My betta fish is either vertical or at the bottom. What's wrong?

Question

I have had my fish for about 2 months now, and while he is usually a pretty active pet, he has mysteriously started to hang out at the bottom, or vertically at the top.

I've been reading on his symptoms, and I think he either has swim bladder disorder, or he's dying. I recently changed his water, and I changed 100% of it, so maybe that's the cause of it.

The water temp is almost always around 78 degrees, and he has plenty of space to move around.

Does anybody know what's wrong?

Answer 1

Siamese fighting fish are very sensetive to the water. If you suddenly change it without conditioning the water they will react rather suddenly and possibly die. Trust me I know.

But a little comment on the oxygen thing. Betta's can breathe both in water and in air, whci his why they almost never need any plants in their tank.

Just keep an eye on him, there are many reasons he could be doing this. He might be having a forgetful time, or his body isn't balanced enough for him to remain swimming thwe right way. I've had a few fish with swimming difficulty and it passed in a few days.

Answer 2

It would be easier to help you if you can tell us if you have him in just a bowl, or if you have him in at least a 2.5 gallon tank with at least a filter if not a heater, if you can keep the temperature stable at all times

As for him sitting around on the bottom or beeing vertically, that's pretty normal actually for a betta

They also love plants to hang out in




Hope that helps
Good luck



EB


Edit*
i'm very shocked about 2 thumbs down here, i have 6 bettas and especially my male betta does the same thing, and he'snot sick, so i don't know what's wrong with you people
maybe you should keep a betta before giving other people who know what they're talking about thumbs down for a true answer

Answer 3

The reason why it may be hanging out at the bottom of the tank is because you may not be providing the betta with enough fresh oxygen to aerate the tank.

I have heard that some people crush up a small frozen pea to feed their fish when they have Swim Bladder Disorder but I have never heard of any success stories.

I would suggest Binox (for bacterial and fungal infections) and General Care (for internal and external infections). These products can be found in the medicine section of http://www.drsfostersmith.com. Good luck with your betta.

Answer 4

If he had swim bladder disorder he would be floating at the top on his side. If he does have it feed him boiled peas. It is normal for bettas to just hover at the bottom or at the top of the tank they don't swim around like goldfish they always act as if they are meditating. And they also do not require a lot of space because they don't move much.

Have you ever held up a mirror to the side of his tank so he could see his reflection?

Try it and see what happens! ;)

Answer 5

Maybe Mines was acting like that also, then it got a little fatter and it died, so maybe those R the S/S that it is going to die. Take the fish 2 the Vet if u want.