Finley Has Stopped Eating...

[janragan]

Hi!
About a week ago my Betta refused the flakes he has been eating so I gave him some freeze dried bloodworms which he did eat, but not many. He has been on half flakes, half worms and was like a PIG! He wanted to eat constantly! He has all but quit eating now. When I put a few flakes in his bowl he will swim circles under them but won't eat them. He may or may not eat one worm when I try them. I have scooped out what he doesn't eat. He is in a 1 gal bow, changed every other day, 1 tsp salt and I use Stress Coat for the water conditioner. His bowl temp ranges from 79-80 degrees and he has a hiding place. He is acting normally other than not eating and I can't see anything different/wrong with him. Anyone know what his problem might be? Thanks!

PS ... when I said PIG I meant P-I-G! His appetite was voracious!!!!!!

 

[BettaGardener]

Hi There!

Does Finley seem less active than normal? If you look at him from the top, does his body look thin? How's his color? Do his fins look "clamped" and stiff? Does his belly look round and bloated at all?

Also, 1 tsp is a lot of salt for 1 gallon. I use 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt (never table salt) per 5 gallons -- three teaspoons is equal to one tablespoon.

Changing the water every other day is fine, but here's an idea. If you can find a 5 gallon bucket, prep 5 gallons of water in advance of water changes, using 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt and the appropriate amount of water conditioner. Keep the water at the very same temperature as his bowl. This way when you do water changes, it will be as stress-free as possible.

Let me know about the other questions in my first paragraph... this will help us to know if he might be coming down with a bug and what we should do about it.