Constipated betta poop colour

I have diagnosed my betta with constipation as he is acting lethargi and not wanting to eat after being in a well planted and mature tank for a few months now. I just noticed that he has some white stringy poo that is transitioning to a solid darker healthy looking colour. does this mean he will be better soon? All So should I starve him for another day even though he seems to be doing better? Thanks for any help

 

Poop color is the least of your concerns from your post. Please fill out the emergency template honestly and add photos. The symptoms you describe are not limited to constipation. Also post a picture of the tank.

 

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? (5 gallons)
How long has the tank been running? (2 and a half months)
Does it have a filter? (Yes a sponge)
Does it have a heater? (Yes)
What is the water temperature? (77-78)
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) (betta fish and multiple bladder snails)

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? (Once a week)
How much of the water do you change? (10%)
What do you use to treat your water? (Seachem prime)
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? (Just water)

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? (Yes but all so used precycled sponge)
What do you use to test the water? (API freshwater master)
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: (0ppm)
Nitrite: (0ppm)
Nitrate: 0ppm)
pH: (7.6)

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? (2 times a day)
How much do you feed your fish? (4/5 vibra bites)
What brand of food do you feed your fish? (Hikari)
Do you feed frozen? (Tried a week ago and he would not take it)
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? (No)

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? (Coming up to 2 month)
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? (Yesterday night)
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? (Lethargic, loss of appetite)
Have you started any treatment for the illness? (No)
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? (No)
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
(used to come and greet me at the front but now sits at back and stays there, no colour change from what I can see)

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(betta fish ate yesterday morning like usual and then by night he did not want any food. I use A stick to feed him and he did not come over to the stick to be fed like he usually does. at The time of writing this betta is still slightly lethargic but is moving around a bit.)
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

Include pictures
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can anyone help?

 

Imo only changing 10% per week isn't enough in a tank that small. It's possible something we don't or can't test for has accumulated in the tank. I would recommend doing larger, more frequent WCs of 50% x2-3 per week to see if that helps.

You could also try adding IALs to tint his water. The humic substances released by the leaves are supposed to be good to help reduce stress. Alternatively you could brew your own "tannin tea" from plain rooibos tea to add to the water. I personally prefer to make my own tea since it is less messy and I don't have to vacuum decomposed pieces of leaf.

 

This morning the betta ate 2 pellets and is more active when he sees me. I put a piece of wood in that releases lots of tannins in any of my tanks I put it in.

 

He is now back to usual and I am wondering how I could stop this from happening agai. On a side note I have some small minnows invading my pond and I was wondering if I could catch a baby or 2 to feed to my betta as live food.

 

He is now back to usual and I am wondering how I could stop this from happening agai. On a side note I have some small minnows invading my pond and I was wondering if I could catch a baby or 2 to feed to my betta as live food.

Changing at least 50% of his water each week and vacuuming any mulm would be a good start. Clean water is also great for helping to keep their immune systems strong.

Not a good idea imo, bettas are insectivores. If you collected some mosquito larvae that would be a great live food for him.

 

Feeding him some frozen daphnia will help. It's kind of a fish laxative. Once a week would be good.

How did you figure he was constipated if he had white stringy poo?

 

Feeding him some frozen daphnia will help. It's kind of a fish laxative. Once a week would be good.

How did you figure he was constipated if he had white stringy poo?

he was not eating and barely swimming for a few days before that. I read some other posts and they had similar symptoms with people saying constipation.

 

Got some daphnia today and tried feeding it to him. He only ate 2 bits that I saw. How can I Better wean him onto it.

 

Got some daphnia today and tried feeding it to him. He only ate 2 bits that I saw. How can I Better wean him onto it.

You can try soaking it in garlic juice or garlic guard and see if he will go for it better.