Siamese Fighter Male - Very Inactive Staying At Bottom Of Tank.

[luke4868]

Hi everyone
 
I have a Siamese Fighter Male in my tank, he is the only fish in it other than two or three snails, he has been in there for about 3 months now and was previously very active and always curios and swimming around. Over the last two weeks or so he has become very inactive, he now sits on the bottom on the stones, often leaning on his side. He wont come up for food, he wont respond to tapping on the glass or anything. The only time he will move is if you try and catch him with a net, then he appears all normal as he swims around. Then immediately moves back down and and returns to being inactive. 
 
I use treatment for the water to remove metals but have done so for years and it has never been a problem, and I have 70%-90% changed water very week to try and help, but seems to achieve nothing. I don't know what to do any more!

 

[the_lock_man]

What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?

 

[Ninjouzata]

Not sure if this is something that would be caused by it being cold or not..what is the temperature? Along with what TLM asked of course.

 

[luke4868]

The temperature is 21c and has been since the tank started, reading are as follows;
 
Ammonia - 0ppm (perhaps 0.1ppm at most)
Nitrate - 0-5ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

 

[Lillefishy]

21c is too cold for Bettas, they like it better around 26/28.
Slowly raise his temperature & see if he perks up

 

[luke4868]

Ok so a week on and nothing has changed, temperature has been at a stable 26c and he is still sat on the bottom.

 

[Wildbetta]

Can you post a pic of the betta?  Do you have a filter? How large is the tank?  What do you feed?  Is his fins clamped? Does his poop look normal or white and stringy?

 

[luke4868]

Here are some images
 
http/postimg.org/gallery/70bgqcvy/fa0e62e7/
 
Yes I have a filter, the tank is 25 litres, it is fed aquarian tropical flake food, what do you mean fins clamped? When he is on the bottom the fins are curled as such? I have not see any poop at all to be honest. 

 

[luke4868]

Here are some better images
 
http/postimg.org/gallery/cg5z9rxk/c8dd5f08/

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

How's the pH level? The water maybe too acidic. I had a betta with the same fin symptoms before and my pH was at 6.5 back then. I slowly increased to achieve a 7.2 pH and after a month he was okay.

It may also be some deficiency problem. Try feeding it with a small amount of live tubifex worms if available

 

[Wildbetta]

Ok Feeding flakes is not the best option for bettas.  They are very prone to constipation and bloating.  Flakes are hard to judge how much the fish is actually eating which can lead to overeating and otherwise fouling the tank.  How often are you doing water changes?  Did you cycle your tank before you added the betta?  Raising the temperature is a start. I suggest start feeding a pellet made specifically for bettas and maybe some frozen bloodworms for a treat once a week to see if he starts perking back up.  
 
As far as the ph, domestic bettas are very forgiving when it comes to ph.  They do not fare really well with ph swings so a constant ph (whether it be in the 6.0 range or the 8.0 range) is what you want.  Most bettas do very well in lower ph and (especially with the wild bettas) people try all sorts of things to lower the ph and keep it low.
 
Clamped fins are where they hold their fins really close in and clamped to their bodies.  From the pics it does not look like he is clamped.  I will say that pics without the net would be a bit better since we will be able to see how he is acting normally in the tank. 

 

[luke4868]

Ok I will go and get some pellet and live foods for him today and try that for a while and see how he goes, he does seem ill, just inactive, so you may well be correct, I will keep you updated

 
PS. Yes it was cycled for 3 months before he was added

 

[guppy2002]

I have fed my bettas tropical fish flakes for years and they have always been fine. I dont think thats the problem

 

[Wildbetta]

OP --  How often are you doing water changes and how much water do you change each time?  Have you checked your tap water recently to see if there is any ammonia/nitrites/nitrAtes in it?  Recently had an issue with another poster with a lethargic betta and come to find out that her tap water had ammonia in it causing all kinds of issues.   Is there any way you can get some pics of him without the net?  
 
 

I have fed my bettas tropical fish flakes for years and they have always been fine. I dont think thats the problem

 
Just because you have not had any "issues" does not mean that flakes are a good food for bettas.  I find that when dealing with lethargic bettas, the first thing is to up the temperature and fix any feeding issues.  So that while that might not be the main problem in this case, it is best to address it and get it taken care of so other issues can be dealt with as needed.

 

[luke4868]

I monitored the temperature for a while and it was changing a bit, 25-28c generally, so upped the heater to 30, which is keeping the thermometer at around 28 now and keeping at that, he's perked up and bit and feeding again, so will keep an eye on him and see how it goes.