My sister's male betta isn't swimming after she did her routine water change. She put dechlorinater in it, but now he's just sitting on the bottom of the tank. Every once in a while he'll come up for air, but he seems to rush up all at once. I have a tank of female bettas, so i put him in there to see how he would react, and he just fell to the bottom, and would again rush up for air paying the females no attention at all. She said he was acting normal earlier. Occasionally he's just float around the top, and his gills look like they may be infected (i'm not sure of his normal coloring tho) I'm wondering if he's just getting old, or maybe has a swim bladder problem. I don't want to just flush him, i want to try anything i can, so any ideas?
2007-07-18 19:48:54 · 10 answers · asked by Andii 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
I only placed him with the females for a few minutes to see his reaction (the water temps. were the same) i also have checked him bowl, and the ammonia is fine. He doesn't have a filter in his tank, but my sister only does partial water changes. (i keep a constant eye on it's ammonia) His tank is 3 gallons. His gills look a little purple, but he's a pink fish, so that might be his normal colors.
2007-07-18 20:15:37 · update #1
First off, get him out of the female tank. It's not at all safe to have him in there, even if he doesn't attack them, they could get infected by whatever he has, or end up picking on him instead.
How big is his tank? What are the water parameters? When you say his gills look infected, does that mean they have spots, or are just red? If you can post the answer to these questions I can hopefully offer more help.
Edit: I know it's not much help, but it seems you're doing all you can. From what you said, he seems to be getting the best care possible. I would suggest just keeping an eye on him and see if anything changes, it could just be stress from having his water changed (I have a betta that sometimes gets lethargic after water changes.)
Good luck!
2007-07-18 19:59:18 · answer #1 · answered by Naiya 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He may just be adjusting to a difference in temperature or water chemistry. Plus, from your question, it seems his water has been changed twice - once in what he's normally kept in, and then when you put him into the tank with the females.
Does your sister keep her betta in a tank or bowl? If it was a bowl without a filter, this should be getting a 100% water change 2-3 times a week. If it's let go too long, then the water is changed, too big of a change (even if it;s bad water to good) will be a little of a shock to which they need to adjust. This may also be why the betta's gills don't look right. If he was in water with high ammonia, they will be a light purple color, if there was too much nitrite, they will be brown. The normal color will be a deep pink-red.
If he seems to be struggling to swim up to the surface, that could be an indicaton of a swim bladder problem. This can be caused by too much dry food (soak the food before you feed him for a few days, but start by giving him a cooked pea with the skin removed - it'll be too big for him to eat whole, but pinch off small pieces, it's okay if the females eat it too). If soaking the food and the pea doesn't help in a few days, he may have an internal bacterial infection. You can use a broad-spectrum antibiotic from your fish store to help with that. If he's just sitting on the bottom and swimming upward quickly, it's not.
Bettas can live for 5 years or more with proper care, although some only live for 2-3. It's best when you keep them in a tank of at least 2.5 gallons with a filter and heater (temperature should be 76-86o), then you should only have to change 1/4 of the water each week.
I wouldn't leave him in with the females for any length of time - if he recovers, he may start to chase and injure them. If he doesn have an infection, this might be something he could pass on to them.
2007-07-19 03:11:16 · answer #2 · answered by copperhead 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
He just might be old or unhappy. Are you feeding him enough? Because if you aren't feeding him the correct amount of food, he won't have the energy to float and swim around. Make sure you feed him 16 pellets a day (8 in the morning, 8 at night) and look to see if eats it all. The temperature of the water might be affecting him, too. If it's too cold, he'll be pretty still the whole day. After you change the water (and add the stress coat) make sure you put him in the water in his container first, don't just put him in there right away. Let his container go in the water for an hour. This is enough time for him to get used to the water.
Hope he turns out okay!
2007-07-19 11:39:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This can some times happen if the water that was added at the water change was much different in temperature (especially colder )Also was the tap water put in the tank then the declorinator ? The declorinator shoud be put in the tap water in a separate container then added to the fishes tank to avoid stress . I don"t use declorinator. I keep several plastic milk jugs filled with tap water and let them sit for . atleast 2 days without covers I use this water to make my water changes. The chlorine in the tap water disapates out over the 2 days and you avoid changing water chemisry in the water by adding declorinating chemical not to mention the cost savings.If your betta has been damaged in the ways I mention his gills or swim blatter were damaged and there is no cure. He my live but he will have breathing problems
2007-07-19 08:58:09 · answer #4 · answered by bob m 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I may take awhile for him to recover. Next time make your changing water in advance. Place water in a bottle add dechlorinater, shake and let stand for a week. Always have this made well in advance. It less shocking to the poor fish.
2007-07-19 02:57:38 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I wouldnt move him around from tank to tank as the water in the tanks is always going to vary and cause stress. bettas only live for around a year anyway so this is all i can think of really. If you are feeding him live food then this may be the source of any infection. I think its either to do with his age, (not the water as you do regular checks) or just his diet. Could it be over feeding?
2007-07-19 03:42:05 · answer #6 · answered by Cambridge Aquatics 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Do you mean she changed all of the water, or just twenty to thirty percent of it? You're only supposed to change between twenty and thirty percent at a time unless there's an emergency.
2007-07-19 03:05:47 · answer #7 · answered by Demon L 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Put a mirror against the glass near him, to see his reaction.
2007-07-19 07:01:25 · answer #8 · answered by Klingon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know but I would tell you to have someone look at your fish.
2007-07-19 07:13:37 · answer #9 · answered by Holly H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
go to the pet store and get betta-cure! see if it works!!
2007-07-19 02:55:09 · answer #10 · answered by Mrs. Nicole 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