# Help-- Betta stuck at bottom of tank



## Pickles (Jun 10, 2011)

Hello! A few months ago, our betta started laying on the bottom of the tank more and more. Tonight, he really is struggling. He's laying on his side and can hardly make it up to the top. -- I lowered his water to about a 1/4 tank so that he could swim to the top and breathe. Is it just his age? Anything I can do?


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What size is your tank? 10 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 76 degrees fahrenheit 
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? store-bought pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1x day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? I replace 1 gallon/day
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? tap water purifier

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? 
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? lays on bottom of tank
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 2 months ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)? ~2 years


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Pickles said:


> Hello! A few months ago, our betta started laying on the bottom of the tank more and more. Tonight, he really is struggling. He's laying on his side and can hardly make it up to the top. -- I lowered his water to about a 1/4 tank so that he could swim to the top and breathe. Is it just his age? Anything I can do?
> 
> 
> ======
> ...


He is most definitely suffering from ammonia poisoning. If you only change one gallon every day you still leave 90% of the toxins and poop and pee and the water. Right now he is in very dirty water so I would do a 100% water change immediately, but be sure to adjust him to the new water very slowly as having clean water all of a sudden could be a shock. 

In a 10g with no filter you should be doing 50% water changes 1-2 times every week (one with cleaning gravel), and a 100% water change every other week. I highly suggest getting a filter so you can cycle your tank and avoid the 100% water changes. 100% is absolutely necessary.

Has his appearance changed?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Hi Pickles and welcome to the forum.  First, it's good that you thought of changing the water every day - it's just the amount changed probably could be more. But without a filter, I'd tend to agree with turtle. 50% twice a week, one of them with a gravel cleaning. Or, you could continue changing a few gallons a day but also do a complete 100% change once a week while vacuuming the gravel to pick up all the waste that gets in there. Whatever seems easiest to you but you definitely do have to do a 100% or close to 100% change once a week either way. 

Fresh, clean water will do wonders for your betta and I think he'll begin to show some signs of recovery very quickly. One thing I'd advise is getting an ammonia test kit like API Liquid Drops or Mardel test strips. This will allow you to see how much ammonia is in the tank. If it ever tests above 0.25, then you'll know you should do at least a partial water change right away. 

Also, how many pellets do you feed your betta? I would also suggest feeding several small meals instead of one big meal. This mimics how a betta eats in the wild and will help him digest his food a little better. 2 pellets 2 or 3 times a day is a good start. 

It's obvious you care for your betta because he is 2 years old now.  In betta years, he's a senior citizen.


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## BettaFins (Jun 10, 2011)

turtle10 said:


> Right now he is in very dirty water so I would do a 100% water change immediately, but be sure to adjust him to the new water very slowly as having clean water all of a sudden could be a shock.


Could you explain this process a bit more? I don't understand how you can change 100% of the water but also not have him experience the clean water all of a sudden. Thanks!!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Turtle means drip acclimation or some form of it. When you clean the water, put your betta in a different container with some of his old tank water. When you're done cleaning his tank and have filled it with the new conditioned water, take a small bowl or cup and dip it in the tank. Dribble a little of this water into the container where your betta is every ten minutes or so until the volume of water in the container has doubled or trippled. At this point, you can net your fish and add him to his new and clean tank.

If you keep the water consistently clean, you probably won't have to do this every time you do a water change. But just this once it's probably a good idea.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Yes, what Sakura said ^


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