Betta is kinda lethargic just "sitting" on bottom of the tank

I don't know how much there is I can do but wait and see but my daughter's betta is acting weird lately. I haven't been able to get him to eat for 3-4 days, he's mostly just laying on something in the tank and not moving around much. I've thought he was dead several times but if I poke him he'll move around briefly. He seems able to swim up and zip around the tank when prodded but then returns to laying around the bottom. Today he was laying on top of the heater with his tail on the top of the heater and his body hanging down the side, I thought he was for sure dead but then when I tried to fish him out he swam away.

I cannot get him to eat anything. Typically when we tap on the glass or touch the water he'd swim up to get food. I can't get him to respond or move unless poked though.

We've had him about a year. He's in a 10 gallon tank kept at 78 degrees with a fluval c2 filter. The only other residents in the tank are two otos and a few assasin snails and they are doing ok.

 

Have you done a water change recently......if not this may help.
Any spots or sores on his body?
Is the tank aerated,have you cleaned your filter or media,is the heater working?
I have had bettas that just sat at the bottom of the tank that were in good health but if he was active previously you may want to make a checklist and go over it.
Good luck !!

 

It could be either an ammonia spike or swim bladder. Or it could be nothing.

 

So to update, not much change...

I do a 25% water change weekly or so and it's very very lightly stocked so the water parameters are always good.

We're able to feed him by dropping pellets right in front of him which he eats off the bottom.

It's been several weeks by now so I kinda feel like if something were wrong like a swim bladder infection or something else he'd probably not still be alive... Though who knows. I'm not sure what else I can do, we plan to mostly just keep feeding him as we can and let nature take it's course. Maybe he's just feeling particularly lazy lately. I mean I wouldn't say he's ever been a really active fish but he would always swim up for food before and didn't tend to lay motionless on the bottom.

 

So to update, not much change...

I do a 25% water change weekly or so and it's very very lightly stocked so the water parameters are always good.

We're able to feed him by dropping pellets right in front of him which he eats off the bottom.

It's been several weeks by now so I kinda feel like if something were wrong like a swim bladder infection or something else he'd probably not still be alive... Though who knows. I'm not sure what else I can do, we plan to mostly just keep feeding him as we can and let nature take it's course. Maybe he's just feeling particularly lazy lately. I mean I wouldn't say he's ever been a really active fish but he would always swim up for food before and didn't tend to lay motionless on the bottom.

He could just be really old. Does he have a hump in his back?

 

Not really. We bought him about a year ago, I would assume most aquarium store bettas come from breeders so they'd be pretty young.

 

Not really. We bought him about a year ago, I would assume most aquarium store bettas come from breeders so they'd be pretty young.

Males are in higher demand for their colors and find so they are sold a little bit older but only about a month or so and I guess that wouldn't make a big impact.

 

This is pretty much what he's doing all the time. Today when I went in and tried to get his attention he furiously swam up to the top and then immediatley back down to the bottom. Dropped some pellets in and he'd see some come down but wouldn't peck them off the bottom though he seemed to try and catch them on the way down (unsuccessfully).

Also rechecked the water and I've got 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and nitrates are about 10ppm (same as my tap water).