachs are only as big as their eyes. I tried putting my mystery snail in with one of my bettas, fed her (snail) and look back 5 minutes later, and there is my betta, hiding in the corner with the entire wafer in his mouth! Little thief. Haha!

 

[NoTownKasper]

Well, we're coming up on the 5-day mark now...so...yeah.

The garlic didn't have any effect...he's not even looking at the food.

The plus side...I don't have to specifically feed the snails...yet...which reminds me, I need to figure out a way to sink their greens to the bottom so they can munch, but that's another question for another thread.

I dunno about frozen, it was basically explained that they were fine with it as long as, and I quote: "No disgusting crap was involved." which was later explained to include, at least live food. I'll talk with them when they get home.

Sorry if I seem impatient, or ill-informed...most of my info came from when I was a kid, or from people who think it's perfectly ok to stick a Beta in a shot glass and leave it there.

 

[mudraker]

Does your lfs sell live artemia (brine shrimp?) I'm assuming they wouldn't be too costly.

They are so small your roommates may not notice if squirt some into the tank. When I first got my crowntail he would only eat live food. I gradually decreased the amount of brine shrimp and slipped in a blood worm or two at each feeding. That was two years ago. Now he only gets brineshrimp as a treat, translated to: when I'm not too lazy to hatch a batch now and again

 

[mudraker]

Creative idea: If you know anyone with a lot of pond snails, all of my bettas totally love to eat pond snail egg sacks. If you could get a small amount, it might get him to eating... maybe

 

[KevinES]

I don't mean to thread jack but I feed my beta dried blood worms and sometimes flakes. I have been doing this for about a year and he is doing great. Someone said something about a bloated beta tho...

 

[NoTownKasper]

About the pond snails...I'm not sure I want Sam to get a taste for snail...his 2 roomates are snails, but I might be able to start up a small tank of brine shrimp if necessary...at the moment I'm about to snap on my roomies for being so picky about what I can feed my fish.

I have noticed, however, that he's starting to relax a bit in the tank...he's not flaring at his reflection nearly as much tonight as he did last night. Spending a lot of time just lounging around on the silk plants.

HOPEFULLY, he'll start eating in the next couple days without having to get creative. I don't mind a little extra effort...but this is ridiculous.

It's a good thing he's so gorgeous...

 

[mudraker]

Thats is exactly how I felt when I got mine and he wouldn't eat. I still tell him that, as he is a poser and a half, but so mean he has to live by himself. A total pain but totally worth it. These crowntails sometimes act like spolied celebrities.

I was just throwing the snail egg sack thing out there as a possible cheap live food. All four of my bettas love them. They don't eat snails, and mystery snails are hard shelled and fairly large, so I don't think it would turn him into a snail killer.

On a sidenote, I've been keeping (and used to breed) bettas for over 20 years and I've never had a bloating problem when feeding them dried blood worms. I have heard it can though.

 

[NoTownKasper]

Not really worried he'll become a 'killer'...but I'd hate for Goldie and Bleu to have to keep re-growing stalks every couple weeks. :\

I know what you mean though, this guy thinks he's royalty.

 

[NoTownKasper]

I think I've identified the problem...but I'm not sure. As you all know, criwntail fins are incredibly frayed-looking in their natural state...but today, I noticed the ends are starting to look...dead. Dunno any other way to describe it. I wish I had a camera that could capture an image clear enough to show you...but I don't.

On top of that, today, he completely stopped flaring, won't even flare at the mirror, and has been lounging around on the leaves pretty much all day long...so I'm starting to suspect fin rot.

Edit1: After a little reading on some other sites...it's possible what I'm seeing on his fins is actually regrowth, which is a good thing. But unfortunately, I can't be sure. Basically, the tips are kinda whitish...so maybe.
Any advice on what to look for to be certain this is the problem...and any advice on how to treat it?

 

[dkpate]

If they are clear/white, it sounds like new growth. If they start to look fuzzy, then it might be fungus, and fin rot is usually black.

 

[mudraker]

Clean, pristine water cures finrot.

A small amount of salt for a week will get rid of fungal infections.

I rescued a 30 gallon tank last summer that was way overstocked with incompatible fish and saved everyone single one. If you started out with a clean aquarium environment, it may clear up on its own. I'd do a 25% pwc daily until the nitrates are zero and then go to every second or third day until he starts eating again and his energy levels return.

Again, live or frozen meaty foods would help improve his health much faster as he is a carnivore.

Keep us posted on his progress!