theusual

Hi all! So before anyone comments, I know I should move my betta into a 5 gallon or so tank eventually, but I'm a student and I don't have the space for a bigger tank.

When I moved into school 4 days ago I transported my beautiful crowntail betta in a plastic baggie to school. I put this baggie on the floor between some things so it wouldn't roll around, but at one point someone cut me off and I had to swerve which caused his baggie to go flying. I obviously freaked out and made sure he was okay as soon as I arrived at school. I put him back into his old tank and used nearly all the same water as before. Then i took some of the school's tap water to refill the last quarter of his tank (and treated it). The first night he vomited a lot... i'm guessing he got car-sickness from the swerving? But since then he has been much much much less social and I'm really worried about him! he never used to lay on the bottom of the tank and he has been since he arrived! Also, he still comes to say hi when i come over but he doesnt seem as entertained by me. Is he lonely now that I'm in class all day? Was he hurt during the car ride? I'm planning on buying a new tube and doing a partial water change this weekend. But I'm really worried about him!!! His fins seem so bent and droopy in comparison! Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I love this fish.

small_fry

might just be stressed out by the move and change in location and water etc... give it a little while and see if he comes good

aquarist48

Good morning. So sorry to hear that your Betta isn't quiet up to par. Sounds like it's really stressed. Do you have some Nova Aqua or something you can add to reduce his stress?

I'm going to move your thread to the Betta section of the forum. Chances are you'll get more responses and will also help other betta owners as well.
Best of luck for a full recovery and keep us posted.
Ken

Shawnie

what type of tank is he in now? does he have a filter and a heater? whats the temps of the tank?
what do you mean "vomitted" ? not sure ive seen a betta vomit before....keeping his water warm and clean is important as im sure hes totally stressed...get him some stress coat and vita chem if you can find it and a few days of small water changes with those 2 should help allot...no one can say if he was hurt or not in the car..thats something you are going to have to watch for ..and im also sure he can be depressed if you use to be around him allot and arent now...but you can spice his tank up a bit to keep him busy while you are in class....they like ping pong balls , plastic hamster tubes, and even some like bubble rocks...(all boiled and sanitized and not too big of a bubble rock) ...adding some neat silk plants or a new cave could help also...

Lucy

I'm sorry your betta isn't well.
It sounds like it was a hard drive on him. Having him in a 1.5 isn't going to help is stress level.

Amanda

I second Shawnie. Bettas do best in heated/filtered tanks. What are your ammonia/nitrite readings? What exactly do you mean by vomited? I have a lot of bettas, and have never seen them vomit. They'll spit their food back out, but that's it. I also don't think fish can get car sick. He's probably just VERY stressed right now. Does he have stress lines?

matt6765

Agree with others

theusual

What are stress lines?

Vomited - Well I hadn't fed him in about 8 hours and he regurgitated food multiple times.

test kit - I left it at home, along with his filter ( I had felt the filter I was using was overwhelming him - plus it caused some sort of algae build-up until I removed the real plant and replaced it with a fake plant)

Temperature - I'm having a lot of trouble finding a filter small enough for his tank. But The tank is probably around 75?

Toys - I'll definitely look for a ping pong ball asap, he seems to want something to do when I'm not around. Next time I go to a pet store I'll try to find him some bubble rocks, hamster tubes, or a new cave. I think he'd really like that.

Meds and Water Conditioner - I'll head to the store to get some stress meds soon, maybe some snacks (he actually refuses to eat anything but betta bites!!! - he has refused dried bloodworms and frozen bloodworms before even when they were clearly small enough for him to eat) - This has made me a little worried that he isn't getting enough nutrients. I put some Nutrafin Betta Plus in his water though.

His mood - He seems more lively today than yesterday, and has been getting better each day, but I still want to be sure he will be okay and not too lonely. He seems to be hiding in his silk plant more than usual, and still lays on the bottom of the tank.

