Betta laying at bottom

[Catdaddyx2]

Our little Betta fish has been laying at the bottom of the tank for a couple days. It will move spots from time to time, but is not swimming around like before. I don’t see any signs of sickness on its fins
We are into day 2 of fasting it. The tank had a filter system and a heater that keeps the water at 78 degrees. I have done a 50% water change. Anything else I can do for the little guy?

Here is a photo: https://m.imgur.com/sHRottI?r

[Autumnsky]

Do you happen to know what the Ammonia, nitrIte and NitrAte is? If his water parameters are off/have been out of safe zone he could be sick from that.

Did he get over fed last week?

Before the recent water change, when was the last water change and how much water?

What size is the tank?

Are you familiar with the nitrification cycle? Did you cycle the tank and how long have you had him, and also the tank?

Do/did you replace the filter pad in the past few weeks /month or so? Or rinse out in faucet water?

In the past month maybe 3 weeks back had there been a long time that he did not get a water change?

It could be a mini cycle if a pad was rinsed in untreated faucet water, or replaced lost the BB to keep it running smoothly.

Could be internal parasites...or constipation...have you noticed the fish pooping recently? look normal or white and stringy?

If it is a constipation issue you can feed him the inside of a cooked to soft texture green pea the round pea inside the outer hull of the round part/actual pea. Since he has been fasted he will probably try and eat it. Try and squeeze some juice from a piece of garlic clove on it if you try a couple times and he still doesn't eat it. The garlic usually makes it more appealing to fish.

Test for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, - pH, GH and KH as well if you have the test liquids or go to the store and have it tested. Get the actual numbers for each thing from them, not just it's fine or a little low/high, etc.

In general any time I have a fish not looking well there are a number of things to think about, these are some of the very basic ones.

Also do another pwc (partial water change) let's say 50%. Make sure that the dechlorinator you have is being used at the correct amount and neutralizes/binds ammonia AND Chloramines if your water supplier uses them. Usually it will tell you. Chloramines are tougher to break down and last longer to keep out tap water "safe" for drinking and toxic to BB (beneficial Bacteria) which keep your tank able to process waste in the nitrification cycle.

[Catdaddyx2]

I used a test strip in the tank. Ammonia and nitrates were in "acceptable" range. The water is very hard.

The fish may have been overfed last week. We have been giving a small pinch of flakes twice a day.

I usually do a 50% water change every week.

The tank is 2.5 gallons.

We got the fish back in January. We got the tank at the same time. He's been doing fine since we got him, other than the past week.

I replace the filter each month. It get so nasty to the point it even starts turning black. Rinsing it didn't seems to clean it much.

He gets a water change once a week. We did do some traveling last month so he may have gone two weeks. Also possibly overfed by the pet sitter.

I have not noticed the fish pooping. Here is what I did: I got a small, plastic tank and placed him in there. I gave him a single pea (chopped up), which I did see him eat. Otherwise he was fasted. I can't say I noticed anything white or stringy. There were a couple small, brown "pellets". Today I put him back in his regular tank since it has more space and is heated.

It sure sounds like he has swim bladder. As I left him this morning, he was laying the bottom of his tank. He would move some place to place on the bottom, but is not swimming around. I gave him just 2-3 tiny betta pellets. Did not appear he ate them.

[King Fisher]

Could be the beginning of dropsy??? Look for his scales to begin pineconing.

I've got some experience in both 2.5g and 3g nano betta tanks. The thing to remember is water parameters change quickly in these small size tanks. After dealing with disease and fish death over the years I found that in these specifically small tanks....50% water changes every 4-5 days in a cycled tank was needed to keep the water quality suitable for long term fish health. Also use a turkey baster to suck up all fish poo and old food from the bottom during your water change.

Idk what acceptable range means. Any ammonia or nitrites are not acceptable for long term fish health. Nitrates shouldn't be over 40 ppm by the time you do your water change. Use a good dechlorinator like Seachem Prime.

Whenever you get an overfeeding where the water quality is compromised do multiple 50% water changes until levels are back to normal.....0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10-20 ppm nitrates?? Test strips are garbage and highly inaccurate. Liquid test kits should be used to test your water such as an API master test kit.

Pellets seem to be less messy than flakes in general. 4 to 5 "betta" pellets a day is sufficient. Fasting once a week.... skipping one day of feeding....is common practice for a lot of fish keepers for digestive health.

Keep an eye on him and see if things get worse or if other visible symptoms arise.

