# Betta very slow and not active



## ma3lstrom13 (Sep 12, 2010)

Normally I can show him the food container and he will swim to the corner I feed him in. However, he is just sitting on the floor barely moving. Even his side fins aren't moving. His eyes MIGHT be a little cloudy, its hard to tell. No clues as to whats wrong with him =(.


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## Adastra (Jun 18, 2010)

Could you please fill out this form? http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233 it will give us everything we need to help you determine a diagnosis and solve the problem.


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## ma3lstrom13 (Sep 12, 2010)

Housing 
10 gal
76-78 F
Whisper PF 10
Heated
several rosy red minnows
Hikari Betta Gold
water change once a week 50%

don't know how old the fish is. ive had him for about a month.
he sits at the bottom of the tank. I see the gils moving and the fins moving thats it. he moved when i chased him with a net (i have moved him to a smaller tank). I think it might be the minnows could have been diseased? several died earlier. I added them as a test to see how volatile my betta was. either that or the extra waste from the fishes aren't broken down fast enough and the water is poisoning him. but i dont know. any treatment?


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Is the tank cycled and did you test the water after you placed the new fish in the tank and make any extra water changes-once the minnows died how soon did you get the bodies out?

Good that you placed the Betta in a different container for now-I would start by making 100% daily water changes on him for a couple of days and see if that will perk him up-it could have been something from the feeder fish they are know to carry diseases or it could have been an ammonia spike from the added bioload.
How is his appetite?
Make sure the water is within a couple of degree from new and old water with the water changes and use a good dechlorinator if on city water supply
I would also do some daily water changes on the 10g for a couple of days too for the minnows.


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## ma3lstrom13 (Sep 12, 2010)

Thanks, however unfortunately he died early in the morning. I think the problem was the ammonia. However I did do a water change/ gravel vacuuming as soon as I saw the symptoms. I also added two live plants upon seeing this. What a lot of people don't mention is how to re-cylce? a tank. What I mean is I did the first ammonia/nitrate cycle for the first betta. But how do I do a cycle for a tank that already has fish for more fish? I can't put the other fish in another tank because the only other tanks I have are temporary tanks that aren't too large.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

When you add more fish to a cycled tank all you need to do is increase the number of water only water changes until the good bacteria catch up to the new bioload.

Monitor your water prams and make water only changes with levels of ammonia/nitrite of 0.25ppm and greater-Once you have 0ppm ammonia/nitrite for several days without water changes and you have readings of nitrate 5-10ppm the cycle is caught-up/complete.

Sorry about your Betta....


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