Help! What Is Wrong

[2BlackCats]

I can't figure out what is wrong. I've had him for almost 2 years. I nursed him back from dropsy when I had him at 2 weeks. He has always been such a happy, swimmy fellow. We moved back in Oct and he's not so happy anymore. I had to keep him in the dining room because of the wood stove in the living room. He's been going downhill ever since. He developed pop-eye early on and medicine didn't help. His appitite has steadily decreased.

for the past week, he's spent it mostly on his side on the bottom of the tank. It I thought he might be old and dying at first, but it's been 8 days now. He has trouble swimming to the top to get air and than he just falls to the bottom. His back fin falls over like it's broken. He looks at food like he wants to eat, but just can't.

Our new home is a lot colder and I think his tank has gotten too cold. I have purchased a heating mat and his water is 78 at the top and 76 near the bottom.

Is he sick? Should I look into medication for him? I am scared to go to bed and leave the heater mat on, I don't want to cook him, his current tank is 1 gallon. I purchased a larger tank for him to go with the heater (2.5 gallon), but don't want to switch him and stress him out more than he is.

I've tried googling his issue and can't find anything on his particular symptoms. What can I do for Mr. Fish? I feel like I've failed him and it is breaking my heart.

 

[HMPK love]

He may just be old love.Pet store bettas generally only live an average of 1-2 years if they are kept properly( there are however some exceptions). They go through so much stress in transite, and poor care in the pet stores that it really dranes their over all health on a permanent scale.

Just make sure you keep his water around 78-82* and keep it clean in that little 1 gallon(100% water changes atleast every 4 days if not more)

If his fins are clampy like this

he may have any nuber of illnesses including internal paracites, and external paracites such as velvet or ich.

A picture would be wonderfull.

Keep him warm and clean

Best of luck.

 

[ibbledibble]

for the past week, he's spent it mostly on his side on the bottom of the tank. It I thought he might be old and dying at first, but it's been 8 days now. He has trouble swimming to the top to get air and than he just falls to the bottom. His back fin falls over like it's broken. He looks at food like he wants to eat, but just can't.

lots of people have had these sort of symptoms recently and treating with anti internal bacteria medication seems to help

Our new home is a lot colder and I think his tank has gotten too cold. I have purchased a heating mat and his water is 78 at the top and 76 near the bottom.

I am scared to go to bed and leave the heater mat on, I don't want to cook him, his current tank is 1 gallon. I purchased a larger tank for him to go with the heater (2.5 gallon), but don't want to switch him and stress him out more than he is.

i have a heat mat for my fry jars, i leave it on all the time and the water stays a constant temp. no problems with overheating, if anything the temp is more likely to drop at night, when there is no heating on and so lower air temp. test the mat over several hours to see if the water temp raises, if it stays pretty much level it should be fine left on overnight.

although the move might stress him out slightly, the larger tank would mean better water quality, which would make a big difference to his recovery so i would switch to the new tank personally.

good luck with him, hope he pulls through for you.

 

[2BlackCats]

Mr. Fish in his younger years:

I got up several times at night and turned the heater back on when his water got down to 72. It's been on since 4 am and the water temp is around 78 again. He is still acting like he wants to eat but not making the full effort. He looks a bit better this morning.
Mr. Fish this morning:

He's a bit more "floaty":

 

[Honeythorn]

I can't understand why you have to keep turning the heater on and off? Why doesn't he have an ordinary heater in there full time? Also 1 gal is extremely small, not good in the slightest, 2.5 is slightly better, but IMO still far too small. 5 gal would be far better, and 10 gal would be fantastic. A larger tank is also much easier to maintain in terms of water quality and filtration. You DO have a gentle filter don't you?

The move might stress him a bit but the long term benefits of a larger heated and filtered tank are very worth it.

 

[2BlackCats]

I can't understand why you have to keep turning the heater on and off? Why doesn't he have an ordinary heater in there full time? Also 1 gal is extremely small, not good in the slightest, 2.5 is slightly better, but IMO still far too small. 5 gal would be far better, and 10 gal would be fantastic. A larger tank is also much easier to maintain in terms of water quality and filtration. You DO have a gentle filter don't you?

The move might stress him a bit but the long term benefits of a larger heated and filtered tank are very worth it.

Honeythorn,
He's always had a 1 gallon tank. I just purchased the heater last and a larger tank last night. I've warmed the water and he seems just a little bit better. I am going to move him to a larger tank today (2.5 gallon). No filter, I do 100% water changes a month and partial changes in-between. He was fine in the old house as his water temp usually hovered around 74 without any help. He didn't like the filter, so I removed it in the first few weeks I had him.

He was an impulse pet store rescue, and I thought I had learned as much as I could through google. Why would I put 1 fish in a 5 or 10 gallon tank? I thought that bettas perferred a smaller environment.

edited to add: I always used bottled water for him with the betta water stabilizer. he's never had a problem before with this...

