Heavy Breathing Betta

[TotallyTropical]

The crunching sound isn’t constant, and I haven’t heard it since, so maybe I’m just imagining things. He’s breathing normally from the looks of things, if just a bit heavily, but he’s really active for such a long-finned betta.
Another question I had though was could I temporarily feed flakes to him until he gets the strength to eat pellets? I just tried a few bits of tropical flakes I had left over from my 75gal running (still good, just not needed anymore) and he seems to be able to find and eat the bits of flake easier than crushed pellets. I’d obviously try and get betta flakes to get a higher protein content and better matched nutrients for a betta, but I also know that flakes are more lacking in concentration of said nutrients compared to pellet foods. I just want him eating more than what I can get down him now, and at a more consistent rate.

 

[Cichlid4life]

Flakes will have to do for the betta short term, because at least he is eating, versus he is not eat, because flake food consist of a low nutrition diet, it it often thought of as unhealthy for fish (because it really is when compared to the diet of the same species of fish that lives in the wild),but the flake food still has some nutrients in it that is better for the fish.
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Think of it this way, you are stuck to chose one of two diets for your fish: Diet #1 is never feeding anything to the betta, and Diet #2 is feeding food every day to give the betta a regular food consumption, but with few nutrients. Obviously you will pick Diet #2 for the betta, and that is the only way to keep him alive because he chooses to eat the flake food. Also, you had to pay for the flake food, so of course you should use it up before it needs to be thrown out.

For those reasons, i would stick to using the flake food for now, but in about three or four days, I recommend you do the regular flake food feedings, but add only four or five pellets directly on top of the flake food during one of the regular feeding times, just so that he doesn't become accustom to only eating flake food (but that is if he eats the pellets with the flakes).

 

[Colin_T]

You can always try feeding him live or frozen (but defrosted) foods. They generally have more water in and are softer so would be easier for him to swallow if he has inflammation in his mouth or throat.

 

[Phil Fish]

You can always try feeding him live or frozen (but defrosted) foods. They generally have more water in and are softer so would be easier for him to swallow if he has inflammation in his mouth or throat.

Flakes will do but not long term obviously. Do try feeding him frozen bloodworms or shrimp. I use a pair of tweezers to grab one or two defrosted bloodworms and my boys rip them off the tweezers like it's their last meal. After they eat them their energy spike is noticeable. Just dangle a bloodworm in front of him and see if he'll try it.

Good luck!

 

[Cichlid4life]

make sure you balance out the frozen foods with the flakes because if you are trying the frozen foods, it can be a bit too easy to feed to much of a cube, or not enough.

 

[TotallyTropical]

Got a pellet down him this morning, left it at that. Came back from work this afternoon, fed him a bit of flakes, did a 100% water change (I’m doing 100% every 2 days because I’m unsure whether or not the tank is cycled, especially at such a small size. I’ll leave it alone and check parameters soon if need be), and left him alone for a couple of hours. Fed him some defrosted brine shrimp this evening! I think he finally understands that floating things sometimes equals food, and the same for sinking things, so he tries to go for pellets when they’re floating, and prefers to eat flakes and brine shrimp as they’re sinking. For this reason, I think it’s probably best for me to stick to the 100% water changes for now so I can get the leftover food bits as well.
But hey, we’re making progress! Slowly but surely. I’ll try some bloodworms tomorrow afternoon if he’s up to it.

 

[Cichlid4life]

don't do 100% as that will stress him out from getting put in one water type, then the next moment it is completely different in every parameter!

 

[Colin_T]

don't do 100% as that will stress him out from getting put in one water type, then the next moment it is completely different in every parameter!

If they are using the same water source (presumably tap water) it is not going to vary in GH, KH or pH from day to day. And as long and the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine and has a similar temperature to the current tank water, it is fine to change 100% every day.

Having said that, I assume the OP is leaving the fish in the tank and simply draining the water level down so there is just enough water for the fish, then filling the tank back up?

