Betta fish resting more than normal?

[CxN]

You did the right thing by going for cattappa leaves. Terrific advice. I fully vouch for its effectiveness. My female dwarf gourami had a similar problem when I got her, I did not want to treat her with meds without knowing what's wrong with her. Added 3 leaves in to my 20 gal and raised the temperature to a bit warmer 82F. Fed her green peas/brocolli laced with garlic powder or dried shimp powder for a few days. She was up and swimming around after a few days.
Ph variation even if very small can be harmful to fish. I've researched this a lot and fully convinced that fish always prefer consistent ph with its tolerant range. I highly recommend Seachem Ph Alert as a long term solution - you can stick it inside the aquarium, it will tell you when ph rises or falls so you can take action.

I do not mean to keep suggesting you expensive products - another product I've had great success with when we don't know what's amiss is Stress Guard. Its basically a very effective slime coat that works by simply protecting its exposed/inflamed tissue and preventing further infections. It is a very well reviewed product that's safe to use until fish does well and well buffered from accidently overdosing. I've found it effective in my second tank when my guppies were struggling to adjust.

We've all been there, its hard for a pet parent to watch their finned friends go through such phase. But fortunately there is a lot we can do - and I hope your betta too comes out of this soonest!

 

[CxN]

Oh okay, thank you.
Well one leaf is in there, floating. It occurs to me that I'm just turning the tank water into tea.

The tannins in the water is an easy problem to solve. Your fish won't mind it at all - it is merely an aesthetic issue for us. I've used purigen or a cheaper alternative, activated charcoal to clear the tannins with great success. Don't worry about that.

 

[H0pefulDad]

You did the right thing by going for cattappa leaves. Terrific advice. I fully vouch for its effectiveness. My female dwarf gourami had a similar problem when I got her, I did not want to treat her with meds without knowing what's wrong with her. Added 3 leaves in to my 20 gal and raised the temperature to a bit warmer 82F. Fed her green peas/brocolli laced with garlic powder or dried shimp powder for a few days. She was up and swimming around after a few days.
Ph variation even if very small can be harmful to fish. I've researched this a lot and fully convinced that fish always prefer consistent ph with its tolerant range. I highly recommend Seachem Ph Alert as a long term solution - you can stick it inside the aquarium, it will tell you when ph rises or falls so you can take action.

I do not mean to keep suggesting you expensive products - another product I've had great success with when we don't know what's amiss is Stress Guard. Its basically a very effective slime coat that works by simply protecting its exposed/inflamed tissue and preventing further infections. It is a very well reviewed product that's safe to use until fish does well and well buffered from accidently overdosing. I've found it effective in my second tank when my guppies were struggling to adjust.

We've all been there, its hard for a pet parent to watch their finned friends go through such phase. But fortunately there is a lot we can do - and I hope your betta too comes out of this soonest!

Thank you so much! I'm glad I have the right idea, I might add another leaf later. Does the garlic powder help at all? Because I was going to see if I could get him to eat a pea later, and I could sprinkle some garlic on it.
I'm getting more and more convinced that the lack of adjustment I did is what's made him ill, so I'll look into that pH thing for the future.
I'll look into the stress guard too, it sounds promising. I've just been using stress coat but I'm more than willing to try something else that could help. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[H0pefulDad]

The tannins in the water is an easy problem to solve. Your fish won't mind it at all - it is merely an aesthetic issue for us. I've used purigen or a cheaper alternative, activated charcoal to clear the tannins with great success. Don't worry about that.

No I'm not worried about the color, in fact I've heard it mimics their natural habitat more. I was more just making an observation, like, I'm putting a leaf in some water to make it a certain way.

 

[CxN]

If you've been using stress coat, that's perfectly fine. Do not spend too much on these products. Slime coats usually work as a protective layer for them.
I usually boil the peas to make it mushy along with some crushed garlic. Most fish go crazy over the smell of garlic, so they will eat it. So if its some intestinal discomfort he would benefit from it.
Also keep in mind Bettas are hardy fish. He's lucky to get such amount of care, I know its only a matter of time he bounce back to his usual self.

