Paralyzed Betta?

[vancouver]

One of my bettas has been sort of paralyzed for quite awhile.. It sits on the bottom, occassionally doing a sort of shimmy to scoot around its little tank. It's been like this for probably 8 months, so it cant be a sickness or I think it would have died by now. It still eats, still scoots around the tank, just doesn't float around or swim normally...

Is it possible that it is 1/2 paralyzed? That's about the only thing I could think of. Maybe some sort of swim bladder disorder?

I treated it when it originally showed up, but there have been no changes.

 

[RandomWiktor]

I had a betta who had a stroke (or so it was diagnosed here) after becoming severely ill with a systemic infection and being unable to breathe properly. After the incident, he couldn't use his tail to swim, so with all that heavy finnage, it obviously became a problem. I found that by putting him in a very shallow, wide container with plenty of plants, he was able to wiggle to the surface to breath and eat.

Don't know if that is any help, but I would wonder if you've checked all of your water stats? Lethargy in bettas can be caused by poor water conditions, or cold water conditions. Perhaps you could test the water, and if nothing shows up off, you could raise the temp and see if it helps? My boys are most active at the 76-80 range.

At any rate, it is very possible for a fish - or any animal with a spine, for that matter - to be paralyzed, to is may be the case for yours.

 

[vancouver]

My little buddy is in one of those 1/2 gallon (I think) setups... the plastic long ones with the same color lid and gravel.. also comes with a little plant.. they come in lime green, dark red, and a bluey purple color..

I've got a small pot wedged in the corner with rocks surrounding it, so it can rest close to the surface for air, but it likes to hide in the pot a lot of the time... still eats, still likes it when I come up to his little ''tank''..

I've had him for about a year and a half, so I guess it's getting old. I've heard of bettas living 3-4 years, but 2 years would be a long time for me.

 

[RandomWiktor]

1/2g, eh? How often do you clean him? Half gallon tanks would need to be cleaned just about every day, from what I've heard, to stay suitably clean for a betta (maybe another forum member can confirm this? I've never kept them in that size). You could try doing more frequent water changes and see if that perks him up at all, unless you're allready constantly cleaning the tank.