Emergency Help??

[Voldemortnim]

So I got a betta for my birthday in November. Everything was fine but I noticed he didn't eat much in general and I thought this was just his personality? The water temp is at a constant 78-80F so i don't think it is cause the water is cold. I recently got a nerite snail to help and cause I thought they were cute and my fish is even worse. He keeps hiding and just not breathing. I put some flakes next to him hoping he would eat and he didn't even look at them. I have a pretty small tank right now and am going to upgrade soon. I just am wondering what is wrong with my fish? Is it anything I can fix? If you need photos I can give them.

 

[Voldemortnim]

I also did a full water change yesterday and he isn't looking any better.

 

[libertybelle]

Do you know about cycling? What size tank what is in it, and how was it cycled?

If your answer is what is cycling, I just let it run for a while, or I dumped a bottle of something in then that is your problem and you need to read about cycling pronto.

In the future you’ll probably get faster help if you post in the ill fish forum

 

[HorsesandBettas]

I would avoid doing 100% water changes if at all possible, it can shock the fish from sudden changes in perameters. At most I do 50% at a time for emergencies. Are you using water conditioner? Can you find any visual signs of illness? torn fins, fungus, small white dots, etc? a picture might be helpful

 

[eon aquatics]

my fish usually wont eat for a few days after i buy them until they get use to the tank i put them in

 

[ADsnail]

When you say not eating, do you mean nothing at all? What do you consider normal, compared to what he's eating?

Maybe he doesn't like the food? I wasted money trying dried worms, fly larvae flakes, etc, only to find that my fussy fish would rather starve than even try anything except his beloved color pellets.

I found wildly varying advice about what normal is for feeding bettas when mine was new. Eventually I figured out that a minimal amount of pellets in the afternoon was what he wanted. Not in the morning. Not at sunset. Not at my convenience. Only between 2-4 pm, thank you. And only one at a time, maybe having something to do with water absorption that made him spit it back out if it'd sat in the water for even a few minutes. Spoiled?

When you say not breathing, do you mean he never surfaces to grab air? Where is he hiding? If you don't have one of those betta logs (I call them drive-through logs) it would be good to provide that as a comfort spot to hide in.

Finally, if his space is wide open with no plants, decor, or hidey-holes, fear may be his problem. It's a quirky thing - the more open space they have, the more they want to hide. And the more stuff in the tank, the more they want to go out in the open. So a mix of both allows them to venture safely out in the open knowing they always have someplace to retreat to (especially that security log) when life seems too unsure.