Acting Strange...

[YamiHime]

...well last night my betta started swimming funny. By that I mean he was at the top and pretty much on his side. when he swam it looked like he was going sideways. It also looks like his tummy was a small bump... when just an hour ago it didn't look like that. Anyway if anyone remembers my betta is the one who refuses to eat his pellets and hasn't eaten much. So why would he get bloated?
 
Anyway here are pictures:
These are from this morning.. So I think he is better.

 

 

[372xp]

Man! He is a skinny little fish. How old is he? The horizontal stripe is often a sign of stress, this could be a reason for his not eating or a result of it. Sometimes you can fuss them too much and just have to let them be for a while. Has he any companions or can you put him in another tank for a bit, maybe the competition for food might encourage him to buck up his ideas and start feeding. At the end of the day you can take a horse to water but you cant make it drink, he will either improve or not. Just so long as your water is good and your tank is right for him; what more can you do?

 

[Blitz]

Has the fish's color starting to "fade" recently? And then the color came back? 
It may be bloat... Did it look like this? 
 
http/4.bp.blogspot.com/_VkRP-IvOkes/Rd5AP_jYVTI/AAAAAAAAAEI/hBMa3fq9FH8/s400/swollen1.jpg 

 

[YamiHime]

Has the fish's color starting to "fade" recently? And then the color came back? 
It may be bloat... Did it look like this? 
 
http/4.bp.blogspot.com/_VkRP-IvOkes/Rd5AP_jYVTI/AAAAAAAAAEI/hBMa3fq9FH8/s400/swollen1.jpg 

no no no. Definitely not like that. It was just a little... I think I was freaking out too much, He looks better today after I covered him and left him alone with the light off for a while.

Man! He is a skinny little fish. How old is he? The horizontal stripe is often a sign of stress, this could be a reason for his not eating or a result of it. Sometimes you can fuss them too much and just have to let them be for a while. Has he any companions or can you put him in another tank for a bit, maybe the competition for food might encourage him to buck up his ideas and start feeding. At the end of the day you can take a horse to water but you cant make it drink, he will either improve or not. Just so long as your water is good and your tank is right for him; what more can you do?

uhh I don't know how old he is but I'v had him since late December. uhh my other tank is too small to put him in and I'm afraid that if I put my ghost shrimp in his tank... he will eat it ^^''. I recently bought him different pellets... was interested, but didn't eat them. I think I'll leave him alone for a bit. His water is good

I'm going to give him water changes a little more frequently.

 

[372xp]

Dont worry about your ghost shrimp, surely it would be good if he eat it as he would be feeding. Anyway this wont happen, I had a male betta eaten by a ghost shrimp, he was sick, not the other way round. It should be fine they make good tank mates.

 

[YamiHime]

Dont worry about your ghost shrimp, surely it would be good if he eat it as he would be feeding. Anyway this wont happen, I had a male betta eaten by a ghost shrimp, he was sick, not the other way round. It should be fine they make good tank mates.

ehe...I can try to put the shrimp in with him... but last time I tried, the shrimp liked to jump and he scared me ^^'

 

[372xp]

Put him in with the shrimp, unless the shrimps tank is smaller.

 

[Flute]

Wow, he is skinny! If you've not been able to get him to eat properly then I would look for an under lying problem. Does he spit food out, and does he have stringy white poo? If so then I would be tempted to worm him- if he's infested then that would explain why he's not eating.
 
Can you get your hands on some live bloodworm, daphnia or mosquito larvae? If so, try and feed him a few- drop them in front of his face with a pippet- the wriggling motion should set his prey instincts off and hopefully he'll eat a few.

 

[YamiHime]

Put him in with the shrimp, unless the shrimps tank is smaller.

I moved the shrimp into his tank. He seems okay with it dunno about eating.. still hasn't eaten...

Wow, he is skinny! If you've not been able to get him to eat properly then I would look for an under lying problem. Does he spit food out, and does he have stringy white poo? If so then I would be tempted to worm him- if he's infested then that would explain why he's not eating.
 
