Betta Not Eating

[Bigd5482]

Ok so he got better but something still seems wrong. Not really moving around much keeps fins down most the time and does like to rest a lot. When I feed him I really don't see him go after food at all and I've yet to see him actually poop so don't know what that looks like. So I've read on these forums if they're not eating could be constipation and if this is a possibility what can I do to help?

This just dawned on me and want some input on it. Oscar was in a 1 gal tank before I got this 5 gal tank with no heater or filter and he was extremely active always had his fins up unless he was resting but would always come swim around when I would walk by. So now in the 5 gal tank he has a heater and filter. The filter is one that came with the tank set up which is a 5 gal hex tank and its a biowheel. So there is current at the top of the water, could this be causing him to be stressed and acting so weird? His color has not come back all the way and it almost look likes he has faint white vertical stripes on him. From what I read this normally means they're stressed about something if anyone could confirm this it would be great? He has not built a bubblenest since being put in the 5 gal tank and he had quite a big one in the 1 gal.

If this is the case with the current is there anything I can do to slow the current coming out of the biowheel?

 

[Bigd5482]

/bump

anyone?

 

[richgroup]

How long has he been in his new tank? It's possible that he is going through an adjustment stage, and once he's familiar with his new surrounding, he'll be back to his old self. Did you add him to his new tank the way you would introduce a new fish? By letting the different water temperatures assimilate, you'll lessen the shock of the transfer.

 

[loraxchick]

i agree that he is probably going thru an adjustment. he will be fine for quite some time without food. so dont worry about him not eating.
what type of food do you have him on? have you tried frozen (not freexedried) bloodworms? i had a very fussy eater once upon homing him and thats ALL he'd eat. i had to wean him on other foods.
if you could try to get some frozen bloodworm, doubtful hed resist that.
it also COULD be the filter. hows the flow? if its heavy it might freak him out coming from an unfiltered tank. does he have somewhere to hide like plants? (i forget, although i did read your post )
just keep an eye for other symptoms. hes prob. settling in.
any more concerns feel free to ask.

 

[Honeythorn]

The surface disturbance may be stressing him if he's never had a filter before .

I have never seen a biowheel filter, is this built into the lid at all?

If so, raise the water level so the flow coming out is running straight in, and not falling and splashing ( if this makes sense )

The 5 gal hex in my signature has this sort of lid filtration setup, and raising the water level right up to where it comes out really reduces the disturbance to pretty much zero.

Also, how well planted is your tank? If it's sparse or quite empty, then this may also stress him as he has nowhere to hide. They come from heavily planted areas and they love to have plenty of vegetation to swim through , rest on and hide in. Lots of bunches of TALL silk plants or real ones , and maybe a coconut cave or a small (new) terracotta plantpot on it's side would be a great cave for him to hide in .

 

[Bigd5482]

The filter is built into the lid. I'll raise the water some more its pretty close now. I have plants planted they just need to grow now as they're still small. I built a cave for him out of slate which he seems to really enjoy going into. He's starting to eat more so maybe he is just still recovering from whatever was wrong with him before.

 

[loraxchick]

glad to hear he's perked up...i bet he loves his cave (i have a slate cave for one of my boys and he loves it too).
he probably feels more secure now and is acting more like is normal self again. glad he's coming around for you!
cheers