WesleytheBetta
Mostly New Member
Tank size: 5G
pH: 7.4
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 0ppm
tank temp: 76.4 F (usually 78-80 F)
Hard Water
20% water change today prior to incident/20% weekly water changes
This is more of a possible injury concern than sickness that has come upon my betta. He is the sole inhabitant of his tank and is typically very aggressive. I recently tried adding a mystery snail/ghost shrimp and he kills anything I put in his tank. The last murder occurred a week ago. He has a few plants: amazon swords, anacharis, and marimo moss. Aside from the filter and heater, the only artificial piece of his environment was a large plastic mangrove-looking root that he could swim down into. It has a closed bottom. He's had it for about a month and usually would hide in it near the surface, regularly coming up for air. Due to some work on our floors he was temporarily moved into a bathroom, and then today we were able to put his tank back in the normal location. Prior to moving his tank today, he was very interactive and eating normally. Prior to moving him I noticed he was hiding in the plastic root and I could only see the end of his tail. I thought he would swim out when we moved his tank. He didn't come out and I didn't see him out for air for 30-45 min. after moving him and began to panic. Any sort of stimulation like a tank move would have him looking out the glass interested in what was going on and he has never been shy or a hider. I grew increasingly panicked that he got stuck when we carried the tank from one room to another. I was worried moving the root to get him out would panic him/cause injury but after playing with it for a few minutes I turned it upside down in the water and his body slowly came out. He immediately swam to the surface for air, and seems to be going for air more than usual. It has been about an hour since I got him out and he is not interactive and seems very lethargic. I see no sign of major injury besides a little discoloration around his head and he is staying at the bottom of his tank - WEIRD for him. The root is out of the tank. He is swimming slowly or very little. It is possible he was just hiding in the root and he was somehow injured with me maneuvering it in the tank. Is it possible he was without air for too long/squeezed too hard in the root? The root itself had no rigid or rough edges but if he was stuck I could see how it would distress his fragile body. He was totally normal up until he was moved out of the root.
pH: 7.4
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 0ppm
tank temp: 76.4 F (usually 78-80 F)
Hard Water
20% water change today prior to incident/20% weekly water changes
This is more of a possible injury concern than sickness that has come upon my betta. He is the sole inhabitant of his tank and is typically very aggressive. I recently tried adding a mystery snail/ghost shrimp and he kills anything I put in his tank. The last murder occurred a week ago. He has a few plants: amazon swords, anacharis, and marimo moss. Aside from the filter and heater, the only artificial piece of his environment was a large plastic mangrove-looking root that he could swim down into. It has a closed bottom. He's had it for about a month and usually would hide in it near the surface, regularly coming up for air. Due to some work on our floors he was temporarily moved into a bathroom, and then today we were able to put his tank back in the normal location. Prior to moving his tank today, he was very interactive and eating normally. Prior to moving him I noticed he was hiding in the plastic root and I could only see the end of his tail. I thought he would swim out when we moved his tank. He didn't come out and I didn't see him out for air for 30-45 min. after moving him and began to panic. Any sort of stimulation like a tank move would have him looking out the glass interested in what was going on and he has never been shy or a hider. I grew increasingly panicked that he got stuck when we carried the tank from one room to another. I was worried moving the root to get him out would panic him/cause injury but after playing with it for a few minutes I turned it upside down in the water and his body slowly came out. He immediately swam to the surface for air, and seems to be going for air more than usual. It has been about an hour since I got him out and he is not interactive and seems very lethargic. I see no sign of major injury besides a little discoloration around his head and he is staying at the bottom of his tank - WEIRD for him. The root is out of the tank. He is swimming slowly or very little. It is possible he was just hiding in the root and he was somehow injured with me maneuvering it in the tank. Is it possible he was without air for too long/squeezed too hard in the root? The root itself had no rigid or rough edges but if he was stuck I could see how it would distress his fragile body. He was totally normal up until he was moved out of the root.