Can you get your hands on some live bloodworm, daphnia or mosquito larvae? If so, try and feed him a few- drop them in front of his face with a pippet- the wriggling motion should set his prey instincts off and hopefully he'll eat a few.

ajhfkjdsf oh man I love my little guy but I don't know if I could do live worms or larvae....... oh...oh gosh.... err he used to spit them out.. he eats freez dried blood worms but I only gave him those 3 times.  I have never seen him poo until yesturday. It seemed whitish I guess? and stringy. but the next time it was a little brownish ball I guess? kinda connected to a seethrough string ish thing? if that makes sense..  What does worm him mean...?

 

[Flute]

I was the same as you, couldn't bring myself to feed live worms until two of my little angelfish started to fade away. They wouldn't eat anything, and I realised I was going to loose them so I gave it a go, and they went nuts for them, especially the mosquito larvae. 
Try not to feed freeze dried stuff- that's more than likely what's causing bloat. Frozen would be better, but live would be best as like I said it'll kick start his hunting instincts.
 
Hmm, the whitish poo could just be that he's got an empty stomach, but even so, with how skinny he is and with the problems you're having with him then I'd advise you post in the tropical emergencies section, and give the guys there as much info as you can, and hopefully they'll be able to help you decide whether or not you need to deworm him (like you would do for a cat or dog, there are worming medications for fish). Although if you do, I think you'd need to move the shrimp again as some worming medications can be dangerous for them.

 

[372xp]

Catch a small flying bug from in the house and drop it in his tank before you go get live worms. They are free food for bettas and they love them. Also try eSHa 2000, if you can get it in Canada, this deals with a whole host of problems. It is a three day course and really simple to use, it wont affect your shrimp either.

 

[YamiHime]

Catch a small flying bug from in the house and drop it in his tank before you go get live worms. They are free food for bettas and they love them. Also try eSHa 2000, if you can get it in Canada, this deals with a whole host of problems. It is a three day course and really simple to use, it wont affect your shrimp either.

 
 

I was the same as you, couldn't bring myself to feed live worms until two of my little angelfish started to fade away. They wouldn't eat anything, and I realised I was going to loose them so I gave it a go, and they went nuts for them, especially the mosquito larvae. 
Try not to feed freeze dried stuff- that's more than likely what's causing bloat. Frozen would be better, but live would be best as like I said it'll kick start his hunting instincts.
 
Hmm, the whitish poo could just be that he's got an empty stomach, but even so, with how skinny he is and with the problems you're having with him then I'd advise you post in the tropical emergencies section, and give the guys there as much info as you can, and hopefully they'll be able to help you decide whether or not you need to deworm him (like you would do for a cat or dog, there are worming medications for fish). Although if you do, I think you'd need to move the shrimp again as some worming medications can be dangerous for them.

haha... funny story about the shrimp actually.... Uhm well poor mr shrimp somehow died.. when I came home today he was at the side and to my surprise he looked cooked! instead of a ghost he was pink like a normal shrimp you would buy at the store and eat! Perhaps the tempature of my tank was a problem for him... poor guy.. but I'm more worried about my betta.. Anyways, I just noticed the body (which I had left in) has been picked at (of course by my betta). Is this bad? Should I remove the body or let it stay in there another day..?

He's uhh... he's actually sitting there right now, picking at him.. not crazily but I think he's eating him. O3O

 

[YamiHime]

It's winter so there are no flies in my house ^^''

 

[372xp]

Man! Thats not great news. Poor shrimp. I should move it out, at least your betta had a feed. Shrimp can live in fairly high temps and nasty water conditions, if the water in the tank was the cause of her demise then it may be your betta next. Can you not put him in with your guppy? They shouldnt fight my male lived with a guppy for a long time and got on fine, I dont know what a molly is so I couldnt comment on that. Just get him out that tank for now until it is stable and he is feeding.

 

[betta fish]

Hi, do you have a thermometer in the tank? if so could you tell me what it is reading? he does look very skinny and under stress if the water is not warm enough they will not eat.