I'll try to update more later!! Class in 2 minutes!! AHHH

Lucy

His temp should be a little higher. Closer to 79-80F Heating that size tank consistently is hard. Fluctuating temps can cause problems.
When bettas are stressed they'll get horizontal lines on their bodies.
They aren't many filters made for small tanks. The current would be strong. Look into a sponge filter, that might work.
Have you tried frozen (thawed) brine shrimp?

He had a rough trip, he may need time to calm down and get used to his new surroundings.

theusual

Thank you everyone for all the help! I'm still looking for a filter and heater small enough for his tank, but I have him in a fairly regulated environment right now. If I have the opportunity I'll switch him to a larger tank. (I'm looking into finding a sponge filter online and some frozen brine shrimp in a store soon.)

In general he seems much better now, it too him a long time though. Pretty much day by day he had to get a little better. He was probably hurt a little during the car ride - i think this due to the length of time it took him to be calm and happy again. Fortunately he is making gorgeous bubble nests again, and is coming to say hi all the time once again!

i bought him some ping pong balls but he doesnt seem interested in them because they dont move. I'm guessing adding a filter would make him more interested, but then the filter would destroy his bubble nests, and the last time I had a filter he seemed overwhelmed by it and didn't swim on the half of the tank it was on! (The filter came with the tank.) He usually swam directly below or behind it to avoid it.

I know this seems silly, but does anyone think it might be an okay idea to purchase a female betta for my boy? I'm worried about two things: 1. he is really aggressive and might kill her before i can do anything and 2. (more of a worry) if the female i purchase is sickly i don't want anything to happen.

I just want to keep my fish as happy as possible

ABCDemily

Betta's don't ever belong in the same tank unless you plan to breed. They will most likely fight to the death if they are aggressive or not. Betta's need to be very fully conditioned before introducing to tanks, but that is only, only for breeding.

With the filter, I adjust the floe by placing it about 1" under the water surface. It filters but doesn't affect flow or water surface movement.

chickadee

sometimes if the betta just does not like the food they are eating or tries to gulp the food too fast they will "spit" it out and it can look like they are "vomiting" but they do not actually vomit as they do not have the mechanism to do it. They do not need to be fed more than about 2 times a day 12 or so hours apart unless they are very tiny and then about every 8 hours but very tiny meals. Remember that the stomach of a betta is the size of its eye and will not hold very much so the old hype about pouring the food in the tank and letting it eat what it can in 2 to 3 minutes is TERRIBLE advice. They should be given very small meals of just a very few peices of food and it should not vary in meal size from one meal to the next. You can change types or kinds of foods but not meal size. When you do you severely upset their digestive systems. Consistency in meal size and temperature of tank water are the two main important things in caring for a bettas digestion. They absolutely need to be kept at a consistent temperature of between 78 to 81 degrees F and they need small meals no more than 2 times a day after they are about 4 months old. When they reach a year it is really advisable to cut them to one meal a day unless you make the meals smaller and divide them to two very small meals. For some reason bettas over a year are much more prone to constipation probably due to the decrease in their activity. They reach their full finnage and it becomes more difficult for them to be active so they spend more time resting and do not get as much activity to keep their digestive processes active.

As you all can see, I am still long-winded. LOL

pamd

I'm so glad he is feeling happier. He might not have been physically hurt, but stressed by the car ride, the bump, and the new environment.

COBettaCouple

Glad your little one is doing better.

chickadee

On the idea of a filter for your tank. The Azoo Palm filter will handle all but the tiniest of tanks and is adjustable to allow for flow to be very gentle and hangs over the edge of the tank so does not take up room inside the tank itself and does a fantastic job of filtering the ammonia and other toxins out of the water. It is easy to maintain and cheap to purchase too. And it looks very nice. For a tank that small you really have no adjustable heaters available to you but the little mini heater would be better than nothing. I would normally never recommend them for any purpose as they do not allow a steady temperature but under the circumstances unless the tank is at least 2.5 gallons the use of a 25 watt heater is out of the question. The real hope is that you can eventually get a tank of at least that size so you can get the heater that he needs as well.

Rose

COBettaCouple

I've got a bunch of those - they're great little filters and worth having a few stocked.