sick fishy!!

[herbie]

My fishy is sick!

I've had a male betta for about three or four months now, and he used to be happy and healthy -- he was very active and blew "bubble nests" all the time. Now he's lazy, dull grayish colored, never blows bubbles, his fins look scraggly, and there are these weird brown rock-like things in the bottom of the tank, and I just noticed one attached to him. What is it??!! I clean out his tank every 2 or 3 weeks. Is he doomed, or can he be saved?

 

[BettaBoyz]

I've had a male betta for about three or four months now, and he used to be happy and healthy -- he was very active and blew "bubble nests" all the time. Now he's lazy, dull grayish colored, never blows bubbles, his fins look scraggly, and there are these weird brown rock-like things in the bottom of the tank, and I just noticed one attached to him. What is it??!! I clean out his tank every 2 or 3 weeks. Is he doomed, or can he be saved?

alright, i can spot several things wrong with your post! i've bolded them, and will answer them below.

first, laziness, color loss and scraggle are signs of flex. flex is a nasty virus for fishies caused by a lowered immune system. coming into the cold months, if he's in a small, unheated tank, must have caused this. how long has he acted like this? are there also small white 'fuzzies' on him?

the poo is probably caused by his food; yes, poo. my Boyz all poo 'little brown rocks' because i feed them bloodworms. do you feed him a high qualitity unprocessed food?

as for water changes, i'll assume he's in a 1g unfiltered, unheated tank. HE NEEDS MORE! once a week, at least, for a 1g tank, otherwise he might be feeling the effects of the ammonia building up, and up, and up...