To Beta Fish experts only:?

Question

My beta is about 1 year old. He is now only wanting to stay on the bottom of the tank. He is in 1 gallon tank, his water his changed only once a week. He has always been happy, and now I believe he is coming close to his end. Please advise. NO BS Please !

Answer 1

You should refrain from changing the water so much. Betas are very hearty fish and can live in the worst of water conditions. But the water cannot go stagnant. I am sure you have seen the setups were betas are in the bottom of a vase with the roots of a peace lilly or other aquatic plants in the water with the plant on top. This is a very healthy environment for betas. Only change 25% of the water once every six weeks. Keep the vase/tank away from direct sunlight. Another mistake people make is that they feed them way too much. You should only feed them what they can eat in less than 60 seconds every three days. Don't go by the label of the food, the manufacturer is only trying to sell you more of it. Just leave him alone for a while, and follow these steps and your beta can live for a long time. Don't stress him out by playing with him until he is healthy again, and stop changing that water so much.

Answer 2

Some Betta's are happy being on the bottom of the tank. This does not necessarily mean sickness. When the fish doesn't eat, then worry. You don't need to change a gallon container of water once a week. It is best to change 1/4 of it once a week. At the end of about 5 weeks, set aside 1/4 of the dirty water with the Betta and add clean water to that. Every time you put in all clean water, you are shocking the fish. Make sure the water is room temperature. We feed Bettas freeze dried blood worms. They are closest to what this fish eats in the wild, which is mosquitoes.

Answer 3

A Beta only lives for 18-24 months old. It could be that he was a bit old when you got him.

When you change the water, I'm assuming that you're using "bottled" water and not tap water. Tap water can really mess them up bad.

For the water, ensure that you use "Spring Water" -- you want to get as close as you can to pure H2O as possible.


A really, really good cleaning might be in order. Put the fish in a jar or something. Wash the bowl and the rocks or glass beads at the bottom -- or simply replace them.

Either way, rinse everything very, very, very well. Throw away any plastic plants you have and get new ones.

Just like a baby bottle, everything has to be boiled to sterilze it. Not the fish bowl, but everything in it.

Ensure that everything cools down before adding the "Spring" water.

Dump all of the water out of the jar that you've temporarily housed your Beta in -- They will be fine for the few seconds it takes you to "Plop" them into their freshly cleaned cage.

Use the little Beta food pellets, not Beta Flakes. The pellets will float on the surface for a while, giving them a chance to eat them at their own pace. Only 4-5 little pellets a day.

You might have to get their attention a bit -- when you are feading them, ALWAYS make a gentle little tap on the top of the bowl to get his attention. Then "Toss" the pellet in to make a little splash. They are very aggresive animals and will 'attack'.

The pellet-type food, when it's not eaten is also easier to deal with when you're cleaning out the bowl. The flake stuff just rots and get's all over everything -- that stuff is terrible.

FYI:

When I clean my Beta bowl (one at home and a one at work), I boil the glass beads after using some bleach in the water to wash the bowl. It is vitally important that you rinse, Rinse and then RINSE the bowl very, very, very well. I cannot stress that enough. Dry it off with paper towels very well -- let it air dry for a bit longer.

It takes me maybe about 10-15 minutes to do the cleaning, but easily an hour or more for everything to dry before replacing the fish.

My Beta's names are Bubbles and Bruce.

UPDATE --

Mike (the guy above me) has a very good point -- you might see if you can touch base with him. I think it might be time for a real good cleaning if you haven't done one.

I would vote him as best answer on this. He needs the points way more than I do !

Seriously, I think he's done a very good job.

Answer 4

I've bred betas for about 3 years now, and had at least one around for 7. It may need a bigger tank (doubt it, but it may) to move around in. May be bored. Try putting up a small mirror to the tank every once in awhile and let him play with himself. Are there any plants? or ornaments? Maybe a few of those for him to swim through may help.

May want to check for any sores, fin rotting, bloating, or any other signs of sickness.

The last thing I could say is that it may be his time. Most in a small tank like you have him in will only live1 year - 2 years. They aren't very long-lived fish and are not meant to live long lives. Mine usually lived on the average a year and a half. A few will live 2 years. But rarely did I ever get any over that.

Answer 5

Mike dose have a few good points, however... Terrestrial plants do not absorb as many nutrients from the water as aquatic plants, and they absorb very little CO2 through their roots as well. Bettas in vases with plants may be pretty to look at, however it is not healthy for the fish.

