Abnormally Sleepy Betta

[roseyskys]

Hey folks! My male betta, who has been living with me for about three months, has been extremely sleepy lately, and I can't figure out what's wrong. I thought it was temperature shock (my old thermometer was reading around 77, but I don't fully trust it) but even with the addition of a heater and a new more accurate thermometer, he seems to be progressively getting worse.

Tank size: 5 gallons
tank age: 3 months
pH: --
ammonia: --
nitrite: --
nitrate: --
kH: --
gH: --
tank temp: 78
I don't have the exact levels, but I had them tested and they are all within the normal range. I will be getting them tested first thing tomorrow as well.

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): My betta is usually a very active and responsive boy. Yesterday, he suddenly became very sleepy. He suddenly started spending a lot of time at the bottom of his tank not moving, just chilling. He was still eating and would wake up if we were moving around his tank. I did a water change and installed a heater and a new thermometer. This morning, he was much more sleepy and through the day he has been responding less and less to movement outside the tank. He has also started wedging himself in tight nooks. He now spends less than a minute awake and moving at a time, and only moves once every 20-40 minutes. When he does swim, he swims in short, fragmented, and rapid movements (which is unlike him). He had a burst of energy this afternoon and was awake for several minutes and I was able to feed him then, but tonight when I tried to feed him he ate one flake, and seemed interested in more food, but didn't eat it. He has been spitting up his food more frequently. His breathing has also gotten more rapid (especially over the last few hours). I can't see anything physically wrong with him- his fins are fine, his mouth is fine, and his body size hasn't changed.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 30% every week and a half

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: less than 1/4 tsp of buffer every water change and half a mil of nitrifying bacteria starter every change

Tank inhabitants: he lives alone. There are also 4 small living plants in the tank

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): None

Exposure to chemicals: 2 mL stress coat this afternoon

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[Fishmanic]

Stop using stress coat..it can affect the labryth organ. Do large 60% water changes every day and test water daily for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites. Buy an API test kit. What is the hardness of your tap water? Why are you using a buffer?

 

[Essjay]

Shops often say the water is fine when it's not - a lot of shop workers have no idea what 'good' levels are. This is why you need your own test kit.

 

[roseyskys]

I use bottled spring water instead of tap water because we don't have great tap water. Since I'm using bottles, the pH is slightly high, so I use the buffer to put it at a good level. When I do the 60% water changes, should I do my normal additives?

 

[Fishmanic]

You need to know your exact levels before we can advise you. Buy an API test kit so you can get accurate readings.

 

[Essjay]

If you are using bottled water, there should be no chlorine so you don't need a water conditioner. But there may be no minerals in the bottled water - does it have a list of ingredients?

We do need numbers for ammonia and nitrite in the tank water. Always ask the shop for the numbers when they test - but a test kit of your own is much better as the shop may not be open if you need to test in an emergency.

 

[roseyskys]

I live right next to the pet shop so it was super convenient. I got the test kit and the pH is 7.4, ammonia reads basically at 0 ppm, but it has a tint of green so it might be slightly above 0 (not anywhere near 0.25 ppm). The nitrates are somewhere between 0-5 ppm, much closer to 0. The nitrites are right at 0 ppm. Under ingredients on the water is just "spring water"

 

[Fishmanic]

What are the levels of your tap water?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Looks healthy to me externally, probably something internally going on... the stress coat maybe? That would make him weak from lack of air.

The water parameters are really important, please try to get those ASAP.

 

[roseyskys]

Tap is pH ~7.6, more than 1 ppm ammonia, no nitrates or nitrite

 

[roseyskys]

He doesn't come to the surface for air nearly as much and he's still breathing pretty heavy. Is there any way to get him more oxygen other than to stop using the stress coat?

 

[mcordelia]

depending on how tall your tank is, I would lower the water level so that he doesn't have to work as hard to come up to the surface if he wishes to. However, I say that with a caution as your tank is pretty small, you don't want to lower it so much that the parameters get wonky from having too little water in there.

It's good that you're not using your own tap water to fill the tank, clearly the ammonia in your water would case problems. I wonder though if the spring water could have been different batch to batch, and could have shocked your fish? I recommend testing the pH of the spring water each time you add it and comparing it to the pH of your tank tested on the same day, too much of a difference may cause a shock to the fish.

I think it would be important to do multiple large water changes for a few days without the API stress coat to remove any traces of it from your tank. I'm not familiar how long (or if) bettas recover from labyrinth organ damage caused by API stress coat, that may be something worth googling further.

As far as your question, try adding an air stone to increase the oxygenation of the water? also decreasing the temperature will increase the amount of dissolved oxygen, but best to do that gradually. I would slowly shift the temperature all the way to the lower end of the recommended range for bettas to ensure he gets as much oxygen as possible.

I'm not the most knowledgeable on betta care, but hopefully these tips help (more experienced folks feel free to contradict!) until you get some further answers.

 

[roseyskys]

Update: I lowered the water level and he's breathing a lot easier. I started giving him salt baths and yesterday he pooped (1/6 the size of his body. I have no idea where it came from) and was acting like his normal self for a few hours. Now he's back to the bottom of the tank and is still spitting out his food as soon as he puts it in his mouth. I'm going to keep on doing large water changes and maybe keep giving him salt baths and see if he improves

 

[mcordelia]

Was the poop white and stringy? If so, I believe that signals internal parasites. If it is "just" constipation, then the salt baths should help, but it's a bit worrysome to me that they helped at first, and then he got worse. I am swimming way outside my lane if I try and recommend some medication to give, and I haven't been on the forum long enough to know which members are experts in bettas or diseases, but let's try this:

@PheonixKingZ I know you have bettas, and maybe you can also give a shout out to members who would be able to help with this fish disease?

 

[roseyskys]

It was not white, long, and stringy. It was actually the exact opposite- brown, short, and stout, which confused me because he didn't have any distention that I could see. Any suggestions for medication would be amazing