Tank mate for Venus?

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SABWARNER16

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a couple days ago I posted a thread asking about what a depressed betta looks like. Recently, my usually very active and feisty betta, has been very inactive. He keeps his fins back most of the time now and just floats in one spot in the water. So I thought, well maybe a change of scenery would do. So I went out and bought him a 10 gallon. I had a sponge filter in his 5 gallon tank that wasnā€™t being used, I was just trying to grow some bacteria on it so eventually I could switch from the waterfall filter that was a little too strong, to the sponge filter. I took all his gravel and about half his water (water parameters were good), his little house and all his plants and moved them over and then started the sponge filter and added safe start just to help a little and some Prime. So a day later and he still looks depressed. I donā€™t see any torn fins or signs of rot or nipping. He just stays in one spot for a long time and floats. Then he might swim to a different spot and float. Lol I may just be Over analyzing but thereā€™s a change in his behavior even my husband noticed. So Iā€™m wondering if thereā€™s something I can do. Iā€™m not sure if a tank mate like some tetras would be a good idea? In his natural mood, I could almost guarantee heā€™d go after them but now Iā€™m not so sure.
Iā€™ve noticed he will like throw himself at the plants sometimes?... not like rubbing but he will dart and hit the plants. Iā€™m not sure if thatā€™s a sign of anything. Iā€™m working on getting more plants for this tank as it looks a little bare right now. Ammonia and nitrite are 0 and nitrate is less than 5. I donā€™t have a heater in there because heā€™s next to a sunny window in Texas, the kitchen (which gets warm from cooking) and our house temp is warm so his tank stays around 76-77. The little red areas in the sand are root tabs. I donā€™t usually use API root tabs so I didnā€™t know theyā€™d do that :/
 

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If he's scratching himself on the plants, that's a sure sign of a parasitic infection, which would explain the change in his behavior too. Definitely don't add any tankmates until this is cleared up.

If you look at him really closely, are there any visible signs of ich, velvet, etc? Is he breathing harder than normal? Some parasites like gill flukes aren't visible to the naked eye which can make it hard to diagnose and treat.
 
If he's scratching himself on the plants, that's a sure sign of a parasitic infection, which would explain the change in his behavior too. Definitely don't add any tankmates until this is cleared up.

If you look at him really closely, are there any visible signs of ich, velvet, etc? Is he breathing harder than normal? Some parasites like gill flukes aren't visible to the naked eye which can make it hard to diagnose and treat.
Itā€™s not really a scratch more like he runs right into them on purpose. Like spazzing out on them. But I looked up symptoms for velvet and ich and he doesnā€™t have any of them except for the clamped fins. He goes crazy for food still too. Iā€™m wondering if his diet may be causing it. I was soaking the tetra pellets and giving him three a day but I saw his belly protruding so I fasted him for a day and now only do one pellet. I feed my others the Spectrum but he spits it out. I also do bribe shrimp occasionally.
What are the symptoms of flukes?
 
If he's scratching himself on the plants, that's a sure sign of a parasitic infection, which would explain the change in his behavior too. Definitely don't add any tankmates until this is cleared up.

If you look at him really closely, are there any visible signs of ich, velvet, etc? Is he breathing harder than normal? Some parasites like gill flukes aren't visible to the naked eye which can make it hard to diagnose and treat.
And no, heā€™s not breathing hard
 
The main symptoms of gill flukes would be scratching/flashing (sounds like what you're describing - running into things on purpose or glancing off of things quickly), head shaking, or other unusual swimming behaviors along with gill irritation or difficulty breathing (inflamed gills, gasping or heavy breathing, "yawning" often, hanging near the surface). These can be symptoms of other parasitic infections too.

I don't think his diet is the cause but the constipation could be related to him not moving as much.

Honestly I don't have much experience with successfully treating parasites (lost my last betta to mystery parasites and now just found out a couple days ago that my current fish has mystery parasites too, so I'm in the same boat as you) so hopefully someone more experienced can provide a more solid recommendation for how to treat Venus.

For gill flukes, my understanding is that the best treatment is praziquantel, but it needs to be administered in a several days off, several days on sort of pattern to give the flukes a chance to get to a free swimming form where medicine can kill them.

Seachem's Paraguard is a more broad spectrum antiparasitic medicine, which I'm currently using for my boy since I don't know what he has, but may not be super affective against flukes.

Aquarium salt is harmful to most parasites and can help with gill function and protect against secondary infection, so it can be used alongside any other medication you decide to use. It might harm your plants depending on what you have.

Copper medications are deadly to all parasites as far as I know but are also dangerous if overdosed or used incorrectly, and they will react badly with reducing agents like Prime.
 
I think more plants to enrich his environment is the right approach. Ten gallons is a lovely space for him but he is exposed with no cover. Definitely get floating plants for shelter and consider a background for the tank. Different stem plants to swim through and explore would be stimulating for him.
Tank mates would add stress -bettas are not community fish.
 
Agree with naughts that adding tank mates is more likely to cause stress than be of any help, and adding a stressor to a fish that may already be sick is only going to weaken him further.

Fish don't suffer from depression in the sense of a mood disorder, and bettas certainly don't get 'lonely' and need company - they're very much a solitary species, so a lack of tank mates isn't causing this.

Lethargy suggests some kind of illness, but lethargy alone isn't really enough to diagnose I'm afraid. I don't want to speculate on what might be causing it though.
 
I agree with the others. Depression isn't something fish get, and adding tankmates that could stress your betta out is not a good idea. His behavior suggests some sort of sickness or parasite, but I don't know what it might be. Maybe you could put some aquarium salt into the water and see if it helps?
 
Thank you everyone for the advice. I definitely donā€™t know much about parasites. And yes, I am 100% adding new plants but I have to wait till I get paid. I assessed him again today and canā€™t find any other sign or symptom. So what do yā€™all think if I start out with a salt treatment?
I only have swords in there and they did fine when I used salt in another tank
 
Here is a picture of him
 

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Thank you everyone for the advice. I definitely donā€™t know much about parasites. And yes, I am 100% adding new plants but I have to wait till I get paid. I assessed him again today and canā€™t find any other sign or symptom. So what do yā€™all think if I start out with a salt treatment?
I only have swords in there and they did fine when I used salt in another tank
There's no point adding salt without knowing what we are dealing with. Clean water never hurts though so increase water changes, both frequency and volume.
 
There's no point adding salt without knowing what we are dealing with. Clean water never hurts though so increase water changes, both frequency and volume.
But since salt doesnā€™t do any harm wouldnā€™t it be a good idea to do it now? In case whatever it is is in itā€™s early stage and salt may kill it before it gets too bad
 
It's not a strong medication but that doesn't mean it is harmless.
What is the white spot on hs mouth in pic? Salt, in my opinion would be a good idea. It a not a medication at all. It improves gill function and reduces stress. It also helps with parasites. One tablespoon of dissolved aquarium salt to every 5 gallons of aquarium water the first day. I would do daily water changes of 70% too. After 1st day, only add 3/4 tablespoon of dissolved aquarium salt per every 5 gallons. Do this for 10 days and see if he perks up. :). If any other symptoms appear, let us know. Keep checking his water parameters too. The tank may not be fully cycled yet. What are you using to test the parameters?
 

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