Betta fish acting "off"

[JenniferRose]

Hey folks,
I've had this betta for a few months. In the last week I've noticed he's acting off.

He always sleeps, all day long, at the bottom of his tank. He used to be very alert and interactive, chasing me as I walked by his tank. Now the only time I get him to even remotely interact is if I make noise around him or tap the tank to wake him up.

He still eats like a little piggy. I feed him 3 - 4 pellets every other day. His water parameters are all perfect (I check every day after having an ammonia spike about a month ago). and I change 25% of his water every week. He has live plants as well as betta safe (none sharp) plants in his tank.

He looks a tiny tiny bit bloated so I fed him a pinhead size piece of a pea. He sucked it up and looked for more. His appetite is definitely not lacking.
I've noticed when he swims it seems to labored more than usual. And he tends to swim nose up. He lays down as soon as he can, either at the bottom or on one of his broad leaf plants. (though he always ends up at the bottom within 10 minutes).

Poor little guy just doesn't look comfortable. What else can I do? I'll get a picture soon to see if ya'll think he's bloated. Thanks!

 

[WILDER]

Feed only shelled cooked peas and daphnia. Helps with constipation.
Does he look pale or darker in colour?
Does he struggle to get off the bottom of the tank?

If he's not his self I think I would treat with antibiotic like Maracyn, or Tetracycline but they will wipe the beneificial bacteria out in your filter.

Signs of a internal bacteria infecton.

Listless and lethargic.
Fish will look pale, or darker in colour.
Struggle to get off the bottom of the tank, or top.
Resting for long periods of time. Sometimes leaning to one side when resting.
Fish will struggle to swim, and even be unable to maintain balance in the water.
Turning upside down.
Fish may seem off balance and sink to the bottom of the tank.
Long stringy white waste, grey stringy waste.

 

[JenniferRose]

This sounds exactly like the issue. About a week ago I saw some poo that was stuck to him for quite a while and it was stringy and greyish. He's very pale, his gorgeous metallic blues are gone. He sleeps on his side and tends to go sideways when doing anything. Poor guy.

If I remove the filter pad would that help keep some of the bacteria in the tank?

How much cooked pea should he get? I fed him a piece about the side of his eye yesterday. He did inhale it. lol
Thanks so much!

Feed only shelled cooked peas and daphnia. Helps with constipation.
Does he look pale or darker in colour?
Does he struggle to get off the bottom of the tank?

If he's not his self I think I would treat with antibiotic like Maracyn, or Tetracycline but they will wipe the beneificial bacteria out in your filter.

Signs of a internal bacteria infecton.

Listless and lethargic.
Fish will look pale, or darker in colour.
Struggle to get off the bottom of the tank, or top.
Resting for long periods of time. Sometimes leaning to one side when resting.
Fish will struggle to swim, and even be unable to maintain balance in the water.
Turning upside down.
Fish may seem off balance and sink to the bottom of the tank.
Long stringy white waste, grey stringy waste.

 

[WILDER]

You could just add an airstone and add the filter to a bucket of tank water,
Keep it running and add flakes daily to keep the bacteria alive.

For the next few days just feed a few peas and try and get some frozen or live daphnia. Avoid dry foods as they can cause bloating and constipation.
Don't over feed dry foods.
Also a good varied diet.

Do you have any antibiotic medications on hand?

 

[JenniferRose]

I have Bettafix, I rarely use it since I know it messes with their labyrinth, but any other bacterial treatment is meant for very large tanks and it seemed to risky to reduce. Petsmart didn't have much else as an option.

He had a couple ammonia spikes in the tank so I've been changing about 25% of the water a day to keep that ammonia at safe levels. It finally hit zero a couple weeks ago and he's had 2 25% water changes, one a week. He started acting weird about a week after the ammonia spike, so I'm guessing that whole sequence of events triggered this.

He has a heater, its keeping his tank between 81 and 82. It seems high, but since they are sensitive to water temps changing and he's sick I figured its best to keep him there until he's well, then worry about getting a better heater. I monitor it daily though. He loves the heater, I find him right near it alot.

How much of the pea should he get a day?

I included a picture. The little goof likes to come say hi to the camera so getting a shot of him has to be done while he's asleep. Right now its easier than usual but he still sees the camera and swims over to see it.

 

[NickAu]

I have Bettafix,

I do not use or recommend this stuff.

 

[JenniferRose]

What do you recommend for a small betta tank, 2.5 gal?

 

[WILDER]

How is he as he does not look to good?

About 2 or 3 peas.

I would buy some Maracyn if you can. Then ask on here how much to add to your tank if you are having problems working it out.

 

[JenniferRose]

He's still alert and quite a little pig. I've only been feeding him a piece of pea, I didn't realize he could get that much!

I found some powdered erythromycin and figured out he gets 1/32 tsp of it per dose. Managed to figure out how to measure that and made a bunch of dose packs.

From what I've researched, he gets a dose a day. Medicate two days, third day do a 25% water change and dose two days again. Then water change and put the carbon back in. After a few days repeat if needed. Does this sound right?

How quick should I expect to see changes?

I'm amazed the varying answers I've had asking local fish "experts" about this. I give up and am sticking to forums. I get answers I know are wrong. I told one guy (owner of fish store) I didn't want bettafix, I wanted Myacin or tetracycline and he handed me Melafix which is... Basically bettafix. I finally got the erythromycin, local shops don't have the tetracycline.

Another guy said they shouldn't have a filter, would be fine in a bowl... After I asked about Myacin.

How is he as he does not look to good?

About 2 or 3 peas.

I would buy some Maracyn if you can. Then ask on here how much to add to your tank if you are having problems working it out.

 

[WILDER]

There are some good LFS but there in short supply. Glad you stuck to what you wanted as they tend to give you the products sometimes that are not very good.
Betta don't tolerate Melafix which you were correct to say. it only good on cuts and wounds as Melafix is an external bacteria medication, You need an internal one.

Betta do need a filter. To many water changes stress them out. Ammonia and nitrite soon builds up in unfiltered tanks. Also heaters to keep the temp stable. As unstable temps can cause stress and disease.

The medication course sounds right to me.
How is he doing as he looked rather sad in the picture you loaded onto the site.

It's hard to say when you will see improvement as all fish are different.
Good sign he still eating.

 

[JenniferRose]

I worked at multiple petstore over the years, I was never formally trained. It was only because the info my bosses and coworkers sounded more like opinions than facts that I started researching proper care for all animals, fish included. You would think an aquarium shop would train better though. Goodness!

Drogon is okay. He still looks sad, but he perks up when I walk by now (if he is t sleeping) and goes to his "feeding grounds" with hope in his heart for food. Lol he sleeps on the ground or in between the leaves, flopped to his side. Poor guy, hopefully he feels better soon! I'll keep you posted.