Betta Lying On His Side...doesn`t Look Good.

[toomie]

I bought a male betta about a week ago at a lfs. He seemed fine swimming around in his cup, but hasn`t been the same ever since I put him in his new temporary home. He seemed listless, but was still eating. He has mostly stayed at the bottom of his tank, just sitting there. I changed the location of his tank yesterday, and that seemed to perk him up somewhat, as he could see the other bettas. I made sure he couldn`t see them all day, though, so as not to wear himself out. Tonight he is laying on his side at the bottom of the tank, and hasn`t attempted to eat yet. He doesn`t appear to have ich or fin rot, not trying to scratch himself or dart around the tank. He is in a small tank, it`s a critter keeper that is approx. 1/2 gallon, as I`m currently trying to cycle some tanks. I changed his water yesterday. I checked the ph and ammonia levels tonight and the ph is about 7.8 to 8.0, and the ammonia was .5 So I just did another water change, ammonia is currently 0, I will check Ph in a minute. He is acclimating in his cup. I have some meds on hand, but don`t know what`s wrong so don`t know what I should use. Suggestions would be helpful and appreciated. The only thing I can come up with from what I`ve read might be sbd, but not sure what to do. I emptied the food he did not eat out with his old water and am thinking of fasting him for a day (if he lives that long) and then feeding a pea, but he has been pooping, so I don`t know if that`s the answer. His water temp is around 80F.

 

[toomie]

Oh, forgot to add, tank is not filtered (obviously) or has heater but the room he is in is very warm and he has a thermometer. I also feed Hikari Tropical Gold pellets, I usually give him about 4 or 5 a day. Don`t know what he ate at the lfs.

 

[LauraFrog]

Doesn't sound good, is he still alive?

There are a lot of things that can stress bettas, in this case sounds like it's probably water quality... have you got any ammo-lock on hand? You really need to get him into a cycled tank ASAP, is there another betta tank containing a healthy betta that you could swap him with temporarily? It's not swim bladder I wouldn't think, as that usually leads to apparent lack of balance, lying on side while FLOATING, not on the bottom.

Is there any sign of mucus, slime or any sort of unusual coating on the body or over the fins? Usually a stressed betta lying on his side will be 'gasping', extending the gill membrane and then pulling it back sharply - what colour is it? Any sign of distention of the abdomen?

I would fast him, he probably won't eat anyway but it won't do him any good if he does. If you can, lower the water level to just a few inches and give him something to rest on close to the surface so he doesn't have as long to swim to breathe from the surface.

 

[pippoodle]

are you dechlorinating the water before adding to the tank
do regular water changes wjile he's in there
several a day if need be
matching the temp of the water in his tank

i dont know how long he will survive in a unfiltered tank - sorry

 

[toomie]

Doesn't sound good, is he still alive?

There are a lot of things that can stress bettas, in this case sounds like it's probably water quality... have you got any ammo-lock on hand? You really need to get him into a cycled tank ASAP, is there another betta tank containing a healthy betta that you could swap him with temporarily? It's not swim bladder I wouldn't think, as that usually leads to apparent lack of balance, lying on side while FLOATING, not on the bottom.

Is there any sign of mucus, slime or any sort of unusual coating on the body or over the fins? Usually a stressed betta lying on his side will be 'gasping', extending the gill membrane and then pulling it back sharply - what colour is it? Any sign of distention of the abdomen?

I would fast him, he probably won't eat anyway but it won't do him any good if he does. If you can, lower the water level to just a few inches and give him something to rest on close to the surface so he doesn't have as long to swim to breathe from the surface.

This morning when I went in, I actually thought he was dead. He was almost completely on his side at the bottom of the tank, the thermometer was the only thing holding him up at all. That was several hours ago. I just checked on him, and he is still at the bottom of his tank, but completely upright now, looks much better, is actually swimming around a bit.

He didn`t eat yesterday, I`m not going to feed him today either.

I have 2 tanks that are pretty much cycled, the ammonia and nitrites have been zero for about 2 weeks now (tanks have been cycling for about 6 or 7 weeks, gone through the ammonia spiking and nitrite spiking, etc. nitrates are around 20 or 30). I still have to put some foam around the filter intakes so their fins don`t get sucked in (the filters aren`t adjustable) and do a big water change. I can do that stuff today. Do I need to wait another day or so after that to make sure water perameters are steady or should I go ahead and put him in?

Oh, and I also do not notice any slime or any other coatings, and no distended belly. At first he seemed to be breathing heavily, but once I realized the ph in his water was too low, I did a water change and used tap water, and that stopped.
I am using Jungle water conditioner for all of my fish.