Sick betta

[Tl52505]

My betta has been sick for around a month, just laying on the bottom not moving, other than breathing, won’t eat. I noticed the not eating when he would lunge at the food and keep missing, so he hasn’t eaten for multiple weeks. I keep coming home expecting the worse but he has been surviving. I tested the water Parameters multiple times and they were fine every time I tested. What should I do, I have tried flake foods and his normal pellets and he cant get either of them.

 

[jaylach]

Can you include a photo?

 

[Colin_T]

Pictures and video of the fish and tank?

How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish for?

What is the temperature of the water?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water?

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

How often do you 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 aquarium?

 

[TheLavenderBadger]

If he isn't eating, I would try live food. Bettas will go for live food when they aren't eating anything else. Maybe bloodworms?

 

[Tl52505]

Pictures and video of the fish and tank?

How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish for?

What is the temperature of the water?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water?

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

How often do you 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 aquarium?

Tank has a built in filter, set up for around 4 months (same as fish), temp is 78°. My local pet store tested it around a week ago and I remember the ammonia being 0, and I believe the ph was 7.6, I don’t remember the rest but they said everything looked good, I do a 1 gal water change every week, and clean the filter cartridge with tank water once a month. I vacuum the gravel every other week when I do a water change. I have tried using tweezers to get his food right up to him, but he just swims away from the tweezers. Would breaking off a small piece of an algae wafer be a good idea, some of my fish in my main tank like eating them sometimes, I will post a current pic and a pic from a while ago

 

[Colin_T]

How big is the tank?

Why are there 2 pictures?
Is one from when you first got him and the other one now?

How long ago did his head change shape and tilt upwards?

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Bettas don't normally take dry food off the bottom and I have never seen them eat algae wafers. they might but it's not normal food for them.

You can try live or frozen food but I think there is an issue with its neck. The head is facing upwards and shouldn't look like that. It might have an infection in the throat or might have damaged its neck.

Did you do anything to the fish or tank just before this started?

Can the fish still swim?

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You can try doing a 75% water change & gravel clean the substrate every day for a week, then do it once a week after that.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

You can try a broad spectrum fish medication (not antibiotics) that treats bacteria and fungus and see if it helps.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating with chemicals or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working. You do not need to remove the carbon if you use salt.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.