Is My Betta Just Geting Old?

[Gunngee]

He's been like this for about 2 weeks now but I have been watching him carefully. He doesn't swim around much anymore, he rests on the bottom a lot. He doesn't eat very much but he does eat. It looks like it's a lot of work for him to swim around when he does move. He always lifts his head to look at me when ever I come up to the tank. I have been doing water changes. I checked the stats, PH-7.2, Nitrite-0.1, Phosphates-0.25, Ammonia-0. Water temperature is a steady 78 degrees. I haven't changed his food, he's in a tank with some mollies and I've been feeding everybody a little pinch of flake food and dried bloodworms. I'm hoping he's not at the end of his lifespan I hate watching anything suffer.

 

[cossie3]

how old is he?

 

[Gunngee]

how old is he?

I've had him for about 2 years.

 

[Assaye]

2 years is only "old" if they've been mistreated somewhere down the line or been badly bred - very common with pet shop fish.

However, a lot of pet shop bettas (or bettas bred from pet shop stock) do bow out at around 2, so it could be age. Could also be any number of internal infections or infestations. Have you seen him poo recently? Look bloated at all? Bullied by the mollys?

Keep checking your nitrite. It is is always slightly elevated then it could be nitrite poisoning that has built up.

I hope he's gunna be OK =(

 

[atistang]

there is a chance he might be constipated, you can try feeding him some small pieces of a pea, it will clean him out if thats the problem

 

[tom130691]

think he could be bloated mate mine was after dried bloodworms lay off them for a wile or get some froozen ones

 

[Gunngee]

think he could be bloated mate mine was after dried bloodworms lay off them for a wile or get some froozen ones

I tried giving him a pea and he did eat some of it but it hasn't helped(should I give him more?). I now have him in a different tank just to see if he is stressed or being picked on. I am hoping he gets better as he is one of my favorite fish. His color is still very good.

 

[tom130691]

think he could be bloated mate mine was after dried bloodworms lay off them for a wile or get some froozen ones

I tried giving him a pea and he did eat some of it but it hasn't helped(should I give him more?). I now have him in a different tank just to see if he is stressed or being picked on. I am hoping he gets better as he is one of my favorite fish. His color is still very good.

usualy takes a few days to clear his system

but keep trying the pea or damphia (also good for digestion)

 

[Gunngee]

I gave him some more pea and he ate some of it. Today he hasn't come out of his favorite hiding spot at all. He hardly moves and at dinner time last night he didn't eat anything.

 

[BethK]

they live for 2 - 3 years. My first betta was brought from a terrible pet shop and was the better looking one. He died after having him for a little over 2yrs.

Fingers crossed yours is ok x

 

[MrNiceGuy]

they live for 2 - 3 years. My first betta was brought from a terrible pet shop and was the better looking one. He died after having him for a little over 2yrs.

Fingers crossed yours is ok x

ive heard they can live up to 7 or 8 years

 

[tom130691]

they live for 2 - 3 years. My first betta was brought from a terrible pet shop and was the better looking one. He died after having him for a little over 2yrs.

Fingers crossed yours is ok x

ive heard they can live up to 7 or 8 years

all depends on how well there life has been if you bread them and kept them realy well no stress then 7-8s is reasonable

from a shop
alot of stress and poor environments reducing life spn

 

[OldMan47]

I would try adding in almost any other food for him. A recent lecture that I attended pointed out that most foods prepared by commercial processors are lacking in one or another nutrient no matter how good their reputation. I feed my bettas a mostly vegetarian mix, because of the fish that I keep him with. When I add in the rare live food /frozen food or even freeze dried food, I find that it perks him up quite a bit. Variety in food and feedings is essential to good fish health for any fish. I find the 2 years as far less than ideal. My own betta male, who lives in an endler tank, is over 5 years old and going strong. He eats well and is a real sweet heart when it comes to relations with his tank mates. He will stand nose to nose with a newborn endler fry and eat his spirulina flake food without disturbing the endler. The endler, displaying the typical intuitive sense of who is a threat, will stand his ground and feed on the same flake food, seemingly unworried.
A Betta splendens is not the monster that many people would have you believe. He is a simple fish who has been bred to be somewhat aggressive with his own species. I have had splendens be slightly aggressive with things like platies or guppies but have never seen them be as aggressive as most cichlids would be in the same situation. Instead, I find Betta splendens to be some very nice peaceful citizens in a typical community setting. They are passive and do not act anything but as nice people in the tank. On the other hand, Betta splendens are often the victims of fish best suited to an aggressive tank setting. A betta is seldom very aggressive in such a situation. Instead they are the most common of the victims in such settings.
If you like Betta splendens, use them as members of almost any community setting with mostly peaceful species and you will find they fit right in. If you place them in an aggressive setting, expect them to become the victims that all such settings require. I really love my Betta splendens, as I have since I was a new fish keeper over 50 years ago. My bettas are placed into my tanks in a way that means their unique personalities have a chance to bloom. I have yet to find myself the owner of that "aggressive" betta that cannot be housed with platies or guppies. That betta is still a myth, to my way of thinking.

 

[BethK]

Ahh see, I witnessed a friend's male betta attack her guppies. She has a 50ltr tank, all was well with it, then one morning she came down and 2 guppies were dead. On closer look, they were missing scales, their tails ripped and their gills were battered.

I was round hers that afternoon and noticed her betta was getting a tad aggressive, he then went for the guppies, cornering one out and constantly chasing it, nipping at it and kept forcing it into a rock.

She removed the betta and put him in his own tank. She's had bettas before and after that, that were calm and peaceful, luck of the draw I suppose.

I've had 1 aggressive male VT, which was my first, he couldn't go with anything as he riled him up. But my now VT is fine with his community, even been in with a female betta, he flared up but didn't attack her.

I think it is a hit and miss and that a person buying a betta, needs to pick carefully. LFS don't put them in the best of care. But I agree, they are suited for a calmer tank, they are beautiful fish and are a joy to watch x