# Sick,listless betta



## JosephineK (Jul 6, 2009)

Please help! My Betta is dying. He sits at the bottom of his tank and hasn't eaten for over a week. He's in a 5 gallon tank, temp at 78, checked the ph (7.5), cleaned the tank just recently (2 days ago). I thought maybe I was overfeeding so did a full water change but normally only do once per week at 40%. I've tried the salt bath. I've switched up his food (I give him Nutrafin Basix and have tried Hikari Bio gold. I also bought Ultra colour floating food but haven't tried it yet as he won't eat anything now. It's a freshwater tank with only plastic plants, natural indirect light, and an Excel Junior filter. I got him at walmart 6 months ago. Up until a few weeks ago he was fine then I noticed he barely swam and when he did his back half kind of dragged low and the way he swam was jerky and irregular. Now he's not moving at all but his gills are still moving. There are no other outward signs of disease. Could it be Dropsey? Please help, I feel awful for him suffering like this.


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## JosephineK (Jul 6, 2009)

Please help! He's getting much worse. His body has gotten much darker and on the bottom of his body it's a silver colour (He's always been peacock blue all over), his fins look very bad and he's starting to turn over to his side. He never opens his mouth and he's super skinny. I never see him poo. In fact I've never noticed that the whole time I've had him. He doesn't leave the bottom of the tank ever anymore. I'm afraid he wont last the day if he doesn't get help soon.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm sos orry about your betta. I really don't know what could be wrong except he might have some kind of infection. He may be too far gone but you could try tetracycline or Maracyn. What size tank is he in?


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## BettaSquirt (Jun 2, 2009)

5 gallon, it says in the first paragraph. Do you think it might be Swim bladder disorder? If he had dropsy he would look bloated and his scales will be poked out like a pine cone. Have you noticed swolleness in the belly area? If so it may be swim bladder disorder... He might be able to recover on his own IF it is sbd. Maybe this will help... im not sure if it is SBD but you can look at this anyway. (got this from bettatalk.com)


*DISEASE: SWIM BLADDER DISORDER* u*GENERAL INFO:* This is also a common betta problem. It is not contagious. It comes from overfeeding. It is especially common in very young bettas (30 to 60 days old) and can affect some Double Tail bettas when overfed or stressed..
u*SYMPTOMS:* Bettas with a swim bladder disorder will have difficulty swimming, because their swim bladder (located alongside the spine between the belly and the tail) is either too short (causing them to not be able to swim horizontally) or it is swollen (causing them to float on one side). Double Tail bettas, because they have a shorter body, are especially prone to the “floaters” problem. In the case of a short swim bladder, the bettas will not be able to maneuver and swimming becomes so difficult, they prefer to just lay at the bottom, sliding on their bellies, which is why they are called “belly sliders”. And they do look like a pathetic bunch, at that point. 
u*TREATMENT:* Bettas may recover on their own, but since overfeeding induces swimbladder disorders in most cases, the first thing to do is feed a lot less. Brine shrimp and too much of it is the biggest culprit, so if your bettas are bellysliding, stop the brine shrimp for a while and thereafter learn to have a more balanced diet, alternating brine shrimp with microworms or worms (depending on how old your bettas are). Do not kill a betta with a swimbladder disorder. It may recover on its own at any time, and is not suffering. Further more, the ailment is NOT contagious. To help the fish if it cannot eat, lower the water level. Adding some BettaZing to the water for a few weeks may not hurt either .


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## BettaSquirt (Jun 2, 2009)

Or if he looks like hes getting thinner it could be internal parasites. But thats only if you feed live food. Have you ever fed live food to him before? or... maybe its just from him not eating, haha.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Thanks, bettasquirt. I missed the tank size for some reason. Didn't pay close enough attention, I guess. lol


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## BettaSquirt (Jun 2, 2009)

Lol, its okay.


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## JosephineK (Jul 6, 2009)

Hi everyone. Thanks so much for your posts! I've never given him live food before so maybe it's not a parasite issue. I really do think I was overfeeding (not realizing it) so it could be swim bladder disorder. I'm definitely going to take your advise and lower the water level since he cant swim up to get air. I moved him to a bowl because I thought it might make him feel more secure. I'm going to try the BettaZing. Thanks for the suggestion Bettasquirt. Do you think I should move him back to the tank with the heater? Or would that just stress him out more? You guys have given me hope. The pet stores I called really didn't seem to care much. Thank you so much. I'll keep you posted.


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## JosephineK (Jul 6, 2009)

Hmm. I just noticed it says that his belly would be bloated if he has swim bladder disorder. He's so skinny, it's truly sad. Could it still be SBD? Mick Schtoppel is the short body variety (double tail).


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## BettaSquirt (Jun 2, 2009)

I think that you should keep him in the bowl, so that he can get air. 

Hmm... Do you think he will be depressed? The symtoms are:
Slightly clamped fins, lay at the bottom of the surface, not eat, barely swim around, and never make bubble nests


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## veganchick (Jan 10, 2009)

I agree, keep him in the bowl... You could put in one of those little mineral feeder disolving things so that even tho he won't eat he is still getting some nutriants


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## JosephineK (Jul 6, 2009)

Well, that could part of it for sure. I talked to some people at the pet store today when I went to get the BettaZing and they said I'd been cleaning the tank wrong (taking water from the top instead of the bottom) It makes sense now that they said it but at the time I didn't realize I was creating a problem. I feel awful. They said he's probably stressed from that kind of problem in the tank. I tried to do some research before getting him but I never read anything about that. Lesson learned, that's for sure. I'm going to keep him in the bowl and disturb him as little as possible aside from cleaning when necessary. They sold me some water conditioner with electrolytes, they seemed to feel that would be better than antibiotics.


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## JosephineK (Jul 6, 2009)

Oh, veganchick...I'd never heard of that but that's a great idea. I'll stop by the pet store again tomorrow. Thanks for all your help everyone.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I never heard of taking water from the top instead of the bottom or anything like that. Of course, if you are using a gravel vac, the water would be coming from the bottom.


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## JosephineK (Jul 6, 2009)

I was taking the water from the top and leaving the bottom part of the water. They said that by doing that I was taking out the healthy good bacteria and leaving the dirty ammonia, crappy part. Stressful to his system. It makes perfect sense explained in that way. I know better now. Mick doesn't look good but he's still hanging in there and I'm not going to give up on him.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I see what you mean now. The bottom can be gravel vaccuumed.


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## JosephineK (Jul 6, 2009)

Well, I'm sorry to say it but he died today. Some people think I'm crazy for being so sad about it but Mick was a living being and my actions made him sick. I feel terrible. I want to thank you all for trying to help me, though. I do appreciate all your advise and help. Thanks so much.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I am so sorry to hear about your fish! Some people will say it was just a fish and to get over it but they are our pets, we take care of them and we love them. We've all done things that we wish we could have done differently. Don't blame yoursself. I wish we could have done more to help.


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## sweetviolets (Jul 14, 2009)

I'm sorry to hear about your fish, Josephine


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## BearFish96 (Jul 17, 2009)

Oh man, that's awful! :BIGsad:
I'm sorry about your fish :-(


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## JosephineK (Jul 6, 2009)

Thanks everybody. We still have Hershel, that's my boyfriend's betta, so we can enjoy his fun little personality. Dramaqueen, you guys gave me all the help you could and I'm grateful for it. Mick Schtoppel sure was a beauty though.


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

I'm so sorry to hear about your betta.


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