# Betta shrinking or wasting away?



## baylee32 (Apr 4, 2015)

:-(ive noticed lately how my male crowntail has shrunk in size. I think he's a tail biter because one day I noticed that he no longer has his long beautiful tail and there were never any signs of fin rot. his behavior is great but he is almost half the size, including his actual body. it also seems like he is pretty thin. At times ive noticed that when he gets done swimming and is sitting still at the surface for a second or two, the end of his body slightly flops over to one side. but he swims great. what could this be? is it old age?

I will fill out the form for his regular tank but i just recently moved him to a hospital tank yesterday. it is .5 gallons (i know its small but its all i have available right now) 80 degrees. no filter or type of aeration. it is heated. and i am doing daily 100% water changes and dosing with stress coat

Housing 
What size is your tank? 4 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 76
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? aqueon betta pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? every evening (2 or 3 pellets)

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? twice a month (i feel so bad because i know i should be doing it more.)
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime and sometimes a little bit of stresscoat

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
no

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? fins are shorter and he has "shrunk" and looks a little thin
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? hasn't changed at all. still active but sometimes a little lethargic but could be because the temperature dropped
When did you start noticing the symptoms? i noticed his fins were a little shorter about a month ago but it looked like they were growing back but i only recently became concerned about a week and a half ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? ive placed him in a .5 gallon hospital tank with a heater at 80 degrees and 100% water changes with stresscoat everyday
Does your fish have any history of being ill? he has been bloated before but that was treated with a little fasting and peas
How old is your fish (approximately)? 3 years old probably

i will try to post pictures when i get a chance
thanks


----------



## shooter (Dec 25, 2014)

You are correct about the water changes, they aren't NEARLY enough. Also the temperature is a bit cool. And lastly, you are underfeeding him. All three of these are easily remedied and should help.


----------



## baylee32 (Apr 4, 2015)

I know, I feel awful about it. I will be moving my bettas to a divided 20 long soon so hopefully once I get him feeling better, he can move to that and I'll be more diligent about cleaning it.
Oh, I had no idea I was under feeding him! I used to give my bettas 5 pellets but then had someone tell me that was too much. 

Now that he's in the hospital tank, he seems better. I think maybe the warm water helped. He's swimming around and eating great, he just doesn't look as good as before. I'm hoping to get his fins to grow back a little before he moves tanks.


----------



## shooter (Dec 25, 2014)

baylee32 said:


> I know, I feel awful about it. I will be moving my bettas to a divided 20 long soon so hopefully once I get him feeling better, he can move to that and I'll be more diligent about cleaning it.
> Oh, I had no idea I was under feeding him! I used to give my bettas 5 pellets but then had someone tell me that was too much.
> 
> Now that he's in the hospital tank, he seems better. I think maybe the warm water helped. He's swimming around and eating great, he just doesn't look as good as before. I'm hoping to get his fins to grow back a little before he moves tanks.


Most people here seem to feed 2-3 pellets TWICE daily. My boys actually get 4 pellets twice daily to keep them in good weight. Plus I feed frozen brine shrimp a couple of times a week.


----------



## baylee32 (Apr 4, 2015)

shooter said:


> Most people here seem to feed 2-3 pellets TWICE daily. My boys actually get 4 pellets twice daily to keep them in good weight. Plus I feed frozen brine shrimp a couple of times a week.


Oh ok. I will bump his serving up to 5 and see how he does. I feed freeze dried (I know, they're not the best) blood worms a couple times a week also


----------



## shooter (Dec 25, 2014)

baylee32 said:


> Oh ok. I will bump his serving up to 5 and see how he does. I feed freeze dried (I know, they're not the best) blood worms a couple times a week also


If he has bloated before I wouldn't feed any freeze dried bloodworms. Ever. And my bettas eat a bit more than average, so I wouldn't go by how much *I* feed, but definitely more than you have been.


----------



## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

baylee32 said:


> I know, I feel awful about it. I will be moving my bettas to a divided 20 long soon so hopefully once I get him feeling better, he can move to that and I'll be more diligent about cleaning it.
> Oh, I had no idea I was under feeding him! I used to give my bettas 5 pellets but then had someone tell me that was too much.
> 
> Now that he's in the hospital tank, he seems better. I think maybe the warm water helped. He's swimming around and eating great, he just doesn't look as good as before. I'm hoping to get his fins to grow back a little before he moves tanks.


If you want him to get better you need to start being diligent about water changes NOW. If he bit his fins he is susceptible to infection and his water will need to be kept very clean.


----------



## baylee32 (Apr 4, 2015)

SplashyBetta said:


> If you want him to get better you need to start being diligent about water changes NOW. If he bit his fins he is susceptible to infection and his water will need to be kept very clean.


Believe me, I am. I'm doing 100% water changes everyday and I will do them more often I'd I have too


----------



## baylee32 (Apr 4, 2015)

I have a sad update. Unfortunately my little Felix passed away this morning. S.I.P Felix :'(


----------

