# Betta is lethargic, won't eat, and isn't moving much



## MadameDesu (Feb 5, 2012)

Housing 
What size is your tank? 3 gal
What temperature is your tank? 78-82
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? Mini Marimo Moss Ball

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Hikari bio-gold
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3-4 pellets once a day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? 100% about once a week (was a little late this week, nitrates were at about 40ppm)
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime conditioner

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? Maybe a little pale, has a whitish/grayish poop out of her poop hole, belly a little bloated
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Lays on the bottom of the tank, usually in her pineapple house. Won't eat. 
When did you start noticing the symptoms? About 2-3 days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No ... I've been fasting her, but she hasn't really been eating anyways. 
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Just some fin tears here and there. 
How old is your fish (approximately)? I've had her for at least six months. 

This only started happening a few days ago, so I have no idea what is going on. 
I was feeding her as usual, the bio gold pellets. I had switched to those about a month ago, and even though they were smaller that the others, she seemed to struggle with chewing them a bit more. She always ate though, so it was never a really big issue. 
Lately, she's taken to attacking her food, and when she did a few days ago, she ate it, flipped out and then spit it out. I'm assuming that she choked on it. 
She's only eaten once since. I think she may be afraid of her food. 
Well, I figured she'd come around, but she's only gotten worse and worse for seemingly unknown reasons. 
She'll just sit around on the bottom of the tank in the same position and won't move unless I rouse her. When I do, she almost immediately goes up for air or swims around the tank quickly. 
Because of the fact that she hasn't pooped out whatever is hanging out of her, I thought she was constipated. But she's just acting so incredibly sick for no real reason! Breathing is weird too. 
I don't understand what's happening and I'm so afraid I'll wake up to my baby dead on the bottom of the tank. Whenever I go to rouse her, I'm always afraid that when I move the water, she won't wake up 
Please help me!


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## LebronTheBetta (Apr 23, 2012)

Calm down... She may have internal parasites, it really sounds like it, too. Put her in a QT tank and do the Epsom Salt treatment. It's 1-3 teaspoons per gallon and premix it before she goes in the tank. Do daily 100% changes and keep on adding the required amount of ES. End the treatment after 10-12 days. Good luck, and she should be fine. You also have to feed her internal parasite food. Get Tetra Parasite Guard or Jungle's Fizz Tabs. Do as the directions say, and mix it in with the food you feed her with. Add a layer of garlic juice as well to better the bitter taste and smell. This is best for the internal parasites..


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

The whitish poop may indicate internal parasites. Try soaking her pellets in garlic juice. This may coax her to eat and kill the bacteria at the same time.


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## MadameDesu (Feb 5, 2012)

I was hoping it wasn't internal parasites :/
I don't have any Epsom salt or medications, so I hope I can get them In time. There's a big storm where I'm living that's coming tomorrow and will continue for some time. I'm kind of stuck with what I have which is just AQ salt, but I don't think that will help. 
I'm so underprepared ... Need to learn not to do that. 
But just a question, which is where can an internal parasite come from?


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

You mentioned her "attacking her food", perhaps she learned the behavior from eating a bug of some sort that landed in the water? I know my bettas would eat any bug that lands in the water including flys and moths. ( although it's not good for them). Internal parasites can come from live foods.


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## MadameDesu (Feb 5, 2012)

I don't feed her live foods, so I guess this is a possibility.
I just can't tell if she's constipated or has a parasite. Her poop looks more grayish normal than white and hasn't come out of her very much all day. I really hope she's just constipated an will get better.
I feel like a sitting duck. I'd do a water change, but the way in which I get my water is rather difficult and time consuming. If I need to do it, I will.
And this hurricane, if it's as bad as they say it will be ... I don't know what will happen :-(


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## MadameDesu (Feb 5, 2012)

This is actually more what it looks like:

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=98301


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## MadameDesu (Feb 5, 2012)

Update on Rosie

She's doing pretty well, hanging it there. She pooped out whatever it was that was stuck in her. It looked more greyish and clumpy than a regular poop.
She has what looks like a more white stringy poop now, but I can't get her to sit still long enough for me to actually look at.
We're still on day 4 or 5 of her hunger strike. She wouldn't even take the freeze-dried bloodworm I offered her. It's been harder for her to find the food as well, since she's either sitting at the bottom or darting around like a crazy fish.
Behavior-wise, she's about the same. Still lays at the bottom of the tank or on the suction cups behind the filter, probably because it's closer to the surface.
If I rouse her, she'll dart around the tank quickly and then settle down before resting again. She hasn't done very much that reminds me of her usual self, except maybe raise her dorsal if she sees me. No more following me around the room or dancing for food and attention.
All in all, I know it's probably not as bad as it originally seemed, but I miss the fish I used to know.
Will probably hit CVS tomorrow for Epsom and the LPS for medicine of some sort.
It seems like she has internal parasites, but I'm not really sure.


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## sainthogan (Sep 27, 2012)

Have you ruled out velvet? The darting around like a crazy fish makes me think that something's bothering her externally. Take a flashlight and shine it on her body. If you see any gold or rust colored "dust" anywhere on her body, especially by her gills, she's got velvet.


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## MadameDesu (Feb 5, 2012)

Hey there, thanks for your reply.
I've been wondering about velvet actually. She's always has some yellow/gold coloration around her head, so I don't know if it is velvet.
Here's some older pictures of her. The second is from shortly after I got her (look at those cute little fins!).

It *could* be velvet. I'll try and get a good look at her. Hard to do when she's either hiding or darting.


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## sainthogan (Sep 27, 2012)

The gold on her head could be part of her coloring, but since she's kind of a red color, you wouldn't be able to see it very well on the rest of her without a flashlight. It might help if you turn all the lights off, and then look at her with the flashlight.


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## MadameDesu (Feb 5, 2012)

Here's a picture I just shot of her with a flashlight on her.
If she does have velvet, then it's ALL over her head.


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