I've had my Siamese Fighter (Olli - my 2 year old calls him) for over 2 weeks now. He has lived peacefully in a new tank with 6 cardinals and 6 rasboras who don't bother him. My tank is a 60 litre Tetra Aqua Art with internal filter, air pump, 10 real plants and is at a temp of 26 degrees C. I did a fishless cycle prior to buying my fish and all water tests seem fine (Am 0, Nitrite 0 Nitrate 5 at most, KH 4, GH 8, pH 7.5).

Up until the night before last he swam about minding his own buisness and seemed fine feeding Tetra Betta dry feed happily. Suddenly he began moving very little - at first at the top of the tank, but now mostly he finds a spot on the bottom and stays there very still. Occasionally, he will swim to the surface, but then back down. He swam up for some food last night, but he has definately had a sudden change for the worse - 36 hours ago. He now seems a very different little fish. He doesn't seem to have any marks on him, eyes and scales appear okay, and I can't see any swelling to his abdo. I tried him with a shelled pea last night, but he didn't touch it.

I'd really appreciate any help anybody could offer me. I'm new to fish keeping, and thought I was doing quite well with my water parameters all being good. But now I'm feeling a bit disheartened - and I have got attached to the little buggers!

perhaps he wants his own betta bachelor pad!

is the temperature okay?

when was his last water change?
and his last 100% water change?

Did a pwc last week, but don't see the need to change all the water as my water levels are all spot on. He's only been like this 36 hours. Temp is 26 degress C

i don't know how long you've had your fish, but i think concenus is that you should do 100% water changes every 4 weeks or sooner depending on the size of your tank and the filteration system you use.

I've only had the tank 6 weeks - 4 weeks of that were without fish doing my cycle. I did a 100 % water change prior to introducing my fish which all went in 2 weeks ago

100% waterchanges are unnessesary for that size of tank with such few fish in it. i do a 100% water change every few months, and only if i see the need for it. doing them every four weeks is not needed.

try turning the filter down, maby he doesnt like all the current all of a sudden.

Afishdude is right, the flow from the filter could be bothering him. That is one of the reasons that fighters don't do well in community tanks.
He may also prefer to have a tank by himself as they are a solitary fish and don't require tankmates. You may be best getting him his own little 5g+ tank, he'd be a lot happier.

Thanks for the replies so far guys. I've tried turning off the air pump for a bit - it didn't sems to make any difference, but I'll leave it off for a few days, and see how he goes.

do you have a filter? or just an air pump?

This post has been edited by afishdude: Aug 26 2007, 07:57 PM

doesn't turning off the air pump for extended periods of time (question: what is considered extended - 1 hour, 3 hours, 24 hours?) harm/destroy the biological good bacteria?

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i got a book on healthy betta keeping and it recommends 100% water changes every 4 weeks in tank environments where it is not a community tank and assuming you are using something under 20 gallons.

mine is 4 gallons and thus i am comfortable doing the 100% water changes every 4 weeks. and a 20-30% every week.

mine is filtered.

I don't think so. I've got an internal filter AND an air pump - it's only the air pump I've switched off. He's still hiding all the time - switching his hiding places lots though. Comes to the surface now and then, but then returns to the bottom. He is still feeding fine - only giving him some Tetra Betta dry feed. Maybe I should give him something a bit more interesting. What do you think?. Oh and I haven't noticed him poo yet.

I'm a little hesitant in isolating him in a bachelor tank, as I'll have to buy a new tank, filter and heater. But if someone knows of any cheap options to do this, then I'd appreciate their thoughts.

Well, turning the air pump off hasn't made any difference. He's still lying very still at various hiding spots on the bottom of the tank, and has not fed today. I'm going to assume he's constipated and try to get him to take some live food tomorrow. Other than that, I'm a bit lost as to what to do next.

Does his belly look bloated at all?

I understand you not wanting to seperate him for financial reasons but i think you can get by with it pretty cheap. Over here (US) you can buy a cheap glass 5 gallon for at or less than $10. and a heater and filter for $20. all this being a total close to $30. You could also just buy a cheap home with no lid and use something around the house (that's what I do) and then buy the heater and filter off of ebay. i keep one of my litte boys in a 2.5 and he's perfectly fine by himself with room to move.

Petco has an amazing sale on tanks: $1 per gallon. 55G = $55! I wish I had a house and not this crappy student apartment. Oh whoa is me...haha!

Sadly, my fighter died today. I had a quick look at him - he didn't have a mark on him and didn't appear particularly bloated, so I guess I'll never know why. The cardinals and rasboras who lived with him appear absolutely fine. Thanks for everyone who tried to help him.

I think Bettas are lovely fish, but I am quite understandably a bit reluctant to buy another - particularly in a community tank, but I intend replacing him with another suitable fish(es).

Hey i'm sorry for your loss its always off putting. good luck with the rest of your fish and chin up

I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your betta. My betta of 4 yrs is not himself either and I am worried that he will be going soon too. Don't give up on betta's they are such beautiful fish but I understand, it is so sad losing them.

This post has been edited by Dorri: Feb 12 2008, 05:08 AM

The OP is from Aug. 2007.