If the OP is catching the fish out and keeping it in a small container of water, then draining the tank and refilling it, that could cause physical damage to the fish if it is caught with a net. If they are scooping the fish out in a small container and keeping it in that while they drain and refill the tank, that is fine. But normally I just leave the fish in the tank, drain the water level down so there is just enough for the fish to swim, and then fill it up.

 

[Cichlid4life]

If they are using the same water source (presumably tap water) it is not going to vary in GH, KH or pH from day to day. And as long and the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine and has a similar temperature to the current tank water, it is fine to change 100% every day.

Having said that, I assume the OP is leaving the fish in the tank and simply draining the water level down so there is just enough water for the fish, then filling the tank back up?

If the OP is catching the fish out and keeping it in a small container of water, then draining the tank and refilling it, that could cause physical damage to the fish if it is caught with a net. If they are scooping the fish out in a small container and keeping it in that while they drain and refill the tank, that is fine. But normally I just leave the fish in the tank, drain the water level down so there is just enough for the fish to swim, and then fill it up.

that was just waht i was thinking, that is still very stressful for the fish tough.

 

[Colin_T]

Poor water quality and possible ammonia and or nitrite poisoning is more stressful than a big water change.

It happens in the wild when it rains, ponds, lakes and rivers can fill up with rainwater due to a sudden downpour and the fish are exposed to mud being washed into the water, which can clog up their gills for a few days, as well as lower oxygen levels and sudden changes in water temperature, pH and water chemistry.

For the most part, aquarium fish have it pretty easy assuming the filter works properly and the tank is well maintained.

 

[TotallyTropical]

I do take him out of the tank and put him in a seperate container, but i re-acclimate him to the new water every time I re-introduce him. I can stop this if it seems like a bad idea, but I haven’t seen any adverse effects so far; he seems fairly “happy”, as in not very stressed, and swims around the tank lots when I go to see him. Other than the pellet issue, he also has a good appetite.
Again, I’m just worried about the cycle, or lack of one, in my tank.

 

[TotallyTropical]

Current parameter readings say that ammonia is at 0.5-1ppm, nitrite is at 0.25-0.5ppm, and nitrate is between 0–5ppm. I’m going to do a 50% water change to reduce ammonia and nitrite, but to also avoid doing the wrong thing in case 100% water changes are a no-go. I don’t think this “tank” will ever cycle properly, but I’m only using it to foster bettas from work and nurse them back to health before bringing them back to the store, so I plan to keep on top of water changes and carefully monitor the fish during these fostering periods.

 

[NickAu]

A quality flake is the same as a quality pellet and I challenge anybody to prove me wrong.

There is no difference between say New life spectrum pellets and flake they are made with the same ingredients.

If your fish is having problems with bigger pellets try nano pellets.

 

[TotallyTropical]

A quality flake is the same as a quality pellet and I challenge anybody to prove me wrong.

There is no difference between say New life spectrum pellets and flake they are made with the same ingredients.

I just think that it takes the fish way more flakes to get the same nutrition as one pellet, but I do see your point. I think flakes are a fine diet for fish who can eat them, though I see why pellets are a better choice in bettas and goldfish because I've heard that they swallow a lot more air trying to eat flakes compared to eating pellets, which leads to a lot of bloating problems that both fish can be prone to.

If your fish is having problems with bigger pellets try nano pellets.

I think he might be experiencing the opposite problem actually. I had a bit of a brain wave this morning; if the smaller pellets I'm feeding (~1mm) are too difficult for him to eat, but he can eat large flake molecules just fine, maybe he's just having trouble targeting the pellets? That's the way it often looks, at least. I can try a larger pellet with him and see how that goes, though it might be a few days before I can get my hands on some.

 

[TotallyTropical]

Well, bad news; I tried the bigger pellets and he’s acting the same, so I don’t feel comfortable bringing him back to the store.
Good news: guess who’s picking up another 5.5g gallon to cycle so he can stay?
I think i convinced my family that taking care of 3 bettas isn’t as bad as it sounds... Hopefully they’re still up for it when I’m off at university lol