Help With Older Betta

[Night61]

i have had storm the betta now for a little under two years, i suspect though he is older then that, i bought him in at a pet shop in the mall and they had him in a betta ring (Rolls eyes).
since i brought him home he has never been the liveliness Betta, he had a calm soul, flares a bit at his snails but never really bites them. he spends his days next to my bed and hanging out in a betta floating log.
lately he seems more slow then usual, not that quick to the food, scares easier (really my bed head is not that bad).

i have never had a betta this long and since i am unsure of his actual age i am not sure if this is old man betta things, or if he had a health problem i should be concerned with.

his water is fine, it just got changed, and even though he is not quick to the food anymore he still eats when i am at a distance.

these are my two most recent photos of him

thats from two months ago, he ignores the mirror now.

and that's from this morning

 

[woodstock]

Well the color doesn't seem to get too bad.

The gallon size seems to be a little small - that sadly, can affect life span. And him being in a betta ring doesn't help either. Usually in pet shops, they are sold around at least 6 months - 1 year.

Even if he's 2.5 years old, he may be getting to his last points in life. If 3 years, same thing.

How often do you / have you cleaned his water out? How are all the water parameters? Try with some more technical info. I'm not too good on older bettas, however...

 

[Night61]

tank water just got changed today. he has lived his life since he came to live with me in a five gallon tank with a heater, he shares his home with a mystery snail and two nitrates which he used to flare at.
the parameters are all in the acceptable range, i have also been giving him a little antibiotic meds just in case, its in the form of food which he eats thankfully.

 

[woodstock]

I wouldn't start medicating in any way until you're positive of what it is.
Honestly, it's coming off to me as just old age (even though it may not be that old).
Perhaps he's bored as well? Doesn't seem like a disease, yet.

 

[soph_betta]

Its probably just old age he looks healthy and in good colour.
My partner just recently lost his betta due to old age (he was roughly 3yrs old) and the last 4ish months he became quite slow.
I wouldnt medicate him yet unless he shows any signs of illness, hes probably just being like an old man.

 

[Mauricia]

He sounds old to me too, I wouldn't medicate unless there is a specific disease symptom, because you will only put stress on his aging organs. 5 gallons heated sounds like a good tank. Is there a filter though? You can get away with not having a filter but I would put a sponge filter in if you have snails too because that's a lot of bioload for no filter. And by acceptable range you mean ammonia and nitrite are at 0 right? Because if you don't have a filter and those are not at 0 you're going to want to keep up with 100% water changes.
But if your ammonia and nitrite are at 0 and those are his only symptoms then I wouldn't worry, just watch for any new symptoms. Oh and do a 100% water change to remove the meds or run carbon in your filter. He could have a shortened lifespan from being exposed to ammonia in the pet store

 

[woodstock]

I've heard snails must have a filter to live properly, but that's not from experience. And dead-snail-in-tank may not help your betta... again, he's probably just getting old, and like others said, stop medicating unless you have a known disease.

 

[Night61]

i have stopped medicated, his tank is in the plans to be reworked a bit maybe a change of scenery would help improve his mood.
he took the blood worm's with out an issue today.
i was medicating for a while because his jaw is always open for the most part, but he is eating without issue so i am stopping for now.
the tank is a filtered tank, he has a working filter, heater as well as living in a five gallon. while he started in a betta ring, once he came home with me he has been in a five gallon tank since that time.

 

[woodstock]

Yeah, but being in a betta ring may have affected his life, the poor thing.

My bettas jaws are always open as well - or at least just one of my betta. Tell us how things go.

 

[Night61]

i will, he is a good boy.

 

[Mauricia]

Well it sounds like you're taking good care of him then and I wouldn't worry if I were you. Fish slow down when they age just like people. It's possible that he's finding his food hard to chew so you could try softening his pellets a little, and if he's not having trouble with blood worms then give him lots of those.
In my experience pet store fish just dont live as long because they're exposed to so much stress and ammonia poisoning in the shop, so he might not live to 4 or 5 years which is the upper ages for a betta. It wouldn't be your fault though it sounds like you're taking proper care.

 

[Night61]

be is my brat...i mean baby. other then the occasional flare when i get up he has made a great fish to wake up too. can't tell you how many times i have woken up to have him staring at me like "are you alive, are you awake, feed me now."

i try very hard to take care off all the fish in my care, both expected and unexpected.

 

[Tolak]

While I've never had geriatric bettas, I have had plenty of older fish as well as other animals. It seems as they age they will slow down, as well as eat less. This happens with fish, dogs, people too.

Feed a bit of a lighter diet, make sure the water changes are kept up, which is sort of a moot point seeing as he's doing so well this long.

Good job with the old guy, any pet that grows old with us holds a special place in our hearts.

 

[karigupi]

awww he is a pretty fella. Like others have said, he could be starting to feel his age a bit, he looks in good health.

A little tank rescape may help perk him up a bit maybe? A new cave to discover & different things to look at or play with