Betta laying on the substrate

Hello fam!

Woke up this morning and went to do my morning routine of feeding my betta by going up to her tank, calling her name, “Rem Rem!” And tapping the glass a couple times. Usually she immediately shoots out of wherever she’s hiding and immediately goes up to the feed door in the tank. But today, she didn’t. I did it again and no response. So I looked around the tank and found her face planted in the pebble substrate. I tapped the glass again and she didn’t move. So I put my fingers in the tank and wiggled my fingers next to her which got her attention. She glared at me but did NOT come up for food nor bite my fingers which she typically does whenever they’re in there. She went to the middle of the tank and hunkered back down in the pebbles. Repeat of my actions and she hunkered down again a little farther away.

Her fins are still proudly displayed however, they aren’t clamped. Well. They clamped a little bit after her third relocation which is when I took the pictures.

Needless to say I’ve already done a 50% water change after that and vacuumed the pebbles within an inch of their life. She has a 10 gallon to herself.

She had a case of fin rot a while back that she’s still kinda recovering from.

The only out of the norm thing was last night I saw her sleeping on one of the leaves in her tank and it was sooo freakin cute but I think my face right there scared the poop outta her because she wiggled slightly as if waking up, faced me, and then exploded in a flurry of activity backwards.

Honestly she’s my spiciest fish so if she’s just holding a grudge from last night I wouldn’t be too surprised.

Is the tank cycled? What are the readings for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte, using a liquid test kit? What water conditioner do you use?

I’m afraid I don’t have a water testing kit. The tank is cycled, filled it up originally with water from my main tanks, and she’s been in that tank for a few months since. And I use tetra aqua safe plus for my water conditioner. I also have an API water conditioner but I’ve never actually used it

Ditch the Aqua Safe, and start using the API conditioner.

You need to get one of these ASAP, not sure how you know the tank is cycled without one: https://apifishcare.com/product/freshwater-master-test-kit

I had done regular checks with my LFS with my main tank when it was first being established until LFS congratulated me on it finally being cycled (they knew me by name by that point). And since then I’ve always filled new tanks with water from the main tank as well as putting decorations and bits of substrate from the main tank into each new tank to speed up the process.

biofish said:

I had done regular checks with my LFS with my main tank when it was first being established until LFS congratulated me on it finally being cycled (they knew me by name by that point). And since then I’ve always filled new tanks with water from the main tank as well as putting decorations and bits of substrate from the main tank into each new tank to speed up the process.

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Never trust what the LFS people tell you, most of the time, they haven't a clue what they are talking about

ALL responsible fishkeepers should test their own water...it isn't expensive or difficult

biofish said:

filled new tanks with water from the main tank

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Beneficial bacteria (that process the ammonia and nitrite) live on hard surfaces, not in the water.

That’s why I put substrate and decorations from the main tank in the new tanks ^^

Some better pictures. Does her tummy look a little swollen? She’s not usually arched up like that. At least she’s swimming a little bit instead of hugging the pebbles like earlier

Edit: do y’all think it’ll be a good idea to go ahead and treat her for constipation? Not feed her for a couple days and then give her a pea?

Sorry, I don’t mean to ignore your suggestions for checking if the water is cycled. I’ve just had this tank up and running for 6 or so months now. I’ve held fish in here previously with no issue and Rem has been in this tank 3 or so of those months with no issues before now. So Im guessing there’s a very good chance of the tank being cycled even if I can’t directly check.

I haven’t fed her in 2 days and yet her tummy’s even bigger? And she’s not looking great. Any advice? I tired feed her a pea but she wasn’t interested

Her stomach is turning a horrible color

Are the scales pine-coning (sticking out)?

Yes… I hadn’t even considered dropsy when her tummy started swelling.

I’m gonna spend as much time with her until it’s her time.

I know her chances aren’t great but any advice would be appreciated.

Dropsy is a symptom of organ failure, I don't know that there is anything that can be done. Some people use Epsom salt baths to reduce the fluids in the fish but IME it only delays the inevitable outcome. Maybe they are a bit more comfortable after an epsom bath, IDK.