Lethargic/sick Betta

[DeekTic]

Hi,
Just after hopefully some help with our Betta.
ph6.6
ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5-10

38l Tank. no other fish.
Has a silk plant, Beta log some wood & wee house.
Airstone & Cycled.
Heater temp @ 26

We`ve had him about 9 months now, Couple of months back, he went lethargic stopped eating for about 10 days, nothing obvious showing, so . Treated him with interpet internal bacteria treatment. & salt. H seemed to pick up & get beter for a bit & seemed happy, creating big bubble nests on the Almond leaf.
He was fine for a couple of weeks, but then he seemed to regress, back to lethargic.
He just lies at bottom of the tank, darting p for air, then straight back down to bottom. He s eating, feeding him bloodworm/peas & some bug bites.
Seeme to have a wee bit of finrot, so treating again with interpet and salt, with appropriate water changes. with no change.

He just lays at the bottom, most of the day....moving occasionally.
Stumped as to what to try next, was hoping someone would have a suggestion?

 

[hansgruber7]

Any pictures or videos of him and the tank? That might help diagnose. The PH seems a little low but that's probably not the problem. Any idea why the PH is low? Is your tap 6.6?

 

[DeekTic]

Hm, I had added pictures, but they dont seem to have come through.. I`ll try again.. PH was 7, but dropped when we added the almond leaf.

piccies added again

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Is it possible he was a bit old when you got him? I think bettas only live 2-3 years so if he was already several years old he might be approaching end of life? One of the YouTubers I watch (Girl Talks Fish) had an old betta named Sonic and he would lay on the bottom of the tank. It looked like he was dead in her videos. But he was just resting a lot in the last months of his life. 9 months seems too young for this to be happening from strictly an age perspective but just curious if you knew how old he was when you got him.

Other thought - what kind of flow do you have in the tank? If the flow is too strong it could be causing him some difficulty swimming against it with those big fins and it's tiring him out.

 

[DeekTic]

Hi,
Thanks, yeh, we dont know how old he is. he was initially very active & moved around. We`ll try the flow, see if turning pump right down to see if that helps.

Thanks

 

[PheonixKingZ]

What kind of bloodworms are you feeding him?

He may be suffering from several diseases. Will you please try to get more photos of him when he swims up for air? You may want to remove some of the water from the tank, so it’s easier for him to get to the surface.

Do you have an actual filter? Or just the airstone?

 

[DeekTic]

Hi,
yeh we have a filter not just airstone. We can try removing some water.. but I dont think he struggles to get up there. I`ll try to get some better pictures when he goes up for air.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

He looks like he has fin clamp, but it may be just be because he is down on the bottom.

If he isn’t struggling to get up, then don’t remove any water.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Hi,
Thanks, yeh, we dont know how old he is. he was initially very active & moved around. We`ll try the flow, see if turning pump right down to see if that helps.

Thanks

Yep, maybe too much flow causing exhaustion and stress? Just a thought not having seen videos or know specifics of how high your flow is turned up. Please keep us posted!