Classic Question...?

Question

I tried searching this question in Yahoo Answers and nothing seemed quite right in answering my concerns.

Classic question...my betta fish is not eating.

He hasn't eaten in about two to three days. I have tried feeding him Hikari betta pellets, frozen bloodworms, and frozen brine shrimp and he is eating nothing. My water parameters look good (Ammonia and nitrite at zero and nitrate at about five). My temperature is at 78 degrees and has stayed constant. It is a 55 gallon with 8 zebras, 5 neons, 1 dwarf gourami and 6 ghost shrimp. Right now he is in an isolation / breeder net box, so I can see him easily. The only thing that really makes this question different from the similar ones, is that, when I look down on him, it looks like his body is crooked, almost like a crooked spine. Could this have something to do with his loss of appetite?

Please help. I will post additional details as needed.

P.S. The pet store didn't seem to help too much in suggestions, so I come to you.

Pet store suggested trying the 7-day food blocks so he can eat at his leisure, but I don't know if this help in addressing the issue.

Answer 1

I agree, I don't see the food block doing anything but degrade your water conditions.

Potentially the crooked spine could be an indicator of disease that would also be the explanation of the loss of appetite.

f course, a genetic problem could explain the bent spine and the lose of appetite be something else entirely.

A vitamin deficiency can cause a crooked spin, but that usually comes on slowly and isn't usually a problem in a fish that has the varied diet your fish enjoys.

Fish TB can also cause a bent spine, but with it you will also see other symptoms, such as open sores and lesions. If you see any sores or lose of scales on any of the fish you need to euthanize those fish right away and be very careful doing anything around your tank as fish TB can be transmitted to humans. Here's more info on it:

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Lawler_Tank_Safety.html

A third option is an internal parasite, cammalanus. There is no over the counter treatment for this from a pet store, but you can user a wormer from the farmer / livestock store called Levamisol. An infected fish will show one other sign of this that you can see. When the fish is sitting still and quite, small red worms will hang out of it's anus. If you see that, you have a cammalanus infestation and should treat the tank.

No matter which of these potential causes, there is no way to reverse the damage to the spine.

Hope that helps

MM

Answer 2

ok i used to run a retail aquarium ,fish go without food 10 days plus ,now,.........check these things 1,is he being chased by other fish? 2,ph level nutral? try feeding with live fish food (tiny offcourse) you have the internet so type the fish name in and you will get amazing results. 3change a quarter of your water every 3 weeks if he does not eat within 5 more days and you love him buy a nursing tank and put im in he might be stressed use the same water! and use an air filter a tiny bit of gravel .let me know how you went [e-mail] (australia)

Answer 3

Gouramis can be aggressive. My guess would be he's been picking on your beta.
My personal feeling is I would not put a gourami in with zebra danos and neons. I say this from past experience, where my fish would disappear one by one...

Answer 4

I think he might be sick, it may be dropsy. Some fo the symptoms of dropsy are raised scales and bloated belly. It might also be temporary loss of appetite and you may just be looking at him funny. I'd reccomend going to http://www.bettatalk.com, it's a very helpful site.

Answer 5

she may be sick. be careful