 

[Honeythorn]

He was an impulse pet store rescue, and I thought I had learned as much as I could through google. Why would I put 1 fish in a 5 or 10 gallon tank? I thought that bettas perferred a smaller environment.

edited to add: I always used bottled water for him with the betta water stabilizer. he's never had a problem before with this...

Why wouldn't you? I can't believe you even asked that.

As I have just said in another thread, many people are under the VERY mistaken impression that wild bettas live in tiny shallow puddles, and can live that way because they can breathe atmospheric air. A good many manage to survive that way, but a VAST amount die when the water supply dries up They then use that excuse to keep domestic bettas in miniscule tanks of unfiltered water. It's abominable.

When the local people ( who were the first to start breeding and fighting these fish ) collect the males for fighting and breeding, they do it when the fish are at their best. Do you know when this is? When the irrigation ditches in the fields , and the marshy streams that bettas live in are FULL. When full, people stand knee deep in the water. and the ditches are very long. They contain FAR more than 1 gallon of water, and that water is regularly refreshed and flushed through by rainfall and irrigation. Effectively, nature's own filtration.

The fact that in the wild they do not live in 1 gallons of water, but several thousand, is indication enough of why you should keep 1 fish in 5-10 gallons bare minimum, even more is better. In even a ten gallon you could also add a few small tankmates such as pygmy cories and shrimp.


Have you researched the nitrogen cycle? When you keep a fish in a larger amount of water, his waste products are far more diluted, and when filtered ( as all tanks should be ) they are broken down and made less harmful to his body. Then you do 1-2 water changes a week to remove nitrate ( still harmful but not quite as bad as ammonia and nitrite ). Don't forget, you can't see ammonia nitrite and nitrate, and it is easy to assume that your water and your fish are fine when they more than likely are not.


You seem to have made a lot of work for yourself. I don't understand why you are using bottled water, when tap water and dechlorinator are all you need. Doing so many water changes on such a small pot is likely to be stressful on his body. What sort of filter did you use? A sponge filter is simple to make and aren't even that expensive to buy, and since people often use them in fry tanks, they are perfectly safe for a betta since they have no inlet pipe for him to get trapped against.

 

[blue_betta]

He was an impulse pet store rescue, and I thought I had learned as much as I could through google. Why would I put 1 fish in a 5 or 10 gallon tank? I thought that bettas perferred a smaller environment.

edited to add: I always used bottled water for him with the betta water stabilizer. he's never had a problem before with this...

Why wouldn't you? I can't believe you even asked that.

As I have just said in another thread, many people are under the VERY mistaken impression that wild bettas live in tiny shallow puddles, and can live that way because they can breathe atmospheric air. A good many manage to survive that way, but a VAST amount die when the water supply dries up They then use that excuse to keep domestic bettas in miniscule tanks of unfiltered water. It's abominable.

When the local people ( who were the first to start breeding and fighting these fish ) collect the males for fighting and breeding, they do it when the fish are at their best. Do you know when this is? When the irrigation ditches in the fields , and the marshy streams that bettas live in are FULL. When full, people stand knee deep in the water. and the ditches are very long. They contain FAR more than 1 gallon of water, and that water is regularly refreshed and flushed through by rainfall and irrigation. Effectively, nature's own filtration.

The fact that in the wild they do not live in 1 gallons of water, but several thousand, is indication enough of why you should keep 1 fish in 5-10 gallons. In a ten gallon you could also add a few small tankmates such as pygmy cories and shrimp.


Have you researched the nitrogen cycle? When you keep a fish in a larger amount of water, his waste products are far more diluted, and when filtered ( as all tanks should be ) they are broken down and made less harmful to his body. Then you do 1-2 water changes a week to remove nitrate ( still harmful but not quite as bad as ammonia and nitrite ). Don't forget, you can't see ammonia nitrite and nitrate, and it is easy to assume that your water and your fish are fine when they more than likely are not.


You seem to have made a lot of work for yourself. I don't understand why you are using bottled water, when tap water and dechlorinator are all you need. Doing so many water changes on such a small pot is likely to be stressful on his body. What sort of filter did you use? A sponge filter is simple to make and aren't even that expensive to buy, and since people often use them in fry tanks, they are perfectly safe for a betta since they have no inlet pipe for him to get trapped against.

wooooow chiiiiilllllll!!!! the owner has come on to ask advice coz they are worried about thier fish, please dont attack the. its YOUR opinion that the tank is too small. but its generaly accepted that 1 - 2.5 gal tanks ARE acceptable for a single male betta provided they are kept clean. i have kept males in 2.5 gals and they are PERFECTLY happy and healthy.

