mlinden84

Our betta, Betta, seems to be a little lethargic. We lost power for several days (his tank went down to 45ish degrees). His fins were shredded (i'm guessing from the stress) but are healing nicely. He was doing fine, swimming around for a few days, but now he just kinda lays around. He's got a amazon sword plant in his tank, and he will lay on the leaf (about 1/2 inch from the top of the water) for hours. He is still eating fine, water temp is 80, water parameters are excellent, ph is 7.6, I did a water change yesterday. He's in a 5 gallon tank.
Anyone have any ideas of what could be wrong/what I could do?
thanks!

pistorta

At this point, not sure. I think you did all you could. Hopefully you brought the temperature up slowly and are changing small amounts of water on a regular basis. There's a good chance bacteria was compromised during the down time.

Your house got that cold?

LZ Floyd

Hi Michelle,

Sounds like Betta got a bit chilly. The stress of getting that cold, then, being warmed back up too quickly can take a toll. Betta's immune system is probably weakened and s/he could be more open to opportunistic bacterial, fungal, and viral attacks. I wonder if using something like Vita-Chem might perk your fish up. Something like pea treats might also give a little boost, too. Beyond that, because lethargy can be a side effect of many disorders, I wouldn't know of what else to suggest, at this time. You might want to get some meds to have on hand if more specific symptoms arise (one or two kinds of broad-spectrum antibiotics would suffice).

As for the peas, if you've not given them: Take a couple of frozen peas and thaw them in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds. Then peel off the skin of one of them (the other is just a spare); two pea-halves will be exposed. Slice off three very small pieces totaling 1/2 the size of Betta's eye. To feed Betta, get the fish's attention and let one of the pieces drop into the water (I used to let it slide off my finger). Hopefully, it will float long enough for Betta to target, get to, and grab the morsel before it sinks. -Mike

sirdarksol

Probably the temperature dip, but just to be sure, is there any bluish-green algae in your tank? The stuff usually shows up in sheets or webs that stretch between the plants.
Blue-green algae is actually cyanobacteria, and often make fish sluggish.

mlinden84

Thanks for your replies.

I have been using vitachem, as well as feeding peas and hikari betta bio-gold.

I have some tri-sulfa, fungus clear, and medicated food (both the fungal/parasite and bacterial) on hand.

There is no algae whatsoever in the tank. I have been doing water changes and testing every 2 days. (using Prime as a water conditioner).

When we got the power back on, i let the tanks warm up with the house. I unplugged all the heaters, and turned the house on 70, and then the next day (once the tanks were close to room temp) I turned the heaters on, so I didn't warm them up too quickly. However, I'm fairly sure this is due to the change in water temps.
I just didn't know if there was something else I should be doing for him....

COBettaCouple

As if you needed anything else frozen.. I think it would be good to be feeding him thawed frozen bloodworms too. What you're doing is what we'd be doing too and I think that the protein he would get from the bloodworms (plus they love them so much) could help him out.

What I'd do is drop a cube in a small rubbermaid container. We bought a bunch of them just for fish use. Fill it up about halfway with treated tap water and add some garlic supplement to it, like garlic guard or garlic boost. You can keep them in the fridge about a week this way and bring it out of the fridge 30-60 min before feeding him a few.

mlinden84

Alright I'll have to try that. He's never been a big fan of bloodworms (or really anything other than the hikari betta bites) but it's worth a try. I have the garlic guard, but not the bloodworms, so I'll have to go out this morning and get some before the big snowstorm hits.

I think after Christmas (after the tree comes down) I might move him to one of the 10 gallon tanks. I'm not really happy with the 5 gallon mini bow tank he's in. It's really hard to see him. I think he might be happier in the 10 gallon tank.... it'll give him more room to swim around, and a break from the current from the filter if he wants it.

mlinden84

Are frozen brine shrimp a good thing to try feeding him?

COBettaCouple

I think some is ok on occasion, but not real often.

mlinden84

He didn't want to eat the brine shrimp.

Is there any reason it wouldn't be a good idea to feed them often?

COBettaCouple

I think it causes digestive problems if the adults eat it too often. Mainly it's for very young fry.

mlinden84

Oh I didn't realize that. Is it bad to feed my other fish it on occasion then? (like once a week?)

COBettaCouple

I don't think that would be a problem.

mlinden84

ok good to know. thanks!