 

[CassCats]

No I'm not worried about the color, in fact I've heard it mimics their natural habitat more. I was more just making an observation, like, I'm putting a leaf in some water to make it a certain way.

I make tea for my fish all the time

I use rooibos tea for my blackwater setup

 

[mcordelia]

depending on your water hardness, the catappa leaves / tannins may bring your pH down slightly. this is not a bad thing in this case, because it is very gradual, and it is a "natural" way to bring down your pH. The only thing you may need to consider is if you have softer water (I seem to recall that you don't, so this is probably a moot point), and your tank pH is lower than your tap pH when it comes time to do a water change, you may need to pour your "changing water" into a dish a day before and toss some catappa leaves in there beforehand to get it similar to your tank water before you add it in. but honestly, this is more of a philosophical point, since a couple of catappa leaves are unlikely to change the pH that much, and if you have harder water it will also be more resistant to pH change as well, but I'm including it here as something for you to be aware of, if down the road you go for more catappa leaves or driftwood etc and you are living in a place with softer water. Just test before your water change if you are ever in doubt. At this point, where you're doing daily water changes, it won't be an issue.

hopefully Midnight will like the pea and it will help him getting to feeling better!

Also regarding the spring water thing - meh. Consistency, especially for bettas is the most important. If you started a tank using just spring water then maybe, but it's just not a good use of money since you can't be sure that spring water is consistent season to season, or who knows if the manufacturer always draws water from the same spring each time, etc.

 

[H0pefulDad]

The hardness reading of my water said 120 ppm, not sure if that's soft or hard. I'll keep track of the pH either way.

 

[H0pefulDad]

Quick question for anyone who maybe knows better, how until until the leaf should start working? Because it's been in there for 5 hours now and Midnight is still right where he has been

 

[hurgerburger]

Hello. My betta fish has been with me since the summer, in a 10 gallon planted tank that I've worked hard at keeping in good condition. While originally with me at home, I took the whole setup and my fish with me to college once the school year started (don't worry it's all social distanced, we had a whole dorm all to ourselves). The moving process then took some effort but afterwards he seemed to adjust quickly, and for the few months we lived there he seemed happy and healthy. I had some algae problems and got a nerite snail to help out.
Due to COVID-19 complications, I had to move out of my dorm until the start of next semester at the end of January. I took my tank and friends and everything back home and set it all up again like it was before. The hair algae is still a bit of a problem but I got rid of a lot of it while I was setting everything up. It's been a week or two now and everything seems to be fine and running smoothly.
Except...there's this one new behavior my betta has that's been worrying me. For the past week or so he's taken to spending lots of time resting under the Amazon sword by the side of the tank. He's never done this before, usually if he rests it's in his little floating log or the one stuck in the sand, but I've never seen him spend so much time by that particular plant before.
While he's lying there by the roots his little fins aren't even moving, just his gills and his mouth, and I'm not sure if I should be concerned by how much those are moving or not. He'll start swimming if he notices me looking, or sometimes on his own, but he always goes up to the surface and takes a big gulp of air before anything else. But either way, he'll usually go back down to his spot under the sword's leaves fairly quickly.
I wasn't sure if this was just an adjustment thing he was doing because of the move, but he didn't have any major behavior changes the first time we moved all of his stuff to college. He doesn't look sick or discolored, and no part of him looks inflamed. The nerite snail also seems to be just fine, moving around like normal most of the day. The heater works (he's been spending a lot of time by that too actually) and the water's temperature is fine, and to make sure the cycle stayed intact I added some more bacteria, especially considering I had to replace the cartridge in the filter and finally took the old one out once the new one had been in there for a week. On that note I tested the water yesterday, the nitrates are around 5 to 10 ppm and there's no ammonia or nitrites. I will admit though, right before the last water change I did test the water and found a small amount of nitrites, so I'm worried that exposure may have hurt him even if it was just for a small time. But like I said, there's nothing that looks physically wrong with my betta, and when he does swim he seems to do it just as well as always.
It's getting to a worrying point because it's affecting his eating, usually he's always so excited when I show him the food can and swims right up to the hole in the tank cover where I drop it in. But more than once in the past few days I've shown him the can during mealtime, he started to swim up but then went back down to his hiding spot instead. The gill and mouth movement and his big gulps at the water surface make me think the tank water might not have enough oxygen, so I have the battery powered air pump for power outages running right now, and I'm going to do a water change later today. But I'm still worried by my baby's behavior and how different it is from what he's usually like.
Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong? Is there actually something wrong with my tank's parameters and my fish or does he just have a newfound appreciation for laziness? Please respond if you have any idea, he's apparently not even a year old and I want him to live for much longer.

