Acting Stranger. Sitting at Floor Today, Not Active

April FOTM Photo Contest Starts Now!
FishForums.net Fish of the Month
🏆 Click to enter! 🏆

Slayvoff

New Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2017
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Betta has always been pretty active, swimming around a lot around the edges of the tank. Today he's been hanging out in one spot right on the floor of the tank...it is really worrying me. I went to feed the fish and put the blood worms in and he didn't move at all. I have a few other fish in the tank - a guppy and some neon tetras. They get along just fine from what I've seen. But he did not move at all when I fed.

I got really worried because I saw his mouth kind of bobbing open, I truly thought he was dead. Stuck my hand in to poke him gently and he scurried away. But he just moved to the other side of the tank where he is now resting, once again, on the floor.


Here is a picture of him before I touched him: http://imgur.com/a/YvYGT
 

Hi there and welcome to the forum. In order to help you with your betta we need you to provide some information.

Can you tell us if you've done any recent changes in your tank? Added a plant or suppliment or chemical additive of some kind for example?

Is your betta losing color at all or slightly bloated? What shape are his fins in, rotten or the edges seem tattered/abnormal in color? Please let us know of any physical abnormalities you may see.

Is your tank heated? Betta are tropical fish and require water varying from 74 to 82 degrees to be comfortable. They become lethargic in cold water (and begin to shut down over prolonged periods of cold temperatures).

I recommend a partial water change of at least 30% if you've done one recently and if you haven't done one recently (in the past 3-4 days) then one large 50% water change of conditioned water that is nearly the same temperature as your tank water. If the temperature greatly varies when you add it to the tank the temperature shock will cause further stress on your betta. A stressed fish is a sick fish (and then a dead fish!). be sure to pour the water in slowly as not to disturb your betta and other fish as little as possible with the water movement.

Is your tank aerated or do you have enough water surface disturbance to oxygenate the water? If you have little surface agitation it makes it difficult for your fish to get oxygen, betta have labyrinth organs and while they can breathe regular air they still require well oxygenated water.

How large is your tank? 5gal 10gal, etc?

Please provide us with your water parameters from a new test, not numbers from yesterday or a week before.

Nitrates, Nitrites, Ammonia, Ph, alkalinity.

Is your tank cycled, as in you've let it establish a healthy bacteria colony so that your tank can house fish and keep stable water parameters? If you don't know what that is here is a quick link. http://aquariuminfo.org/cycling.html

How often and at what capacity do you do water changes? You should be doing at least 30% Partial water changes twice a week or a 50% water change once a week. Please understand that these are water change schedules meant for an established, healthy tank.

What else do you feed your betta other than blood worms? Pellets? Mysis, betta flakes? Keep in mind a betta's tummy is about the size of one of his eyes so they are very easy to overfeed.

I'm sure Byron or Nick will be along shortly to tell about the compatability of your betta with the other fish you mentioned. I am not sure on the tetras but I can tell you right now a guppy and a betta do not mix, as betta will often mistake a colorful guppy as a rival and likely attack and kill the guppy. Betta do best when kept alone or in a tank with fish that won't provide "rivals" to your betta. Please know that that not all betta are the same. Some may have no issue with other fish and some will want nothing to do with anything in their tank, not even a snail.
 
I appreciate your response. It's a 5.5 gallon tank with a heater and filter, I change about 1 gallon a week using the tap from my sink.

To make this quick, I am pretty sure he has fin rot...I need him to spread his fins to really tell but they def. look a little jagged and maybe blackened on the tips. If he does have it I am guessing it's most likely from the tiger barb glofish I had for 1 day and returned bc he was nipping at my betta. It's either that or somehow from the baffle I made for the filter or one of the synthetic plants. I've ordered the betta fin rot medication which will arrive tomorrow.

But would fin rot make him lethargic like this?
 
I appreciate your response. It's a 5.5 gallon tank with a heater and filter, I change about 1 gallon a week using the tap from my sink.

