Dying of Old Age??

[loverofdogs]

Rubert is my betta that I have had for 2 years and three months. He was fully grown when I got him, so I am not completely sure how old he is. Also, he is blind in his right eye, but is still able to traverse his aquarium. In the last three days, he has stopped moving around like usual, and just floats at the top of the water leaning against the glass. At first I thought it was Swim Bladder Disorder because whenever he stopped swimming he would just float back to the surface, but when I tried to feed him today (after two days of fasting) he didn't even perk his head up to look at the food floating towards him. At this point, I just want to know if there might be something wrong with him that I can fix, or if his body is shutting down due to old age.


The tank has readings of 0 for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. The tank is 78 degrees and is at a pH of 7-7.2


The tank is a 2.5 gallon Aqueon bow front with the same filtration that comes with the aquarium (I can't find how powerful it actually is). It has been set up for about 2 and a half years.




Rubert is the only fish in the tank. I did a water change three days ago, and vacuumed the gravel. I removed about 30% of the water.

His heater broke about a week ago, so I replaced it two days before his symptoms started showing. It took about 24 hours for the water to heat up, because I wanted the transition from colder water back to his normal temperature to be as smooth as possible.



I feed Rubert the Aqueon floating pellets, and that has remained constant for the entire time I've had him. He spits out or ignores anything else.
The first two pictures are of him today. The last picture is of him yesterday.


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[loverofdogs]

UPDATE: He ate two pieces of food! He tried swimming around for a little bit, but he keeps on floating back up to the surface tail first, and gave up trying to swim down after few minutes. Could it still be swim bladder related, but an infection rather than constipation? Should I put him on antibiotics?


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[Nils]

Sounds like swim bladder problems to me. Feed him so blanched peas ASAP. That should help. 2 years isn't that old but it's a good age for a betta, most don't get cared for very well and die soon after purchase. Look up how to treat swim bladder.

 

[loverofdogs]

Thank you! How many peas do you think would be sufficient? Rubert is a pretty small betta with a body size of about 1.25 inches...


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[nkoyko]

Less than 1 pea will suffice. I split 1 pea between my 2 bettas but they are giants in the betta world.
Defrost the pea in a little tank water and then pull off tiny pieces of pea to give to him. You may have to hold it in front of him for a bit to get him to see it.

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[loverofdogs]

What do I do if he is completely ignoring it? Should I just fast him for a couple of days and keep on offering the pea until he eats it? He's always been a picky eater, but just this once I wish he wouldn't be...


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[nkoyko]

It's a new thing to him. It will take him a but to figure out that he can eat it. My female betta was very picky when I first brought her home and now when I offer her a pea she freaks out and will pout when she knows I won't feed her anymore. Just give him some time. I would say let him go a day without food and then try the pea. If he still won't eat the pea try adding a bit of Epsom salt to your water. It works as a laxative and will clear him the same as a pea would.

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[loverofdogs]

Thank you so much! I'll try the Epsom salt tomorrow if he doesn't eat the pea.


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[loverofdogs]

So, I have tried both feeding Rubert part of a pea as well as giving him an Epsom salt "bath", and neither seem to be working. He is definitely more active and is swimming around the top of the tank, but is unable to swim down. I've been researching other reasons why he could have SBD, and some sources have mentioned that Bettas can develop SBD as they get older. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this?


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