Two female bettas not eating?

Question

I have a tank with three female bettas. I've had this set-up for about three weeks now; they get along well; no stress stripes, minimal flaring... Everything seems great.

However, two of them suddenly stopped acting like themselves two days ago. They stopped eating, and while they are normally very active fish (swimming around all the time), now I usually find them resting together on the bottom of the tank. Today, both bettas started developing stress stripes.

I can't figure out what the problem could be. There have been no recent changes in the tank; no new fish, etc. The last partial water change was last Friday, and they were acting fine for a few days after that, so I don't think that is it. I changed the filter cartridge yesterday, but they stopped eating the day before this.

To be continued.

Ammonia levels are at less than .25 ppm. Temperature is 79 degrees F. The bettas don't look sick at all (fins normal, bright colors except for the stress stripes), and the third betta is completely fine, eating, swimming around actively, etc. I have never seen her pick on the others (and the tank is near my computer, which I'm always on, so I watch the tank a lot), and besides, she's so much smaller than them that it seems odd that they would feel intimidated.

Any ideas?

And yep, I use dechlorinator. Also, I leave the tap water sitting out for a least a week ahead of time before I use it. :/

Yep, I've tried different foods -- I gave them their regular betta food, no luck, I gave them freeze-dried bloodworms, nada, and even tried some tropical fish flakes. They won't eat any of it.

Also, I thought about their ages... but the one betta's body (not including tail) was less than an inch long when I got it, and the other a little larger. Although they've grown quite a lot since then, I've only had them for two months. They can't be that old, I don't think. Hmm.

And nope, no new fish -- last thing I put in was ghost shrimp about a week and a half ago.

I just checked pH, and it's 7.6. Is that pretty out of range, enough to be making them sick? What's the best way to get it down without shocking them?

NEW SYMPTOM: The one betta now looks very, very fat. And not in a constipated betta way, I've had constipated bettas before, almost the whole fish looks very wide. Scales are NOT sticking out, so it doesn't look like dropsy to me...

So we've got not eating, lethargic, and fat. Thoughts?

Scales are starting to stick out now. Crud, it is indeed dropsy. The other fish doesn't show any signs of bloating, so maybe I can save one at least... Crud, crud, crud.

Answer 1

*Sounds like you got them diagnosed with 'dropsy'*
Good job*

Answer 2

Im sorry about your fish having the dropsy. What is the tank size again?

Answer 3

Ok, sorry to say it, but they may be dying soon... My mom's got a bunch of bettas and when they stop eating they usually go to the pond in sky in a few days. Nothing seems to be wrong with them, they just stop eating... they also get a little lethargic too. Sorry...

Answer 4

You should try changing there food.
It my be that thy are just old..........
even if you only had them a Short time,
thy could be years old. Have you gotten any new ones lately?
if so then thy could be caring diseases.

Answer 5

You put a water declorinator in, yeah?