Why is my betta so skinny?

[awong918]

I've been feeding my betta 8 Xtreme betta pellets (about 1mm) per day for about a month now. 5 morning/afternoon and 3 evening. He also regularly hunts microfauna in the tank: baby snails, worms, copepods, seed shrimps, and I think there are still some scuds in the tank.
My betta still looks so skinny.

He's very active and zippy, so this is about as good of a picture as I can really get of his body shape. Because of where I place my tank, it's hard to get a good top down picture.

 

[arinlovescatfish]

I've been feeding my betta 8 Xtreme betta pellets (about 1mm) per day for about a month now. 5 morning/afternoon and 3 evening. He also regularly hunts microfauna in the tank: baby snails, worms, copepods, seed shrimps, and I think there are still some scuds in the tank.
My betta still looks so skinny.

He's very active and zippy, so this is about as good of a picture as I can really get of his body shape. Because of where I place my tank, it's hard to get a good top down picture.

I would treat for internal parasites and see if he improves, I had a super skinny platy that was riddled with parasites but after treatment she plumped up and was pretty healthy. Same thing could potentially be happening to your betta?

 

[awong918]

I would treat for internal parasites and see if he improves, I had a super skinny platy that was riddled with parasites but after treatment she plumped up and was pretty healthy. Same thing could potentially be happening to your betta?

What medication would you suggest trying? I was also thinking it may be parasites, but I already treated him with 4-5 rounds of Hikari Prazipro for flukes when I first got him 3 months ago, and I believe that should also deal with any other parasites.

 

[arinlovescatfish]

What medication would you suggest trying? I was also thinking it may be parasites, but I already treated him with 4-5 rounds of Hikari Prazipro for flukes when I first got him 3 months ago, and I believe that should also deal with any other parasites.

I usually treat with focus and metro for parasites. If you’re worried about worms consider dosing some levamisole (if it’s available in your area).

 

[awong918]

I usually treat with focus and metro for parasites. If you’re worried about worms consider dosing some levamisole (if it’s available in your area).

I have metroplex + focus on hand, so I'll try those. Thank you.

 

[Fishfur]

I have metroplex + focus on hand, so I'll try those. Thank you.

Just fyi, Praziquantel is not a broad spectrum anti parasitic.

It is effective only on flatworms, which include what we call flukes and tapeworms but not nematodes or any other roundworm nor does it work on protozoans. It would probably need to be mixed with food and ingested to have maximum effect on tapeworms.

Metronidazole is effective on protozoans but works best if ingested with food.

Roundworms need a different anthelmintic such as fenbendazole or in the case of the dreaded Camallamus cotti, levamisole would be the anthelmintic of choice.

 

[awong918]

I just administered the first dose of Metroplex through food.

Good news is I still had some Metroplex left.... bad news is I left the cap too loose on the Seachem Focus bottle last time I used it so Idk if exposure to air/moisture might've degraded it. Hopefully not...

 

[arinlovescatfish]

I just administered the first dose of Metroplex through food.

Good news is I still had some Metroplex left.... bad news is I left the cap too loose on the Seachem Focus bottle last time I used it so Idk if exposure to air/moisture might've degraded it. Hopefully not...

Hopefully it works and your betta starts to gain some weight! Let me know how it goes

 

[ghostno]

Hope that betta fish gets on that bulk!