how old is he? betta fish have a lifespan of around 3-5 years if kept in good conditions. My betta fish is around three and he’s been declining recently...

 

[H0pefulDad]

how old is he? betta fish have a lifespan of around 3-5 years if kept in good conditions. My betta fish is around three and he’s been declining recently...

I got him in July I think, and the store I got him from said he was about three months old, so he'd be about 7 or 8 months old now?
Of course this is the same store I went to today for shitty advice that keeps so many male bettas in tiny bowls, so I wouldn't put it past them to have lied to me.

 

[H0pefulDad]

Well I tried to give him a piece of pea covered in garlic powder after I failed to make garlic juice, but he wouldn't even move. When I roused him enough to get him to swim a bit he just went right back to his spot. I'm going to see if I can just buy pure garlic juice tomorrow to soak some of his food in but I'm getting worried.

 

[CxN]

Quick question for anyone who maybe knows better, how until until the leaf should start working? Because it's been in there for 5 hours now and Midnight is still right where he has been

From my experience cattappa leaves work slowly (give it at least a day or two).. being natural, it releases tannins and other beneficial nutrients slowly. If the water color is the same after a day, you can leave another leaf in a bowl of hot water for an hr or so and make a tea. And add it slowly for a stronger effect. But pls keep track of the ph. cattappa leaves can bring it down. Avoid anything that dramatically alters ph.

12 dGH is on the higher side of hardness. But experts here know better. In my opinion, betta would be ok with a gh upto 12. I would be very careful with playing around too much with water chemistry because its hard to keep it consistent.

If you managed to raise temp too a bit, the fish might show some response. I think it's better to go easy on him if he isn't eating. Keep the water clean so you can avoid water changes for a while. I think he's just taking time to acclimatize or stressed from all the changes he's been through. What's also needed is to give him his time to bounce back.

 

[H0pefulDad]

Okay thanks, I'm trying to give him time and not stress him too much but the thing is I'm stressed with every day that goes by and he's still like this. I know I have to be patient but he's my little boy and I want him to feel better.
So I actually can make a tea from the leaves? If I end up having to do that would I just pour it in directly or like a little bit at a time over the course of a day?
I don't want to lower the pH so much since I know that wouldn't be good, that's why I looked for the leaves in the first place. Now that the first one is in there I'll test the pH every day until Midnight is better.
I'm gonna see if I can get a heater with an adjustable temperature tomorrow, since mine is permanently set at 78F. For now to make him more comfortable I've got a rolled up heating pad against one side of the tank (yes I know I've got my eye on the thermometer every five minutes, it's on a low setting and I'm going to turn it off before I go to sleep)

 

[CxN]

Yes, we are doing all these to gently help him come back to his health. But as with anything in this hobby patience is the key (that's what I learnt so far). I dont think you need to buy a new heater. 78 is ok for now. Heating pad is not a good idea as it makes the temp higher then lowers as it adjusts to the water temp. Like ph, fish wont like temp variations especially now.
Yes by making tea you quicken the release of the good stuff in the leaf but dont boil it. Let it seep for an hour or so. Pour as a needed. Refrigerate the rest. We are hoping to hear midnight back in action.

In the meanwhile, please observe him closely. Fin rot I hear is often slow progressing and can be cured. So are many infections. If you notice his poops to be white AND stringy. Then indigestion, or some parasite could be the reason. But fish get infections because their immunity is weakened....so the best thing is let them stay immune. Cattappa leaves allow them to a very conducive environment for this (there is anecdotal evidence for this)

Observe him tomm and for all you know he might be back to his self wondering where are his blood worms