Is my betta ok?

[TheLavenderBadger]

Hi guys! My betta, Musa, has not been acting like his usual self lately and since I'm no expert in identifying fish maladies I was wondering if anyone sees something obviously wrong with him.

He's in a 5-gallon densely planted tank with two amano shrimp and some assassin snails for company.
I feed him color flakes once a day.
I'm all out of water testing material so I can't give water parameters, sorry about that! But the plants are thriving.
I just did a 90% water change on his tank.

He's just been lying on the bottom all the time except for when I feed him.

Any ideas what (if anything) is wrong with him?

Thanks!

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

No idea but he's stunning

 

[Colin_T]

What else do you feed him besides colour flakes?

How often do you normally do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

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It could be malnutrition if the fish only gets flakes. Variety is the spice of life and that includes food. Also check the expiry date on the food and if the packet has been open for more than 6 months, get some new stuff. You want to use u new fish food within about 4 weeks of opening it. If you have a big container of food, put some into a small container to use and freeze the rest.

It could be old age or a dirty filter or dirty substrate.

-------------------

BASIC FIRST AID FOR FISH
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until the problem is identified. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[TheLavenderBadger]

What else do you feed him besides colour flakes?

How often do you normally do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

-------------------

It could be malnutrition if the fish only gets flakes. Variety is the spice of life and that includes food. Also check the expiry date on the food and if the packet has been open for more than 6 months, get some new stuff. You want to use u new fish food within about 4 weeks of opening it. If you have a big container of food, put some into a small container to use and freeze the rest.

It could be old age or a dirty filter or dirty substrate.

-------------------

BASIC FIRST AID FOR FISH
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until the problem is identified. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Occasionally I feed him brine shrimp though only about once a month. I do about a 70% water change once a week, he has a sponge filter that I clean every week, and I clean the substrate every week too.
Malnutrition could be the cause. I seriously doubt it's old age because I only got him about six months ago and he was way smaller and younger looking then most pet-store bettas. Thanks for your help!

 

[TheLavenderBadger]

No idea but he's stunning

Thanks! I love blue mustard gas bettas.

 

[BettaFishGirl]

Occasionally I feed him brine shrimp though only about once a month. I do about a 70% water change once a week, he has a sponge filter that I clean every week, and I clean the substrate every week too.
Malnutrition could be the cause. I seriously doubt it's old age because I only got him about six months ago and he was way smaller and younger looking then most pet-store bettas. Thanks for your help!

What are the first ingredients in the color flakes? Is the first ingredient fish meal? If so, don't use them anymore. Fish meal is the leftover parts of fish, like bones, scales, and eyes, and they use that in the fish flakes. Instead look for high quality flakes that have things like whole salmon, whole herring, etc. I use the Omega one tropical fish flakes. Also, feed the brine shrimp once a week. He will love that! Are they luve or frozen?

 

[Colin_T]

Add frozen or live food to his diet every day. Give him flake first and then some frozen.

 

[TheLavenderBadger]

His flake does not have fish meal, and it is not expired. The brine shrimp are frozen. I'll start feeding the brine shrimp every day. Thanks everybody!

 

[Colin_T]

He will need more than brineshrimp. Get some new flake or nick some off your dad. Get some marine mix or raw/ cooked prawn and keep it in the freezer. Use a bit to feed him and vary his diet.