# Lethargic Betta



## prepaidpwange

So i just moved my betta fish (I had him in a bowl for about a month and finally got the funds to set him up in a 10 gallon tank) and hes kinda just sitting there for a while now. In the bowl he slowly became more and more lethargic and I thought it had to do with temperatures and such but hes now sitting in his new tank at the bottom and not really moving too much. Its a 10 gallon tank with a Aqueon 10 gallon filter, a heater and florescent lighting. Substrate is sand from the LFS. The tank is sitting at about 78 degrees. He had stress stripes a few days ago, they aren't as bad now. Any ideas on what is up with my betta? Is it just stress? I really don't want to lose the little guy for many reasons, one being my attachment to him. I don't know, the ones at the LFS in tanks always seem to move around alot more and be more excited. As he became lethargic in his bowl he slowly faded from being all red and blue to having a body almost completely devoid of color. Oh yeah, I used the pantyhoes method to slow down the filter output. Thanks.










P.S. cycling with the betta, took a few small items from his old bowl to the new tank in hopes of jump starting the bacteria growth. I also put one teaspoon of aquarium salt in the tank. I know its less than some suggest, but I didn't want to over do it as I plan on getting corydoras in the future. Food is topfin betta pellets and the occasional hikari freeze dried blood worms.Thanks.


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## Oldfishlady

Welcome to the forum and sorry your Betta is not well......

When he was in the 1gal bowl-how much and how often did you make water changes, water temp, filter, live plants, additives used, how many days was he lethargic in the 1gal before transferred to the 10gal and was he eating and how is the appetite now....any other symptoms like bloat, buoyancy issues, fast gill movement, flashing...etc.....

In the 10gal-anything in it to help make him feel secure......what kind and how much dechlorinator did you use.....since he was already lethargic in the 1gal bowl....I don't think the 10g has anything to do with what is going on....

I would QT him in a small container that can be floated in the heated tank to maintain a water temp in the 76-77F range and start 100% daily water changes with aquarium salt 1tsp/gal for 3-5 days and see if this will perk him up any

Get a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water and add the salt 1tsp/gal and some tannins from either IAL or dried oak leaf to steep and use this pre-mixed treatment water for the daily water changes in the QT container...it will make water changes and correct dosage easier.....

I would also start making some 50% water changes on the 10gal to get the salt out while you have the Betta in the QT container/treatment....if you have anything alive like snails, shrimp or live plants to add to the 10gal to work as the ammonia source you could get the nitrogen cycle going too while the Betta is in treatment.....

Keep us posted.....


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## turtle10

I would definitely listen to what Oldfishlady says and answer her questions regarding water change schedule in the original bowl, but I will add you must get some plants or decorations! Bettas hate open spaces, and he looks pretty scared to be out in the open like that. Also, he looks pretty skinny, how much do you feed him?


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## prepaidpwange

I feed him as much as he can eat in 2 minutes time as all the information I have read states. Since I put him in the tank he has not been eating very much at all. Even blood worms aren't enticing him and they usually do the trick when he doesnt feel like pellets. 

I did a 50% change every 5 days. Water temp was hard to keep with the heater I had but between 76 and 82 daily. The only live plant was a bamboo shoot. He was lethargic for about a week. I had to get money together to step his home up in size and that took time. He was eating alot better then. I would feed him and once i left the room he would eat. I would always walk in on him eating if I came back 30 seconds after i left the room. I tried the betta revive available at petco while he was in his bowl and finished the reccomended dosages while following the daily water change instructions. i figured that this would cover most of my bases.

In the 10 gallon he has a coffee mug to hide in and 3 live plants. I used Aqueon Betta bowl plus conditioner and put in 9 tsps in my 10 gallon tank. It said 1 tsp per gallon but i figured with the sand and such there isnt a full 10 gallons of water. 

Last night when I got home from work he saw me and started swiming around. Some of the color on his body has returned but this morning when I turned the light on he was just laying on his side at the bottom of the tank in the open. There is the coffee mug on its side that he could use but isn't. 

Thanks again for all the help.


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## turtle10

Okay well he probably suffered from lack of good water quality. Every five days is very, very little in a one gallon bowl. In a one gallon I would do 100% every other day.

Also as much as he can eat in two minutes is a lot!! Bettas will keep eating, so you need to measure his food.

For most pellets, 3-4 per day is good. Betta's stomachs are the size of their eyes, so keep meals very tiny.


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## prepaidpwange

Yeah, he was eating about 2 in the morning and 2 at night.


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## prepaidpwange

Just as a quick update, I started the tank on Tetra Life Guard as a precaution under my LFS advisement. I really hope this helps him.


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## BETTACHKALOVE

I was thinking may be it need time for aquarium salt to work. 

If u don't want to use aquarium salt try the medications someone recommended me long time ago. It antibacterial medications that treats gram negative and gram positive .I used it before and it really helped. Someone on the forum recommended to me. It TETRACYCLINE API. or MARACYN 1 together with MARACYN 2.


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## carzz

Give him some food. And plants. And maybe turn of the light, let him de-stress.


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## laughing

Honestly is sounds like he suffered from bad water quality and high ammonia from his bowl. 

Stop giving him medications. You're going to make him ill from all of them!

I think OFL is right. Get a container that will stay in the 10 gallon but will be much smaller. Keep a lid on with holes so he can still breathe air. Do daily 50-100% water changes and always make the change as least stressful as possible. Use thefull dosage of AQ salt or else it will not do any good. As OFL said, get a few gallon sized container so you already have treated water with accurate dosing in it.

Keep water warm (78*-80*), AQ salt, constant water changes, and you should see him back to normal in a matter of days. At that point, give him MUCH more cover in his 10 gallon. Slowly acclimate him back to it and keep with water changes!

Good luck!


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