as regards to the fish in question... YES a larger tank would be good, but not absolutely neccesary. what you will need to do is get a thermostatic heater. the temprature fluctuations will not help the fish at all. they will stress him and make him worse. so the temrature needs to be kept stable. try treating with anti-bac meds as suggested, and lover his water level so he dont have far to come up and breath, of provide him with some sort of platform (upturned flower pot or a rock) so he can stay near the surface. make sure he is kept warm and clean.
his age may be aginst him. most pet store males are ex-breeders and are already about a year old, and becxause of the life they have had already will only live, generaly speaking, about 1-2 years after that. if you have had him for a long time, it could well be his age catching up with him and being less able to cope with temprature fluctuations and poloutants in his water

 

[2BlackCats]

wow, ms. thorn

I think the fact that my fish has been healthy and FINE for almost 2 years would mean that I have taken very good care of him. I have a gravel vacuum and I keep his tank clean and water fresh. I researched bettas as much as I could. I have always monitored his temperature. I fast him once a week to keep him from getting constipated. I make sure that he is not overfed, knowing his stomach is the same size as his eye. Up until just recently, he was very swimmy and would wiggle and dance for me when I'd spend time with him. YES, I actually spend time with him and talk to him.

Thanks to everyone who has offered good advice. I have been preparing his new tank and will switch him soon. He seems to have picked up a little. I do think that it is his age is catching up to him and am trying to minimize his stress levels. this is why I warmed the water in the small tank first.

Every pet store in my area only has programmable thermostats for larger tanks, the only one available for 2-5 gallon tanks was a small 7.5 watt "mat". I will keep shopping around online and see what I can find. I am wondering if bettafix might be helpful or not? I don't want to stress him out more with unneccessary medicating.

 

[Honeythorn]

I never said your fish hadn't been fine for the time you have had him. I said that the tank he was in is too small which is perfectly true. And if you had researched bettas as much as you say you have you would have noticed that they live in far more than 1 gallon in the wild, and that many die and dry up in the puddles people think they live happily in. Why would you replicate a tiny puddle in tank form? What sense is there in that?

I don't see why you would make keeping a fish more complicated by having the wrong sized tank, which you can't even get a normal heater for because it's so small. I can't see why you would keep a fish in a tank that makes it more work than it ever should be.

I haven't had a go at you here, I've given you information that is in fact, true. And would actually make things easier for both you and the fish when he is better.

 

[2BlackCats]

FYI, I have filtered well water and was advised that this was unsafe for the fish by the pet store. buying a gallon jug of water is really not a problem for me.

 

[2BlackCats]

I never said your fish hadn't been fine for the time you have had him. I said that the tank he was in is too small which is perfectly true. And if you had researched bettas as much as you say you have you would have noticed that they live in far more than 1 gallon in the wild, and that many die and dry up in the puddles people think they live happily in. Why would you replicate a tiny puddle in tank form? What sense is there in that?

I don't see why you would make keeping a fish more complicated by having the wrong sized tank, which you can't even get a normal heater for because it's so small. I can't see why you would keep a fish in a tank that makes it more work than it ever should be.

I haven't had a go at you here, I've given you information that is in fact, true. And would actually make things easier for both you and the fish when he is better.

It's all in the delivery and the way you use your words my dear, try using a bit more respect when you communicate. You could say the same thing and not come across as judgmental and flameful and than others might want to listen to what you have to say.

 

[HMPK love]

2.5 minimum tank size

100% waterchanges on 2.5 uncycled tanks every week.


Temps at a minimum of 78, though preferably 81-2*
filtered water is better becaues you dont have to worry about amonia spikes if its cycled(see pinned topics on cycling, if you live in the US I would be glad to send you mature filter media to seed your filter)

Give him a cave or something to hide in, he would feel more secure with a little hoouse and some plants(silk or live, avoid plastic, its like razor blades to their fins)

25 watt heater for a 2.5 gallon should keep it at the perfect temps.

Also, do you exercize him every day with a mirror? Bettas in small tanks often die form fatty liver desise because they dont get enugh exercize .(if they dont die from any number of other porblems that arise in small tanks first)

I would reccoment a 5 gallon for your guy, he looks large, and larger tanks are easyer to filter, heat, and keep the water quality up all to gether.

Hope this has been a help
best of luck
britni

 

[azulfire24]

it could be old age, and 1 gal though the absloute minium is ok, bigger is better but not ever body can afford or have the space,, i live in a very small house, but i get on with it, lmao, it could be internal or external paricites, try some meds:
melifix for bacterial
jungle fix fizzzing tablets for paricites
that what i use, and about a half teaspoon aquarim salt per gal,,

 

[Honeythorn]

If you don't have space for a big enough tank then you don't have space for the fish. And no, 1 gallon is not ok for a minimum . Read again what I put about the living conditions in the wild, which is what people keeping them in 1 gallon "tanks" should be looking at, instead of listening to badly trained/misinformed pet shop employees who simply want to sell you a blob of life regardless of how you keep it.