Betta sleeping sickness?

Having a weird problem with some of my female Bettas but I'm not sure it's actually a disease. The "symptoms" only appear in one Betta at a time, too.

There are no physical signs of anything wrong, the sufferer just appears to be sleeping, usually at the bottom of the tank, and sometimes nose down. If she moves at all she appears to be sleepwalking and her breath is almost undetectable.

All water tests have come back 0, 0, ~20 though in one case the comatose girl seemed to wake up after the water change. Sadly that one managed to jump out of the tank that night

Otherwise they just seem to sleep to death.

 

So they die after they show these symptoms?

 

Yes. But not immediately. There seems to be a long time between the symptoms and death, long enough that I can't even say for sure that they're related! It's happened enough times by now though that I think they might be connected.

The first ones to die were the oldest ones and I can't honestly say they had those symptoms because they were old and I expected them to slow down. If I saw them acting like that I probably attributed it to age.

 

How long between showing this odd symptom and death? How long until they snap out of it? No other issues with them?

 

Not entirely sure. Since I started to think there was something happening and began paying attention there have only been 3 fish with those symptoms. The first one died within a few days I think. The second jumped out of the tank the first night after showing symptoms. The third is still alive. She just started yesterday

 

Very weird! Maybe a virus or bacteria since it's spreading so quickly?

Have you checked your GH, KH, or pH lately?

 

Yes, but I didn't write them down. I think the KH was 3? GH 7? The pH was less than 8 but we'll above 7. I can retest right now if you like!

 

As long as it hasn't been fluctuating, it sounds fine. KH is a little low, but if you're not seeing swings in pH then I don't think that's the issue.

 

Nor do I. The KH is actually higher in that tank than the others thanks to a big chunk of Texas Holey Rock (limestone) in there.

OK, latest results:
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10 (just did big water change a couple of days ago)
GH: 5 drops
KH: 6 drops

 

I'm sorry, I don't know what else it could be! If all of them were getting sick suddenly and at the same time I would guess a chemical contaminant, but since it's slow and not getting them all at once, I would guess a disease.

 

The only other thing I can think of is that I removed a giant marimo moss ball that rotted on the inside and I didn't realize it. I was wondering what the smell was coming from the tank and that was it. Yechh!

 

Could it be stress?That'd be my guess.

 

I thought of that but wouldn't it have shown up before now? It didn't start until the oldest girls passed.

 

Sounds like you may have found the key.

Sometimes a change in the dynamics of a tank can alter the behavior of the fish or in your case several fish.

 

And you think that the first deaths were enough to trigger stress-related illness in the remaining girls?

 

Stress in fish can be powerful. It's not just a term to describe what a fish is feeling. There are physical changes that take place as well.
Here is one good article but there are more.


In the absence of any outward signs of illness (obvious bacterial, parasitic or fungal infections) stress should be considered.
Of course all this is my own non professional opinion

We are talking about bettas in this thread but changing behavior when the dynamics change can be applied to a wide variety of fish.

How many times have we read that everything was fine until I added X or until I moved Y.

 

Thanks Lucy, that looks like a good article! I'll save that so I can read it again. I know that stress is not a good thing for a fish but what is your opinion on sororities? The stress is higher than if they were kept alone but on the other hand more can be kept if in sorority. Given the number of Bettas available it seems it's a good thing to give as many as possible a good home. Or is it?

 

I try to stay out of that debate but I guess my initial post gave me away

 

Yeah, it's a dilemma I struggle with still. I love the look of the tank and my girls are normally healthy and active, plus I feel good that I don't have to walk past all the bettas when I stop at the pet store. Then I wonder if they wouldn't be better off living in somebody's unheated, uncycled bowl vs. my beautiful, warm and cycled, yet stress-inducing sorority.

I doubt, therefore I am

 

If they behaved like one of the nice peaceful species of tetras I'd have a ton of them

 

They brought it on themselves!

 

It's that betta magic. We know they have powers. And the way they follow us home. Just shameless! LOL

 

Would you be concerned if a betta was sleeping a lot during the day? He sleeps up on the heater at night and he’s been there for most of the day. He comes out to interact with me and was still very aggressive at feeding time. But my other betta is always swimming around. Different personality maybe? This is the only “symptom”. Just sleeping all day.

 

Depends, is this a new betta? If not, has he always been this way or only recently? Any difference in tank size / water quality / water chemicals / tank mates?

 

I moved his tank from one side of the room to the other for winter so he’s not near a window anymore. He was stressed for about an hour by the other betta until I put paper between them. That was exactly a week ago. He’s always been lazier than the other betta, resting more frequently in random places. But this is the first day he’s been in his sleeping spot so much.

 

My bettas get lazier the longer the lights are on anymore...but 2 pf my 3 bettas i have had for 2+ years already.

 

My bettas get lazier the longer the lights are on anymore...but 2 pf my 3 bettas i have had for 2+ years already.

I keep the lights on 12 hrs a day. Think I should cut it down a bit for him?

 

I keep the lights on 12 hrs a day. Think I should cut it down a bit for him?

Dunno if he used to it maybe not. Mine usually only have lights on about 5 hrs a day so when we get in the 8-10 range they hide!

 

I’m probably being paranoid over it because my mom said she doesn’t like him cuz he’s not as active as Rainbow lol! I love him either way. My poor Purple People Eater. (Yes that is officially his name).

 

My wife still thinks bettas are boring...though she does admit that they aren't as boring as she first thought. I have had a couple lazier ones in the past though. The boys i got now are pretty active still, despite the fact 2 are getting on in age. Even the rosetail...poor guy with all those fins, he may be the most active! He just has to stop a lot for a bit of a rest...

 

My wife still thinks bettas are boring...though she does admit that they aren't as boring as she first thought. I have had a couple lazier ones in the past though. The boys i got now are pretty active still, despite the fact 2 are getting on in age. Even the rosetail...poor guy with all those fins, he may be the most active! He just has to stop a lot for a bit of a rest...

Don’t get me started on betta fins. The purple betta has smaller fins and therefore SHOULD be more active, but of course he’s lazy. Rainbow has elephant pectoral fins so it’s hard for him to move but he does his best! I recently noticed that the part of his right fin that rests against the sand substrate when he has to rest is missing. It’s definitely not fin rot. I think there’s just no way for his poor large annoying fins to be healthy when he drags them so much.

 

Don’t get me started on betta fins. The purple betta has smaller fins and therefore SHOULD be more active, but of course he’s lazy. Rainbow has elephant pectoral fins so it’s hard for him to move but he does his best! I recently noticed that the part of his right fin that rests against the sand substrate when he has to rest is missing. It’s definitely not fin rot. I think there’s just no way for his poor large annoying fins to be healthy when he drags them so much.

I try to do 2 WCs a week for the rosetail to help him keep his fins healthier. I swear i notice a difference when i don't do that.

 

I try to do 2 WCs a week for the rosetail to help him keep his fins healthier. I swear i notice a difference when i don't do that.

I did two a week with IALs when I got them because his fins were torn originally. The tear never healed. I’ve been doing one a week lately because I’m going on a 14 day vacation in the middle of January so they’ll be skipping one wc so I’m trying to do fewer until then so they’re used to it. Maybe when I get back from that vacation I’ll try the IALs again and do two a week for a bit and see if they heal up at all. I don’t trust my mom (who’ll be feeding them) to remember to temp match or condition the water, so there’s no one around to do water changes when I’m gone. As long as they don’t get infected I’m happy.