Life-lesss Betta

[LittleL]

OK so i thought my betta was all happy in his new home.... i finally got a small heater and filter for his tank and i was convinced he would be happier now that i had added the filter and heater... the thing is, he just sits on the bottom of the tank all day and night and hardly moves at all. The only time he will move is when he wants air.... even when i add bloodworm, he does seem very interested in it and will only eat it, if it sinks to the bottom of the tank....

i dont no what is wrong with him. he doesn't look ill or unhealthy, just un-happy.... what can i do??

i have only had him about a week or so...

 

[jarmado]

OK so i thought my betta was all happy in his new home.... i finally got a small heater and filter for his tank and i was convinced he would be happier now that i had added the filter and heater... the thing is, he just sits on the bottom of the tank all day and night and hardly moves at all. The only time he will move is when he wants air.... even when i add bloodworm, he does seem very interested in it and will only eat it, if it sinks to the bottom of the tank....

i dont no what is wrong with him. he doesn't look ill or unhealthy, just un-happy.... what can i do??

i have only had him about a week or so...

any strong water current on the tank?
how big is the tank?

 

[LittleL]

any strong water current on the tank?
how big is the tank?
[/quote]

no, not any strong currents at all... slight current from small filter but nothing that would stress my betta out and its not to strong for him (he was acting life-less before i put the filter in the tank....)

i dont no how big the tank is to be sure... but i would say its 1.5 - 2 UK gal.. maybe abit bigger... he has quite abit of room, put it that way. enought to have a good swim if he wanted

 

[jarmado]

no, not any strong currents at all... slight current from small filter but nothing that would stress my betta out and its not to strong for him (he was acting life-less before i put the filter in the tank....)

i dont no how big the tank is to be sure... but i would say its 1.5 - 2 UK gal.. maybe abit bigger... he has quite abit of room, put it that way. enought to have a good swim if he wanted

i got a male betta a few weeks ago but i put him in a big tank so really can not share experience with you on a small tank...
but one thing i noticed on mine, is that he does not want strong water currents maybe because he is a poor swimmer and he always wants to hide between plants and ornaments...
any sign of disease or bacterial infection?

 

[LittleL]

well as i mentioned, there is no strong current and he was acting life-less before i put the filter in the tank.

He looks very well apart from being lifeless. He has no disease or illness that i can see. his scales, face, tail, fins etc all look fine and healthy.. no obvious sigh of distress.. no white spot, no swelling etc

he has no interest in food either though.. he will eat but not loads

 

[jarmado]

well as i mentioned, there is no strong current and he was acting life-less before i put the filter in the tank.

He looks very well apart from being lifeless. He has no disease or illness that i can see. his scales, face, tail, fins etc all look fine and healthy.. no obvious sigh of distress.. no white spot, no swelling etc

he has no interest in food either though.. he will eat but not loads

TBH, i nearly scooped out my betta a few days ago..
thinking that he was dead and just got stuck between the leaves of a plant..
but he immediately swim away when the net got close to him..
i think they are just like that.

 

[catxx]

sometimes they get depressed when stuff changes
he hasn't clamped at all?
how warm is the water now you've added the heater?
the temp change may have effected him.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Is the heater safe for a tank that small? Most heaters I know can't safely heat less than 2.5g, and I don't even put them in tanks that size any more as they often heat the tank to 84, which is the very high end of safe.
What is the temp currently?

 

[LittleL]

well the water was below his recommended temperture, hence why i got a heater.. the heater has been in there for about a week now and the temp is at 81.... if anything, he seemed so my more active when the heater wasnt in the tank and the temp was quite low...

what do you mean by 'clamped'...? (sorry for my ignorence.. im new to all this )

 

[LittleL]

ok so ive just got home from work and i looked my betta and his face looks alot paler than usual... its gone a kind of grey colour...

his water smells pretty bad aswell ( i do a 40% water change every other day)

what does a grey face mean? a problem?

i just added some betta flakes and he seems to be eating them....

 

[liz2]

if you have put meds in that makes the water smell. Perhaps change a bit of the water?

 

[_cRaCkEr_]

Put a female right beside him.

 

[ILM]

Test the water--water parameters could ahve gone way off kilter especially if the tank smells bad.