# My betta hasn't eaten in 3 weeks and sinks to the bottom!



## myue (Jun 5, 2014)

3 weeks ago my betta developed a little bump on the bottom of his neck. At first I thought it was bloating, so I fasted him. Ever since then, he still hasn't eaten and sinks to the bottom of the bowl. Nowadays he is very tired and just lays sideways breathing heavily through gills and mouth. 

I've been doing daily clean water changes and keeping his tank at 80F to no avail. I even tried betta revive, but that doesn't seem to have worked. I've tried feeding him food on a toothpick but he simply refuses to eat. I'm worried he's in pain and will starve to death if he doesn't eat something soon. I don't know what to do to help him. Please, if anyone has advice it would be greatly helpful. He's a great friend to me and I don't want to lose him. 

Here is a picture of his condition. His stomach and gill areas are starting to lose color. You can see a little bump on his neck. It doesn't look that big, but its there and wasn't before. 

http://imgur.com/Q88ozko


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

How old is he?


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## myue (Jun 5, 2014)

I've had him for 8 months


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## myue (Jun 5, 2014)

His fins looks fine but the gill and lower mouth area just look faded if that helps. He's still lying down and struggling every day. Does anyone have any advice at all?


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

if he is tired and not moving much we can do some general steps while we isolate his condition- A partial water change and some epsom salts to his water (1tsp per 2G) will soften the water for him and keep his organs ticking over easier, indian almond leaf if you have it will help keep him calm and stress coat water conditioner is very good tlc for a sad fish, wrap the back of his tank with a towel or blanket and keep his tank lights low or off so he does not feel stressed and can get some much needed sleep. 

After that do you mind filling this out and hopefully getting us another picture or two of the problem areas so we can see the progression?
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233
the form has all the questions we need answered to tailor our response to your set up, otherwise we need to ask each indicvidually


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## myue (Jun 5, 2014)

Housing 
What size is your tank? Normally 3 gallons, I moved him to a smaller .5 gallon qt tank
What temperature is your tank? ~80F
Does your tank have a filter? No
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? Freeze dried Bloodworms, tried feeding him pellets sinced he wouldn't eat the worms.
How often do you feed your betta fish? I used to feed him daily - once every 2 days, now he doesn't eat at all and hasn't eaten in about a month! 
 Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? Once every 2 days
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? I've tried AQ salt, melafix, betta revive in low doses to no avail

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
I haven't tested my water, but to make sure its absolutely clean, I've been using treated drinking water for the past week. I don't know if this is bad, but I didn't want to risk it being the bad water quality here at school. 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He looks alright, except for paleness under his neck and gill area
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He spends all day laying sideways on the floor of the tank. He sinks when he tries to swim, which he only does to frantically get some air, or get to the water surface. 
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Almost a month ago, when he developed a little bulge on his chin.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I've tried AQ salt, melafix, betta revive, simple clean water changes, fasting none of which seemed to be effective. 
Does your fish have any history of being ill? He had fin rot several times, but the thing is he doesn't have it anymore, even though he's more sick than ever.
How old is your fish (approximately)? 9 months.


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## myue (Jun 5, 2014)




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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

oh dear the poor baby. To relieve his stress I recommend you put something in his tank he can stand on that will put him close to the water's surface, a coffee cup for instance, this will relieve some of his breathing stress.

Now with the SBD affecting him this badly I feel we are justified in moving on to the medicating step of treatment.
Most swim bladder disorders are caused by bacteria invading the swim bladder and filling it up with their waste, this makes the fish either sink or swim depending on the bacteria. The best way to clean this out is to medicate using a broad spectrum antibiotic. I personally use tetracycline but I have heard good things from Kanaplex which is not available in my country. This will clear his swim bladder and digestive tract of his new guests and slowly we can hope to see him begin to swim normally again.
While he is being medicated be sure to give him somewhere he can perch near the water's surface so he does not hyperventilate, which will lead to suffocation panic. Also keep the hospital tank in a quiet room with the lights low or a towel draped around three sides of the tank to encourage him to keep calm and sleep.

If all goes well you should soon begin to see him struggling less to reach the top, then likely flip right side up and finally begin to dive as normal. Keep us posted as to his progress.


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## myue (Jun 5, 2014)

thanks so much, you're the only person who really gave me a possible cause and solution to this. Hopefully it isn't too late, since he has gone a while without eating. I ordered some kanaplex right away. Thank you so much again.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

Bettas can go for some time without eating, he appears to have strong fins and coloring so he has until this point been eating a good diet.
Right now he is more interested in breathing and sleeping so food isn't on his mind- as he gets his balance back he may start looking for something to munch on.

Fingers crossed!


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## Torirs (Feb 25, 2015)

*Similar situation*

Good afternoon, first off this the thread was very informative. I have a very similar situation regarding my Betta- with the exception that he is a little paler in color. He hasn't eaten in a month, sinks, swims frantically, I've administered a reduced dose of a broad treatment- cleaned his water, lowered the level, kept temperature around 80. 

This started out when my office got cold- the heater wasnt working properly and it fluctuated 68-85 for three days. He hasn't been the same sense.. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Tori


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