Beta Not Active

So this may be a bit premature but our Beta is always active, curious, jumps for food but tonight when I went to feed him, he was hiding, wouldn't come out, mouth was open - he was not acting himself.

I tested the parameters and everything is good - Nitrites, 0; Ammonia, 0; Nitrates, 5.0ppm.

Assuming he is the same tomorrow morning - does anyone have any recommendations for troubleshooting with this little guy. We love him so much and not sure what to do.

We do not overfeed, so doubt it's constipation and I did not recognize any physical changes, but will try to take a closer look.

 

How big is your tank? Is it heated? What temperature is the tank? How long have you had him? Any other symptoms? Can we get a picture of him?

 

Do you have a lot of room in the tank and enrichment ? Maybe he’s bored. My bettas have done that before. Maybe adding variety to his diet would help too. I like to feed all my fish different things because I like variety in my diet so I bet they do too !

 

How big is your tank? Is it heated? What temperature is the tank? How long have you had him? Any other symptoms? Can we get a picture of him?

My apologies I should have provided more info. My tank is 5 Gal., heated (81 degrees), I have had him 5 months or so? Currently his diet consists of frozen food and quality pellets (alternating). I will get a photo and post.

So I think he is sick. He is laying on the bottom, and will not come out. I tried taking a few photos but not sure what you can see. I looked through a magnifying glass to see if I could tell of any ick or something like that but no luck.

 

So I think he is sick. He is laying on the bottom, and will not come out. I tried taking a few photos but not sure what you can see. I looked through a magnifying glass to see if I could tell of any ick or something like that but no luck.

My first Betta Fish had swim bladder disease and it would usually make her float to the top but all of a sudden it made her sink to the bottom. Maybe it is swim bladder ?

 

Hmmm... From what I see, I think he has a humpback? This is usually a sign of an aging betta. All your things are good and I can't really think of anything else. You could've bought an old betta. Can someone else double check me?

 

Hmmm... From what I see, I think he has a humpback? This is usually a sign of an aging betta. All your things are good and I can't really think of anything else. You could've bought an old betta. Can someone else double check me?

I can’t 100% tell if this is the same but when my betta had swim bladder disease that would sink her when she tried to swim her bottom half went down like that.

 

I can’t 100% tell if this is the same but when my betta had swim bladder disease that would sink her when she tried to swim her bottom half went down like that.

Definitely not SBD. Fishes that have that either involuntarily sink or float. From what OP is describing it seems the betta is lethargic and lingering around on the bottom. It also depends on how you take the picture. If a fish was swimming up, their tail would point down.

 

Definitely not SBD. Fishes that have that either involuntarily sink or float. From what OP is describing it seems the betta is lethargic and lingering around on the bottom. It also depends on how you take the picture. If a fish was swimming up, their tail would point down.

Good point !

 

Discus-Tang midnaGoldiemom Sakura48 Iverg1 Any thoughts about this?

 

Let's cover all the bases to make sure it's not SBD. What temperate is the tank heated to? What does his diet consist of and how much do you feed him?

Has he had any stressful encounters recently (loud noise, tank switch etc.)?

 

Let's cover all the bases to make sure it's not SBD. What temperate is the tank heated to? What does his diet consist of and how much do you feed him?

Has he had any stressful encounters recently (loud noise, tank switch etc.)?

OP already mentioned the diet, frozen foods and pellets.

 

Well - unfortunately I doubt he will make it through today. I am so sad. He is laying on the bottom, barely breathing and not moving. This is frustrating!!

 

Does anyone have a recommendation for what I can attemt at this point? I want to try something!!

 

So I pulled him out of the tank so I could get a closer look as well as change his water. I also took some more photos and included photos (color photos of him in tank) of when we first brought him home for a comparison. As you can see he has lost quite a bit of his coloring. Does anyone notice anything else?

 

He has the appearance of a hunchback but his head looks a little chunky maybe a tumor?

 

He has the appearance of a hunchback but his head looks a little chunky maybe a tumor?

It does appear that his head may have gotten bigger, or maybe that's just me. It would also explain the sudden change in behavior. I would just avoid doing anything to stress him out at this point. Like only doing water changes when necessary and not changing his surrounding too much etc. And maybe get him a floating log of some sort so he can have darkness and a place to lay near the surface? I just wouldnt do anything too hastily as it will stress him out.

 

Unfortunately we lost our little guy.....so sad - especially difficult to figure out what was wrong with him.

 

Sorry for your loss