[Catdaddyx2]

I used the test kit. Here are the results:
pH - 8.4
Amonia - 0.25 to 0.50
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

I am going to order some pH Down to help with that.

Fish is still being pretty lethargic today. I've seen him swim at least once. One thing I notice is when he touches something in the tank like the heater or filter tube, he "jumps" like a person would if they had an electric shock. Never saw him do that in the past. In fact, he used to like to lay on top of the suction cup behind the heater.

[King Fisher]

Don't mess with the pH. He'll adapt. In fact he already has. I keep a betta in 8.4 pH for years now. Once you try controlling pH with additives is when you will kill fish with pH swings.

It appears your tank isn't cycled. Not a big deal but will require more attention for a month or two. First thing, do a 50% water change immediately to lower that ammonia. Then 50% water changes or at least one gallon water changes every 2-3 days. No longer than 3 days before a water change. Ideally, you would want to test your water daily with an API master test kit (liquid test kit).....but if you don't have this or can't get one anytime soon then 50% water changes every 2-3 days is what I've found to be necessary on a tank your size with a single betta fish when the tank hasn't been cycled.

Once the water quality is steadily good then you could very well see a change in behavior.

[Autumnsky]

Yes all above is great advice.

I would only feed him the pea insides for a couple days. Turkey baster is a wonderful tank tool! If you don't have one, the discount and dollar stores have them for cheap. One fish keeping friend I have put a zip tie on the bulb to keep good suction. Cheap enough that if you need to wash out the inside you can snip it off and add a new one. also that way it would not get mixed up with a food turkey baster.

Maybe try using a small piece of filter media to be on top as the first layer in the filter to help catch the mucky stuff and throw that one away each week. When you throw away the filter pads they are the major colony of BB. Likely the combination of cleaning the tank before you left on your trip coupled with the usual overfeeding pet sitters caused the internal issues.


What I would do for my own fish...

Normal large pwc.

I would also add Epsom salts magnesium sulfate, like for soaking a sprained ankle - available at the drug store or super market. No additives no oils, etc.

For the 2.5 G I would take 5 rounded tablespoons and mix it into an adequate amount like a cup, of really hot water til dissolved. Then add it to appx. double amount of cold water or ice cubes until tank temp, and add dechlorinator.

Remove the same amount of water as what you have mixed up and then over the course of the next day, add it to the tank.

This is a treatment amount of epsom salt.

initially add in 1/4 of the mixture, in two parts.
say half /part of the 1/4 amount then about a half hour later, the other half.
This just eases the water change for the fish.

In 8-12 hours... add another 2 part 1/4 amount of ES over a half to an hour.

Continuing until it is empty.

You can test for any water parameter issues during this time. I would keep up this amount of ES for 7-14 days at this increased level.

You can take more time later to make a concentrate of amount of water for amount of tablespoons of dissolved ES so it would be easy to dose it in for each pwc. So the amount is per each .5-1G pwc. As a fixed concentrate amount. Hopefully it will be easy for you to figure that out. I just keep it in a water bottle marked with a Sharpie.

After the 2 weeks if he is feeling good and acting good, I would do the normal pwc and decrease the concentrate added to equal 1 Tablespoon per gallon. Try that for a week or 2 if he seems good, then just do normal pwc and over time the excess ES will decrease and be eliminated.

[Catdaddyx2]

Here's an update: I have managed to get the pH down to around 7.4. Latest ammonia test shows almost no presence of ammonia. But the betta is still laying on the bottom of the tank a lot. Sometimes on his side; sometimes on his belly. He shows no interest in eating unless a pellet falls right in front of his face. He also shows no reaction if I start waving in front of his eyes from outside the tank. Could he have trouble seeing? When he does swim around, he still bounces off various items in the tank with quite a jolt. Water temp is steady at 78 degrees. I did a 50% water change two days ago.

I'm thinking of trying the pea thing again.

[Catdaddyx2]

I was able to capture this video of the betta swimming and how it "jolts" when it bumps into stuff. Strange behavior I had not witnessed until this whole illness began.



Last night it was hanging out on the top of the tank, resting behind the heater. It ate some flakes but only if they basically hit him in the face. He did not move to go after any food.

[Catdaddyx2]

I wanted to give an update. Our betta is doing much better. He is swimming around and eating like before. If I had to guess, he recovered from his swim bladder issue.

Thank you for the advice given here. You have given Billy the Betta a second chance at life!

[Autumnsky]

Yea! Glad Billy is feelin' betta!

[Delapool]

Good news!