To make this quick, I am pretty sure he has fin rot...I need him to spread his fins to really tell but they def. look a little jagged and maybe blackened on the tips. If he does have it I am guessing it's most likely from the tiger barb glofish I had for 1 day and returned bc he was nipping at my betta. It's either that or somehow from the baffle I made for the filter or one of the synthetic plants. I've ordered the betta fin rot medication which will arrive tomorrow.

But would fin rot make him lethargic like this?
Illness will make any fish lethargic as their immune system is comprimised and they have a hard time finding the energy to do much of anything, this includes eating.

I need you to answer the rest of my questions. Your tank is also too small to house that many fish. The reason your betta got fin rot after the glofish damaged his fins is because he already had a comprimised immune system and your tank is not suitable for a healthy fish to heal. You need to buy a seperate tank for all of your other fish or return/ get rid of them. Your betta should be the only one occupyng that tank.

You also need to do the water change that I've told you about. Fish medicine also doesn't always work as it can worsen the issue by adding more stress to the fish. The medicine will ALSO kill whatever beneficial bacteria you have and then throw your water parameters into further disorder. Without stable water your fish will die from stress and illness. Good clean water is the first step, next is downstocking your tank to just your betta. Now please answer all of the questions I asked in my previous post. To help you and correct whatever you may be doing wrong we need to know the answers. If you want him to spread his fins one method is holding a mirror to the side of the tank he is on. He will then "flare" if he has the energy at his reflection as he'll mistake it for a rival. Make sure you only use this method to determine if he has fin rot and not for amusement, causing a betta to feel that its threatened causes undue stress, and flaring will do this to him if you do it too much.
 
It's a 5.5 gallon
Hi your tank is overstocked, Tetras and Bettas do not make good tank mates as the tetras become nippy and harass the Betta, this causes stress to the Betta and he will become sick or he will kill them. While Guppies are not a schooling fish they are social and need at least 3 or 4 to be happy,

Tetras and Guppies cant be tank-mates ever because they require different water conditions, Guppies need hard water Tetras need soft.

Sorry your tank is too small for anything but the Betta.
 
Okay I took the guppy out into a tupperwear with tank water until I can return him as its midnight. Let me do the water tests - I just did them Thursday and they were prefect, pH of 6.8.

I wonder if I accidentally overfed him and he got a swim bladder infection? That somewhat makes sense because as he sits on the ground his back end raises up so it looks like his face is pressing into the rocks. And he is kind of swimming offbalance when he first gets moving. He also didn't eat at all today.

Here is a close-up of his tail right now: http://imgur.com/a/89Hh6

Used to feed him only blood worms, now I mix blood worms and flakes. Weekly water changes, and the surface of the water is aerated. I have a cover on the tank but theres about 2 inches of space between cover and water surface which is not obstructed at all.
 
Last edited:
Used to feed him only blood worms, now I mix blood worms and flakes.
What type of flakes? I would switch him to a high quality pellet like New Life Spectrum.

I cant see the photo of his tail clearly,

I meant can you provide a close up of the fish so I can see his belly.
 
What type of flakes? I would switch him to a high quality pellet like New Life Spectrum.

I cant see the photo of his tail clearly,

I meant can you provide a close up of the fish so I can see his belly.
They're the tetramin tropical flakes


Here is the clearest picture I can get right now: http://imgur.com/a/THK8T
 
They're the tetramin tropical flakes


Here is the clearest picture I can get right now: http://imgur.com/a/THK8T
That's a bloated belly alright, hopefully he is just constipated, but Nick will be a better judge than I. Remember that betta have very small stomachs, the size of one of their eyes, and like all fish they will eat what they can when they can. It is very easy to overfeed a betta. New life spectrum as Nick mentioned is a good brand, tetramin is just terrible really. Blood worms should be treats, not a main source of food. This includes, daphnia, mysis, tubifex worms, and brine shrimp. Every other day snacks in SMALL amounts (remember that little tummy!) not main courses.
 

Most reactions

trending

Back
Top