Their ability to breathe air is not a permanant means of sustaining themselves. It is used primarily when they become trapped in tiny pockets of water during a dry season.

A "Season" doesn't last a lifetime, and neither should poor tank/bowl maintanence. 4-6 weeks is obsurd, how many of us can suck on a cars tail pipe for that long and be healthy at the end of that ordeal?

YES spring water should be used, and Yes tap can be used as long as you have a good water conditioner to remove the Chlorine and other contaminates.

Yes your bowl should be cleaned weekly a 25% water change is fine, with a 50% every month. However if you are useing gravel, NEVER remove it unless you are starting up a new system all together. If you continuously remnove and rinse the gravel you risk removeing too many helpfull bacteria in the gravel bed--this leads to ammonia and CO2 poisoning.

Instead of removing the gravel, stir the top layer a bit to lift up the excess food particules and fish waste, then remove your water. This way enough bacteria remain to break down the waste in your tank/bowl, and you will not put the system into as much shock.

If you are using those ridiculous glass things, you have to remove the water and the glass beads because there is not enough good surface area for the bacteria to grow on, and help break down the waste... in this case cleaning/ rinsing everything once a week works fine.

Now, if you are following good tank/bowl maintainence water quality is not an issue. However I would have your water tested to find the Ph range of the water..high Ph can damage fish's gills and slime coat...witch leads to infection.

Everyone is on the ball about giving your Betta some mental stimulation, looking for signs of illness, and tank maintainence however no one has touched on one other vital key to keeping fish healthy. That is Nutrition. Eatting flakes or just pellets is like gorging on nothing but potatos...they need other sources of nutrients and viamins as well...Because you can bet your life that wild fish don't just sit and wait for their daily flakes.

A good balanced diet for Bettas includes:
1.) flake or Pellet food 2x daily the amount they can consume within a few minutes (4-5 pellets).
2.) Freeze dried, live, or frozen foods 2-3 times weekly as a treat/vitamin suppliment such as
- blood worms
- daphnia
- brine shrimp
- small black worms
- wingless fruit flies or pinhead crickets (live)

proper nutrition improves vitality, coloration, and overall activity of your fish. Healthy well taken care of Bettas will often thrive for 4-5 years, they are only expected to have a life span however of 3.

hope this helps, and good luck

Answer 6

I have this same problem right now with my little guy.

I have had him for about 9 months and where I am we are just starting to move into Winter, so the temperature of his water has lowered. I'm thinking this may be making him lethargic.

The only other thing I can think of is that I just changed his diet from pellets to freeze dried blood worms, which he goes mad for. They leave a very oily residue in his tank though, and the water starts going greenish in about a week. I change it twice a week now, whereas before it was probably once every ten days. I'm thinking this new pollutant may have an effect on his energy levels???

Hope this helps......just some of my observations

Answer 7

In my opinion, the tank is too small. I have had plenty of male and female betta splendens all of which have lived up to 4 years and some beyond that. I keep three 2foot tanks. Each tank containing 1 male and several females.When they are ready to breed, the selected pair go into a breeding tank. Bettas are sold by fish shops and lead the public to believe that the small containers which they are in in the pet shop are actually their long term home. They do not live in this environment in the wild, and confining them to this is just simply wrong. They live in slow moving streams and ponds in the wild..... So your 1 year old betta is way too young to die, buy a larger tank with a hood, hoodlight, filter and heater, and a few females, the rivalry between the females and the ever ready to mate male will keep them all healthy and they will strive.

Answer 8

i have had at least 17 beta fish and most of them died from not cleaning the tank at the right time they start to have white stuff on their body making it hard for them to breathe and die from it but first they hang around the bottom of the tank

Answer 9

he may be suffering from a swim bladder problem. this is incurable and he will hangout on the bottom of the tank for the rest of his life.

he may only have an indigestion problem that causes smiler symptoms. normally i would give a fish a pea to sort this out.

Answer 10

i have had many beta fish in my life...
my current one has actually lived for 2 yrs..
but all my past ones only lived about 1 so
in that case, it may be about to die (sry to say)
or
if thats not the case, it may be getting bored...
play w/it a bit, make it follow things and get it a
LITTLE mad every now and then...but most likely, it may
be leaving soon.