Why has my betta stopped eating?

[fongster76]

Hi,

I've got a betta fish (female) that has stopped eating. She hasn't eaten for 3 days now and she just hides behind the filter in the dark, at the top of the tank.

She doesn't swim around, she's been in the same area (between the glass of the tank and the filter which is not much room) for the last 3 days. I can see her gills moving, she is now diagonal (mouth to top of water, tail down) but stays in this position for ages.

I dropped 1 x flake of food right on top of where she was today, but she just wriggled away. We've had her for 2-3 months now.

She's been living happily with 9 black phantom tetras (bought and introduced to the tank a few weeks earlier), a male betta fish (bought from the same shop as her at the same time) and a couple of shrimp (60L tank).

We have an aerator that's been blowing bubbles 24-7 for 3-4 weeks now, the temp is 25'C, plenty of plants, all fish are swimming around happily and eating incl the male betta. He swam near her today, usually they flare their fins at each other and chase each other around the tank "flirting", they haven't ever attacked each other... and today, he visited her, did some flaring and she didn't move so he left her alone.

We were told that if there's anything wrong with the water, the shrimp will be the first to die but our shrimp are fine (one's just exuviated and all ok).

I don't know if there's something wrong with her, I cannot see any signs of sickness on her body (her colour is normal, she has no spots or fuzz).

It's her unusual behaviour that's got me worried. She's fasted for 3 days now when usually she has a healthy appetite, she's been hiding and seems hard of breathing if that makes sense, it seems she stays at the top to breathe.

Has anyone seen this behaviour in bettas before? Will she be ok? Is she sick? Is she dying? Please can you tell me if there is anything I can do to help her?

 

[HUKIT]

I know what they told you about your water conditions but you still need to monitor them and the potentional problems that can create. So if you plan on keeping fish some sort of water testing kit must be purchased, the majority of us use a API master test kit available for around $30 at your LFS or Petsmart.

My best guess would be stress from the male beta, male and females do not work well in small tanks like that. Breeders have steps they must take to introduce females to males. I would start by isolating the female into a QT tank with pristine water conditions to monitor her behavior.

 

[Homedog98]

Hi,

I've got a betta fish (female) that has stopped eating. She hasn't eaten for 3 days now and she just hides behind the filter in the dark, at the top of the tank.

She doesn't swim around, she's been in the same area (between the glass of the tank and the filter which is not much room) for the last 3 days. I can see her gills moving, she is now diagonal (mouth to top of water, tail down) but stays in this position for ages.

I dropped 1 x flake of food right on top of where she was today, but she just wriggled away. We've had her for 2-3 months now.

She's been living happily with 9 black phantom tetras (bought and introduced to the tank a few weeks earlier), a male betta fish (bought from the same shop as her at the same time) and a couple of shrimp (60L tank).

We have an aerator that's been blowing bubbles 24-7 for 3-4 weeks now, the temp is 25'C, plenty of plants, all fish are swimming around happily and eating incl the male betta. He swam near her today, usually they flare their fins at each other and chase each other around the tank "flirting", they haven't ever attacked each other... and today, he visited her, did some flaring and she didn't move so he left her alone.

We were told that if there's anything wrong with the water, the shrimp will be the first to die but our shrimp are fine (one's just exuviated and all ok).

I don't know if there's something wrong with her, I cannot see any signs of sickness on her body (her colour is normal, she has no spots or fuzz).

It's her unusual behaviour that's got me worried. She's fasted for 3 days now when usually she has a healthy appetite, she's been hiding and seems hard of breathing if that makes sense, it seems she stays at the top to breathe.

Has anyone seen this behaviour in bettas before? Will she be ok? Is she sick? Is she dying? Please can you tell me if there is anything I can do to help her?

Could the female be prego?

 

[HUKIT]

Could the female be prego?

They don't get pregnant, the female lays eggs in a bubble nest that the male will create on be surface.

 

[Homedog98]

They don't get pregnant, the female lays eggs in a bubble nest the male will create on be surface.

Oh ya! Geez... I've been dealing too much with live bearers lately.

 

[siva]

Hi,

I've got a betta fish (female) that has stopped eating. She hasn't eaten for 3 days now and she just hides behind the filter in the dark, at the top of the tank.

She doesn't swim around, she's been in the same area (between the glass of the tank and the filter which is not much room) for the last 3 days. I can see her gills moving, she is now diagonal (mouth to top of water, tail down) but stays in this position for ages.

I dropped 1 x flake of food right on top of where she was today, but she just wriggled away. We've had her for 2-3 months now.

She's been living happily with 9 (bought and introduced to the tank a few weeks earlier), a male betta fish (bought from the same shop as her at the same time) and a couple of shrimp (60L tank).

We have an aerator that's been blowing bubbles 24-7 for 3-4 weeks now, the temp is 25'C, plenty of plants, all fish are swimming around happily and eating incl the male betta. He swam near her today, usually they flare their fins at each other and chase each other around the tank "flirting", they haven't ever attacked each other... and today, he visited her, did some flaring and she didn't move so he left her alone.

We were told that if there's anything wrong with the water, the shrimp will be the first to die but our shrimp are fine (one's just exuviated and all ok).

I don't know if there's something wrong with her, I cannot see any signs of sickness on her body (her colour is normal, she has no spots or fuzz).

It's her unusual behaviour that's got me worried. She's fasted for 3 days now when usually she has a healthy appetite, she's been hiding and seems hard of breathing if that makes sense, it seems she stays at the top to breathe.

Has anyone seen this behaviour in bettas before? Will she be ok? Is she sick? Is she dying? Please can you tell me if there is anything I can do to help her?

First of all I must say, they are not flirting. A male and female betta should only be housed together while breeding, and then the female is removed immediately when the deed is done. It is highly stressful for them to be kept together like that.

I have experienced issues like this with bettas. You said you don't see anything physically, but just to be sure, her tummy doesn't look bloated at all? If you can looked down at her from above, is there a protrusion on one side of her body at all? And what are the water parameters...ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

 

[fongster76]

Hi All,
Really appreciate your help.

Unfortunately we got ready to remove her from the tank yesterday morning but she had passed away!!! She's the first fish we've lost and we're really upset by it Her name was Betty She was really cool, she could change into so many different colours! We will miss her a lot...

We'd asked the pet store when we bought them back in Feb if they would be OK together and they said it would be. They had her in a tank with a different male at the time and he looked really aggressive towards her compared to the one we had her with! We actually bought them not for mating but so they can keep each other company. So many times we saw them just swimming past each other, minding their own business, never once nipped each other and then every so often they'd do the flaring thing (our tetras do the same thing with each other so, we thought it was normal). If we knew it was stressful for her, we would not have put them together. Argh!

We won't be buying another betta, the male (his name is Blue) will just have the tetras for company.

Today, we did a water change (changed 1/3 of the water) and will test the water (we have a Sera Aqua-Test Set) shortly. How often should we be testing the water?

For the first 2 months we tested the water every few days, then once a week but the results always turned out normal so for the last 2 months, we've done it only once a month (test for Amonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, pH and sometimes gH + kH).

Also - in case it wasn't just stress that killed poor Betty, should there be anything else we should be testing for?

Thanks for your help guys.

 

[adadkins1]

I am sorry for your loss.

Don't listen to what employees say, because they are normally just out to make a buck. If I were you I would definitely test the water at least every 10 days. This will just make sure things don't get out of hand. I would say it was most likely stress that caused her behavior and ultimate demise.

Don't feel bad, you were misinformed and that is the store employee's fault, not yours. I would say that you should just monitor your water parameters at least once a week since this has happened and make sure no one else in the tank shows stress.